Colombia's Rebel Group
FARC Releases 8 Hostages
The Revolutionary Armed
Forces of Colombia (FARC)
has released eight
people that were
kidnapped two weeks ago
and handed them over to
a branch of the
International Committee
of the Red Cross (ICRC)
in Choco state, the
Colombian Army announced
Thursday.
The people were released
"under the pressure made
by the army in the
sector of Puerto
Palacio," General Juan
Rodriguez, commander of
the 7th division of the
army, said.
However, Victor Mosquera,
civil defense director
for the Choco state in
western Colombia, said
FARC released these
people "voluntarily."
The eight
Afro-Colombians were
kidnapped last week
while traveling on the
country's northwestern
jungle rivers.
An ICRC spokesperson
said the release came
after discreet dialogue
between the parties
concerned and the ICRC
will continue to work as
a neutral mediator.
This was the first such
hostage handover since
FARC, Colombia's largest
anti-government group,
was tricked in a
hostage-rescue operation
by the army on July 2
during which disguised
Colombian soldiers
arrived at a FARC camp
and told the guards that
FARC's top leader wanted
to see the hostages.
The masqueraded army
then took them all
aboard a helicopter and
revealed their true
identity. The freed
included politician
Ingrid Betancourt, who
has French-Colombian
citizenship, and three
U.S. citizens.
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