• Company
  • Products online
  • News terminal

Products online

  • News terminal
  • Caspian Oil & Gas Trends
  • Monthly Azerbaijan Business Monitoring
  • Weekly Azerbaijan Business Monitoring
  • Caspian, Turkey Building & Logistics Monitoring
  • Azerbaijan Energy Projects Review
  • Azerbaijan Banking Analytics
  • Iran Energy Economy Review
  • Central Asia Economic Outlook
  • Weekly Tenders Report
  • Azerbaijan Industry Agriculture Review
  • Azerbaijan Monthly IСT Monitoring
  • Regional Finance
ORDER TRIAL VERSION

Company

  • About company
  • Trend Information Service
  • Vacancies

Communications

  • Reference
  • Achievements

For clients

  • How to subscribe
  • Instant paid access
  • Support service

Trend in social networks

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Youtube
  • Telegram
  • RSS
  • IOS
  • Android

Info Services

  • Trend Politics
  • Trend Society
  • Trend Economy
  • Trend Energy
  • Trend ICT
  • Trend Tourism
  • Trend Culture

Contacts

  • Bakhtiyar Vahabzade Str., 14, Baku, Azerbaijan, AZ1141.
  • sales@trend.az
  • + 994 12 437-12-68
  • RU
  • AZ
  • EN
  • TR
  • FA
AzerNews.Az Today.Az
  • Login
  • Sign up
Trend.Az
  • Latest
  • Azerbaijan
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
    • Society
    • Other News
  • Economy
    • Oil&Gas
    • ICT
    • Finance
    • Business
    • Tenders
    • Tourism
    • Construction
    • Transport
  • Iran
    • Nuclear Program
    • Politics
    • Business
    • Society
  • Central Asia
    • Kyrgyzstan
    • Kazakhstan
    • Turkmenistan
    • Tajikistan
    • Uzbekistan
  • South Caucasus
    • Armenia
    • Georgia
  • World
    • Turkey
    • Europe
    • US
    • Russia
    • Israel
    • China
    • Arab World
    • Other News
  • Latest
  • Azerbaijan
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
    • Society
    • Other News
  • Economy
    • Oil&Gas
    • ICT
    • Finance
    • Business
    • Tenders
    • Tourism
    • Construction
    • Transport
  • Iran
    • Nuclear Program
    • Politics
    • Business
    • Society
  • Central Asia
    • Kyrgyzstan
    • Kazakhstan
    • Turkmenistan
    • Tajikistan
    • Uzbekistan
  • South Caucasus
    • Armenia
    • Georgia
  • World
    • Turkey
    • Europe
    • US
    • Russia
    • Israel
    • China
    • Arab World
    • Other News
  • Trend Photo
  • Login
  • Sign up
  • Home
  • World
  • Other News

Two hostages freed in Colombia

10 January 2008 22:00 (UTC+04:00)
  • 0
  • 0

Leftist rebels in Colombia on Thursday freed two long-time hostages, the International Committee of the Red Cross in Bogota said.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who had led efforts to secure the hostages release, said he talked over the telephone to released politicians Clara Rojas and Consuelo Gonzalez, who told him they were in good condition.

The women boarded helicopters in the Colombian jungle and left for the Venezuelan town of Santo Domingo, a Red Cross official in Bogota said. The helicopters were to refuel there before travelling on to Caracas, where relatives of the two hostages have been waiting for weeks.

Two Venezuelan helicopters marked as Red Cross vehicles travelled to coordinates provided by FARC in the southern Colombian jungle to retrieve the hostages. It was the second attempt in two weeks to free them.

"They are in our hands, we are very happy," said Barbara Hintermann, head of the Red Cross in the Colombian capital.

Red Cross spokesman Yves Heller said it was not known when Rojas, 44, and Gonzalez, 57, would return to Colombia and that the Red Cross did not know their health condition. It was not known whether FARC planned to release other hostages in the coming days, he said.

Colombian Defence Minister Juan Manuel Santos expressed his satisfaction with the releases and said he hoped FARC would follow the move by freeing some 750 other hostages.

Chavez said the next objective was obtaining the liberation of all FARC hostages and "beyond that, to seek peace for Colombia."

