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Colombian rebels tricked into releasing hostages
Latin America News.Net
Thursday 3rd July, 2008
In an epic operation, the Colombian Army have infiltrated the ranks of the country's fiercest leftist rebels and rescued former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt and 14 others without blood-letting or a bullet fired.
Defence Minister Juan Manuel Santos has revealed
the operatives convinced the FARC squad's chief, known as Cesar, that they had been sent by the guerrilla army's new leader, Alfonso Cano, to transport the rebels and their prisoners to another location.
Once they had coaxed Cesar and his deputy onto a helicopter with the hostages, the intelligence operatives revealed their true identities and placed the rebels in custody.
The minister said the mission had been planned more than a year ago.
Betancourt, who was kidnapped by the rebels during the course of her election campaign in 2002, has arrived in Bogota along with other other 11 captives to a jubilant welcome from their families.
Betancourt's mother, Yolanda Pulecio, embraced Ingrid as she got off the Colombian air force jet that carried the freed hostages to Bogota's Catam airbase from the southern province of Guaviare.
Betancourt, a dual Colombian-French citizen who was the most prominent of the FARC prisoners, wept and thanked the Colombian army for the unprecedented and daring rescue operation.
Besides Betancourt, the rescued group included three US military contractors who were captured in 2003 when their small plane went down in rebel-controlled territory.
Colombian President Alvaro Uribe praised the army for the daring operation and said: 'Everything was meticulously prepared.'
In a televised address, Uribe said the troops left some 60 rebels on the ground when the helicopter took off and the operation was completed without firing a single bullet.
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Comments on this story
WWD
07-03-08, 10:31 AM |
Colombian rebels tricked into releasing hostages
Way to go alvaro uribe/colombia army and congratulations to betancourt for save rescue.
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Anonymous
07-03-08, 11:07 AM |
So called Rebels.
Like guevara. Modern day lilterrorists.
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waltky
07-03-08, 09:50 PM |
Wonder who gonna pay the tab?...
:confused:
U.S. spent $250M on hostage search
3 July `08 - Military says it looked daily for contractors captured by Colombian rebels
]
The U.S. military says it flew thousands of spy flights over Colombian jungles trying to find and free three Pentagon contractors since their kidnapping in 2003. In the end, U.S. officials said, it was a daring operation by Colombian military intelligence agents that finally rescued the American trio from leftist rebels.
Until this week’s rescue, some U.S. government officials despaired that Tom Howes, Marc Gonsalves and Keith Stansell might ever be freed. Some counterterror, military and diplomatic officials familiar with Bush administration efforts to secure their release questioned whether enough was being done.
On Thursday, Col. William Costello, spokesman for the U.S. Southern Command, said the command made 3,600 intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance flights, followed up on 175 intelligence leads and spent $250 million trying.
“We’ve been actively searching for these guys every day for the past five and half years," Costello said. FBI spokesman Richard Kolko said the agency sent crisis negotiators and investigators on “countless trips to Bogota” since the kidnapping.
[url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25521147/:
'A supporting role'[/url]
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wacama
07-04-08, 06:17 AM |
A job well done by the Colombian Armed Forces. Kodos for everybody who made it very succesful. Thanks.
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