Colombian rebels slay 10
2003-05-06 09:14
Bogota - Leftist rebels on Monday assassinated two abducted top former Colombian government officials and eight soldiers during a botched rescue attempt, a major setback in attempts to resolve the thorny issue of guerrilla hostages.
Rebels with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc) killed Guillermo Gaviria - kidnapped when he was governor of Antioquia -- and his then-provincial peace commissioner Gilberto Echeverri, also a former defence minister.
Eight hostage soldiers were also slain, a source at the attorney general's office said. Two other military hostages were wounded, and a third managed to escape.
In a statement, the Farc rebels said that the hostages were killed when 600 soldiers attempted a rescue operation. Radio news citing military sources said the hostages were killed when military aircraft flew over the area.
After an initial denial, a spokesman for President Alvaro Uribe said an attempt was made to rescue 13 rebel hostages, but denied any large military deployment or fighting.
Gaviria, 40, and Echeverri, 69, were abducted in April 2002 while participating in a pro-peace march near the northwestern city of Medellin, the provincial capital.
Uribe - a former Medellin mayor and Antioquia governor himself - immediately flew to the site where the bodies were found.
In mid-March the rebels even released a videotape of the two men along with former economic development minister Fernando Araujo in which they asked for a humanitarian prisioner exchange.
Gaviria's widow, Yolanda Pinto, called for peace. "I ask God to end the hatred among Colombians, that we find the path to non-violence," she said.
The Farc, the country's largest guerrilla group, is holding more than 800 hostages, including three Americans captured when their surveillance plane was shot down, presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, senators, governors, mayors, police, and members of military.
Farc rebels want to swap about 80 of their blue-chip hostages for guerrillas being held in government prisons in a large demilitarised area. Gaviria and Echeverri were on the list.
The rebels controlled a demilitarised Switzerland-sized swath of southern Colombia until one year ago as an inducement to reach a peace agreement with former president Andres Pastrana.
Earlier on Monday Uribe told National Radio Network (RCN) that if rebels sought to renew peace talks, he would not hand over any land for them to demobilise.
Uribe repeated his other conditions for peace talks: that the UN participate, that demobilised guerrillas stay out of trouble and that the rebels release all those they have kidnapped.
Colombia leads the world in kidnappings, with more than 3 000 hostages taken each year. A smaller leftist insurgency, right-wing paramilitaries and common criminals also engage in abductions.
The office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights condemmed the killings, and calling for an immediate release of all hostages.
In Washington, Human Rights Watch also called for a hostage release.
"The onus for these death lays squarely on guerrillas," said Jose Miguel Vivanco, a top HRW official. "It is past time for the armed groups that use kidnapping to release safely the hundreds of Colombians and others who remain in captivity."
Uribe also told RCN that US personnel and helicopters have helped Colombia fend off leftist rebel attacks.
"The United States has helped us transport our troops to where we have a terrorist problem," he told the radio network. "We have been able in several cases to use their helicopters to rescue a town, to save our police from a terrorist attack," he said.
When asked if US pilots flew the helicopters, Uribe was less clear.
"I cannot offer details, but everything is within the law, which is why I am open about the matter, without hiding things," he said, speaking after returning from a five-day trip to Washington.
US aid under Plan Colombia has already topped two billion dollars.