Colombian warlord to free three U.S. citizens
www.alertnet.org NEWSDESK 21 Jan 2003 18:19
By Luis Jaime Acosta
BOGOTA, Colombia, Jan 21 (Reuters) - Far-right Colombian warlord Carlos Castano said on Tuesday his outlawed militiamen would free three U.S. citizens they are holding "for their own safety" in jungle near the Panamanian border.
Castano, commander of the 10,000-strong United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, known as "AUC" in Spanish, said paramilitary fighters in the northern Colombian province of Choco would hand over the three Americans to a humanitarian delegation later in the day.
Mark Wedeven, Megan Smaker and Robert Young Pelton were reported missing by Panamanian police over the weekend near the Darien Gap, a lush and violent jungle area that borders Panama and Colombia. The Darien Gap, a weapons-for-drugs corridor, is prowled by right-wing paramilitaries and rebels fighting in Colombia's four-decade war.
In an e-mail sent to Reuters, Castano said the Americans were being held for their own "safety" after paramilitary fighters found the three near a border area in Colombia that had been attacked by rebels of the 17,000-strong Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as FARC.
"I was informed yesterday that fighters of the (paramilitary) Elmar Cardenas Block patrolling the area ... found some foreign citizens in confusing circumstances... The block's commander asked them to accompany him to be handed over to human rights representatives or church officials to avoid putting their lives at risk," he said.
"This incident cannot be considered to be a forced retention, even less kidnapping, since the Elmar Cardenas Block fighters assured me they did not use force, and that they will clear up the details of what happened today since they were simply taking a precaution to ensure the foreigners' safety."
It was not immediately clear what the three Americans were doing in the area, Panamanian police said.
But they contradicted Castano's version of events, saying paramilitary fighters attacked two Indian villages on the Panamanian side of the border killing five community leaders.
Indigenous leaders told Panamanian police some 70 paramilitaries attacked the towns of Pucuro and Paya on Saturday.
HOLDING CEASE-FIRE
The AUC, a brutal vigilante force that targets rebels and suspected civilian sympathizers, has held to a unilateral cease-fire since Dec. 1.
If the Panamanian police's version is confirmed, it could mean a breach of the paramilitaries' cease-fire -- a condition set by Colombian President Alvaro Uribe for holding peace talks with illegal armed groups.
It was not the first time foreigners have been caught in the middle of Colombia's war, which claims thousands of lives every year.
In 1993, FARC rebels kidnapped three U.S. missionaries near the border with Panama and killed them execution-style, Colombian authorities said.
In 1999, three American Indian rights activists were kidnapped by FARC rebels in the province of Arauca, in eastern Colombia. The three Americans, whom rebels accused of being members of the CIA, were tied with nylon cords, blindfolded and shot. Their bodies were dumped across Colombia's northeastern river border with Venezuela, authorities said. (Additional reporting by Robin Emmott in Panama City; Editing by Christopher Wilson; Reuters Messaging:luis.acosta.reuters.com@reuters.net; +571 634 4090)