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Colombia rebels: Eight released after kidnap blamed on ELN | |
(about 17 hours later) | |
Eight people kidnapped in Colombia at the weekend have been released, President Juan Manuel Santos has said. | |
Mr Santos credited public pressure with forcing the kidnappers to release the seven men and one woman. | |
According to the army, gunmen forced the hostages into a boat on Sunday, taking them deep into the jungle in the western Chocó department. | |
The government had accused the National Liberation Army (ELN) of being behind the kidnapping. | |
Peace negotiations with the ELN - Colombia's second largest rebel group - started in February and another round of talks is due to begin in Ecuador next week. | |
The government demands that the rebels stop kidnapping people, as they frequently do, for financial gain. | |
Details are still unclear about Sunday's incident, which happened in a rural area of the town of Novita, 540km (335 miles) west of the capital, Bogota. | |
The hostages are seven men and a woman, all of them youngsters, local media report. | |
Colombia's Defence Minister, Luis Carlos Villegas, said 500 soldiers would be deployed to the region, in addition to the 6,300 men already in the area, a statement said (in Spanish). | Colombia's Defence Minister, Luis Carlos Villegas, said 500 soldiers would be deployed to the region, in addition to the 6,300 men already in the area, a statement said (in Spanish). |
The country's chief negotiator, Juan Camilo Restrepo, said on Twitter that the kidnappings "hamper enormously" the negotiations with the ELN. | The country's chief negotiator, Juan Camilo Restrepo, said on Twitter that the kidnappings "hamper enormously" the negotiations with the ELN. |
The talks with the group follow a peace agreement between the government and Colombia's largest rebel group, the Farc, last year. | The talks with the group follow a peace agreement between the government and Colombia's largest rebel group, the Farc, last year. |
The ELN rebels | The ELN rebels |