Journalists seized in Colombia

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Two journalists, an American photographer and a British reporter, on assignment for an American newspaper, were kidnapped, Colombian rebels said yesterday in a radio broadcast. Three other foreigners believed abducted were freed late on Thursday.

The two were seized on Tuesday at a rebel roadblock in one of the most violent regions of Colombia. They were led away from their taxi with hoods on their heads, but had been told they were being taken for an encounter with a rebel commander.

Meanwhile, three reporters who were reported missing last Sunday in Panama, just north of the Colombian border, were turned over to church officials on Thursday.

They were reportedly seized by the right-wing United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia last Sunday. One journalist, Robert Pelton, gained worldwide attention with an interview of American Taliban suspect John Walker Lindh while covering the war in Afghanistan for CNN.

The rebel said the journalists were being held and "in due time, they will be freed, when the political and military conditions permit."

The kidnapping occurred 330 kilometers northeast of Bogota. Several dozen U.S. special forces are to be stationed at an army base in the area, located near Venezuela.

The rebels claimed the two journalists had arrived in the guerrilla stronghold without their permission.

"You must take into account that Arauca state has been declared a war zone by the U.S. and Colombia," the rebels said. "For that reason, the National Liberation Army is (acting) in the defense of the dignity of all the people of eastern Colombia."

The country is one of the most dangerous in the world to work in, but local journalists have been the ones usually targeted.

(The Associated Press)