The families of Rojas, a former vice presidential candidate, and Gonzalez, a former legislator, expressed their joy and said they eagerly looked forward to meeting their loved ones. The meeting was expected to take place in Caracas.

The two women had been held by FARC for several years, along with hundreds of other civilians and Colombian officials, some of whom have been held for more than 10 years.

The Colombian government authorized the mission and ordered the suspension of military operations in a large area of the southern province of Guaviare.

In 2007, Chavez acted as a mediator in an effort to secure an exchange of some 50 politically relevant FARC hostages for hundreds of leftist rebels held in prison.

But he was dismissed from the job in November by Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, after talking directly with a Colombian general after he had specifically been asked not to do so.

In late December, Chavez orchestrated a high-profile international attempt to free Gonzalez, Rojas and her 3-year-old son, Emmanuel, who was born in captivity from a consenting relationship a rank-and-file rebel.

That operation was called off last week, and Uribe shocked the world by announcing FARC could not release Emmanuel because he was already in state custody and had been free for over two years. DNA tests later confirmed a boy in state custody was indeed Rojas' son.

Rojas was kidnapped on February 23, 2002 along with her party's presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, who holds dual French- Colombian citizenship and is the highest-profile hostage held by FARC.

Gonzalez, then a legislator for the opposition Liberal Party, was kidnapped on September 10, 2001. Her husband, former legislator Jairo Perdomo, died of heart problems during her captivity, in 2003.

The team to release the hostages included Venezuelan Interior Minister Ramon Rodriguez Chacin, the Cuban ambassador to Venezuela, four Red Cross delegates and Colombian Senator Piedad Cordoba, who worked with Chavez last year in mediation efforts.

The Colombian government asked that Cuba join the mission "to acknowledge the efforts that the Cuban government and (President) Fidel Castro have made for a long time for peace in Colombia," Chavez said. ( Dpa )

Follow Trend on Telegram. Only most interesting and important news

Category news
Trump says Kim Jong Un risks losing 'everything' after North Korea claims major test
US 20:52
Sudan has 5,000 troops in Yemen, down from 15,000
Arab World 20:10
Death toll in Odessa college fire rises to 10
Other News 18:51
Afghan forces kill 5 militants in western province
Other News 13:50
Australian firefighters try to control bushfires ahead of hot days
Other News 11:29
Death toll in Delhi fire reaches 43 (UPDATED)
World 10:38
Latest
Lebanon's Hariri reemerges as PM candidate as Khatib withdraws
Arab World 22:29
U.S. banks' reluctance to lend cash may have caused repo shock
US 21:35
Exports of goods via “single window” up in Azerbaijan
Business 20:55
Trump says Kim Jong Un risks losing 'everything' after North Korea claims major test
US 20:52
Sudan has 5,000 troops in Yemen, down from 15,000
Arab World 20:10
Putin welcomes progress in Russia-Belarus integration
Russia 19:27
Death toll in Odessa college fire rises to 10
Other News 18:51
Britain's PM Johnson says election race not over yet
Europe 18:13
France ready to take Trump's tariff threat to WTO: Le Maire
Europe 17:37
Most popular
Azerbaijani FM: First step in resolving Karabakh conflict should be elimination of its major consequences
Azerbaijani FM: First step in resolving Karabakh conflict should be elimination of its major consequences
Kazakh President to pay official visit to Germany
World Bank inks agreement with IFAS in Ashgabat
Azerbaijani, Kazakh ports to help expand potential of Caspian region
Commentary
Turkish diplomat: Armenia must fulfill 3 basic demands of Ankara to establish relations

Turkish diplomat: Armenia must fulfill 3 basic demands of Ankara to establish relations

Azerbaijani parliament needs new persons dealing with tasks more effectively - expert
Decision to dissolve parliament - breakthrough in light of reforms in Azerbaijan
Azernews Newspaper
Trend.Az
  • About
  • Our Team
  • Products online
  • Trend Information Service
  • News terminal
  • News archive
Contacts
14, Bakhtiyar Vahabzade, Baku, Azerbaijan, AZ1141
+(994 12) 497-31-72
news@trend.az
+(994 12) 497-30-89
© 2019 Trend News Agency
Terms of use