COLOMBIA
Colombia's ELN rebels release nine hostages
Monday, January 21, 2008
Colombian guerrillas in the leftist National Liberation Army on Sunday released nine hostages and handed them over to the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Monday, January 21, 2008
By Reuters
Colombia's second largest rebel
group, the ELN, freed nine hostages on Sunday in a rural
southern province after holding them for more than two weeks,
authorities said.
The release came as President Alvaro Uribe and the
country's largest rebel group, the FARC, remained deadlocked
over a deal to free scores of their hostages, including French
Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt and three Americans held
for more than five years.
The hostages were released to a commission from the Red
Cross in Narino province close to Ecuador's frontier, a
spokesman for the international agency said.
"During the afternoon, the people who were captured 14 days
ago were released," Samaniego municipality mayor, Yamile
Montenegro, told reporters.
Violence from Colombia's four-decade-old conflict has eased
under President Alvaro Uribe, a Washington ally who has
received billions in U.S. aid to fight cocaine traffickers and
Marxist rebels involved in Latin America's oldest insurgency.
But FARC - the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia - is
still fighting in rural areas and authorities say it is holding
around 700 hostages for ransom and political leverage,
including around 45 they want to swap for jailed rebels.
Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez recently brokered the
release of two high-profile FARC hostages, though a dispute
over his role in negotiations has fueled tensions with Uribe.
Families of kidnap victims hope that release could signal
the freeing of other FARC hostage.
The ELN, or National Liberation Army, is involved in
fledging peace talks with Uribe's government, but little
progress has been made to determine key elements to any
accord.
group, the ELN, freed nine hostages on Sunday in a rural
southern province after holding them for more than two weeks,
authorities said.
The release came as President Alvaro Uribe and the
country's largest rebel group, the FARC, remained deadlocked
over a deal to free scores of their hostages, including French
Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt and three Americans held
for more than five years.
The hostages were released to a commission from the Red
Cross in Narino province close to Ecuador's frontier, a
spokesman for the international agency said.
"During the afternoon, the people who were captured 14 days
ago were released," Samaniego municipality mayor, Yamile
Montenegro, told reporters.
Violence from Colombia's four-decade-old conflict has eased
under President Alvaro Uribe, a Washington ally who has
received billions in U.S. aid to fight cocaine traffickers and
Marxist rebels involved in Latin America's oldest insurgency.
But FARC - the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia - is
still fighting in rural areas and authorities say it is holding
around 700 hostages for ransom and political leverage,
including around 45 they want to swap for jailed rebels.
Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez recently brokered the
release of two high-profile FARC hostages, though a dispute
over his role in negotiations has fueled tensions with Uribe.
Families of kidnap victims hope that release could signal
the freeing of other FARC hostage.
The ELN, or National Liberation Army, is involved in
fledging peace talks with Uribe's government, but little
progress has been made to determine key elements to any
accord.
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