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'I would love to hold him'
05/01/2008 17:34 - (SA)
Paris - The mother of Colombian hostage Clara Rojas said in an interview on Saturday with French radio that she has "dreamed for years" about meeting her grandson Emmanuel, which her daughter's captors have admitted is in foster care in Bogota.
A statement from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) said on Friday Emmanuel Rojas, whom the rebels earlier claimed was in their custody, was placed in foster care to protect him from anti-guerrilla operations and the constant displacements the rebels are forced to make, the Bolivarian News Agency said on its website.
The three-year-old boy was born from an allegedly consensual relationship between Rojas, taken hostage in 2002, and one of her captors.
"It is a moment I have dreamed about for years," Clara Gonzalez told France Inter radio.
She added that she would "love to kiss him, hold him, take him in my arms..." while realising it would be difficult to approach a child who has never known of her.
She said she realised she must take into consideration the boy's "condition, his age and the fact that he doesn't know me. But Emmanuel will always be welcome," she said.
The statement from the FARC guerrillas about the boy, dated January 2, came hours after Colombian Attorney General Mario Iguaran said DNA samples taken from the boy and the family of Clara Gonzalez showed a "very high probability" that he is indeed the hostage Rojas's son.
A second round of DNA tests of the little boy being conducted by a Spanish institute will be available in about a week, the institute's director told the Correo Gallego newspaper on Saturday.
The rebel's statement confirming that the boy in Bogota is Emmanuel also appears to give credit to accusations this week that FARC had delayed releasing the hostages, including the boy's mother, because they discovered the boy was not in their custody.
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