Chinese oil workers freed by Colombian rebel group
Source: Agencies |
November 23, 2012, Friday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
COLOMBIA'S main rebel group has released four Chinese oil workers in the same southern jungles where it kidnapped them 17 months ago, authorities said yesterday.
The four Chinese nationals, three contractors and a translator, were the only foreigners known to be held by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.
Their release around midnight on Wednesday to the International Red Cross comes three days after the FARC and Colombia's government began peace talks in Cuba.
The rebels announced in February that they were halting all kidnapping and they insist they are holding no more captives, neither "political prisoners" nor "economic" hostages.
The rebels, who have been fighting successive Colombian governments for a half century, have used kidnapping for political leverage and as a financing source.
It was not known whether a ransom was paid for the four men.
State police chief Colonel Carlos Vargas said they were released in good shape in a rural area of San Vicente del Caguan.
Employed by the British company Emerald Energy, part of the China-based Sinochem Group, they were seized on June 8, 2011, while engaged in oil exploration work.
The men's driver, who was released with their vehicle, said they were taken by at least seven FARC rebels.
Authorities identified the freed men as Tang Guofu, 28, Zhao Hongwei, 36, Jian Mingfu, 46, and Jiang Shan, 24. They said Jiang was the translator.
National police director General Jose Roberto Leon told reporters the liberation was coordinated by the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Chinese government.
China's ambassador Wang Xiaoyuan said in a radio interview last week that the embassy had never received any proof-of-life evidence for the four men and neither their relatives nor the company had contact with them.
The four Chinese nationals, three contractors and a translator, were the only foreigners known to be held by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.
Their release around midnight on Wednesday to the International Red Cross comes three days after the FARC and Colombia's government began peace talks in Cuba.
The rebels announced in February that they were halting all kidnapping and they insist they are holding no more captives, neither "political prisoners" nor "economic" hostages.
The rebels, who have been fighting successive Colombian governments for a half century, have used kidnapping for political leverage and as a financing source.
It was not known whether a ransom was paid for the four men.
State police chief Colonel Carlos Vargas said they were released in good shape in a rural area of San Vicente del Caguan.
Employed by the British company Emerald Energy, part of the China-based Sinochem Group, they were seized on June 8, 2011, while engaged in oil exploration work.
The men's driver, who was released with their vehicle, said they were taken by at least seven FARC rebels.
Authorities identified the freed men as Tang Guofu, 28, Zhao Hongwei, 36, Jian Mingfu, 46, and Jiang Shan, 24. They said Jiang was the translator.
National police director General Jose Roberto Leon told reporters the liberation was coordinated by the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Chinese government.
China's ambassador Wang Xiaoyuan said in a radio interview last week that the embassy had never received any proof-of-life evidence for the four men and neither their relatives nor the company had contact with them.
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