Rebels in Colombia free journalists

www.jamaicaobserver.com Sunday, February 02, 2003

American photographer Scott Dalton waves before boarding a Red Cross plane at the Saravena airport, on the eastern border with Venezuela, after being released by rebels of the National Liberation Army, ELN, yesterday. At right, with hands on her hips is reporter Ruth Morris, a Briton raised in southern California. Dalton and Morris were kidnapped by the ELN, on January 21 while on assignment for the Los Angeles Times. (Photo: AP)

BOGOTA, (AFP) - Colombian rebels freed US photographer Scott Dalton and British reporter Ruth Morris, who were abducted January 21, the International Red Cross said yesterday.

The Los Angeles Times reporters, who were seized in the northeastern province of Arauca, were released "safe and sound" to an International Red Cross team between the towns of Fortul and Tame, in a jungle area some 300 kilometres (186 miles) northeast of Bogota, a Red Cross spokesman said. "They are doing well, and they are being taken to the airport in the town of Saravena to be brought back to Bogota," spokesman Carlos Rios said.

The two were due to be met upon arrival in Bogota by officials from the US and British embassies, the spokesman said. "They are well in general terms ... but they are undergoing necessary medical checks," Rios added. Bogota had called the kidnapping of Dalton and Morris "a serious mistake" for the ELN, which claims to be seeking peace.

Colombian President Alvaro Uribe said on Friday last that he wanted the pair's release as soon as possible without "drama." The ELN announced on Wednesday it had abducted the pair in Arauca province, where US soldiers are training Colombian troops to protect a key oil pipeline from rebel attacks.

But the group said it would "guarantee the life and safety" of the two and would release them "when political and military conditions warrant it." Also operating in the oil-producing Arauca province, which shares a border with Venezuela, are rebels from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and far-right paramilitaries of the United Self-Defence Forces of Colombia (AUC).

Colombia leads the world in kidnappings, with more than 3,000 people taken hostage each year by rebels and drug gangs. It also has the world's highest fatality rate for journalists, with 114 killed since 1989, according to the head of the Inter-American Press Association's press freedom committee. Last week, US diplomats in Colombia were working to ensure the safe passage back to the United States of three other Americans who were released January 23 by right-wing paramilitaries who had been holding them for almost a week.

Megan Smaker, Mark Wedeven and Robert Young Pelton were handed over at Unguia, in Uraba, some 550 kilometres (340 miles) northwest of Bogota, police said. Paramilitary leader Carlos Castano had said the three were rescued during a gun battle with leftist guerrillas. Both the 4,000-strong ELN, the 17,000-strong FARC, and Castano's AUC have been designated "foreign terrorist organisations" by Washington.