Rebel group admits kidnappings
A rebel group in Colombia has admitted responsibility for the kidnap of eight tourists more than two weeks after they went missing.
According to the BBC News website, the National Liberation Army (ELN) released the following statement: “We want to express our willingness to find a solution to this operation.”
The group also reportedly warned the Colombian president Alvaro Uribe that he would be blamed if the hostages were harmed because of government intervention: “In the case of lamentable acts that could occur because of the presence, or the actions, of the army and paramilitary groups in the area, President Uribe would be held personally responsible.”
As reported, 19-year-old Briton Matthew Scott escaped the kidnappers soon after the group was abducted on 12 September, but seven hostages – one Briton, one German, one Spaniard and four Israelis – are still being held.
Meanwhile, if more proof were needed that Colombia can be an extremely dangerous country, a bomb killed 10 and injured more than 50 when it exploded in the southern city of Florencia at the weekend. Police have blamed Colombia’s other main rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), for the attack.
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