Bogotá, Colombia, Apr 3, 2012 / 11:09 am
The International Red Cross Commission confirmed on April 2 that ten hostages kidnapped in 1998 by the Marxist rebel group FARC in Colombia have been released.
In a statement issued on Monday, the commission said the group released four soldiers and six police officers.
Local Church leaders praised the news, with Archbishop of Bogota Ruben Salazar Gomez calling the move “a necessary first step to start the process of dialogue in order to end the scourge of civil war in Colombia.”
Archbishop Salazar urged all groups “that are still holding people as hostages to release them as soon as possible, in order to allow the crime of kidnapping to disappear from our country forever.”