Colombian rebels free five foreign tourists

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, December 24, 2003

Colombian rebels free five foreign tourists

In a Christmas time show of goodwill, Colombia's leftist National Liberation Army (ELN) on Monday freed a British and four Israeli tourists after more than three months of captivity.

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In a Christmas time show of goodwill, Colombia's leftist National Liberation Army (ELN) on Monday freed a British and four Israeli tourists after more than three months of captivity.

The five were kidnapped, along with three other foreigners, by the rebels on Sept. 12 while visiting Ciudad Perdida in the SierraNevada mountains, some 950 kilometers north of Bogota.

One hostage, 19-year-old Briton Matthew Scott, escaped a day later and was rescued.

At first, the authorities blamed the Revolutionary Armed Forcesof Colombia (FARC), the largest rebel group of the country, for taking the hostages.

The FARC denied the charge as a government strategy to boost President Alvaro Uribe's popularity in his anti-guerrilla war.

The ELN, the country's second largest rebel group with an estimated 4,500 armed fighters, later claimed responsibility, saying it was ready to solve this problem peacefully.

In exchange for the release of the tourists, the ELN demanded the demilitarization of an area in the Sierra Nevada mountains to "prevent clashes."

It also demanded the presence of an international organization and said that the hostages would be released one by one.

The demands were rejected by President Uribe, who said agreeing to the terms would turn the kidnapping into an "international show."

The ELN also denounced the difficult humanitarian situation in the Sierra Nevada mountains, especially the native Indians.

Despite the olive branch from the ELN, Uribe's administration remained firm in carrying out search and rescue operations.

After marathon talks with the ELN through the mediation of the Roman Catholic Church, the rebel group released German Reinhilt Weigel and Spaniard Huegun Etxeberria on Nov. 24.

One month later, ELN military chieftain Antonio Garcia announced that all the remaining hostages would be released on Monday.

The ELN handed Israelis Beni Daniel, Ortaz Ohayon, Ido Guy, and Erez Altawil, and Briton Mark Henderson over to Roman Catholic Church mediators at a secret location in the Sierra Nevada mountains.

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