Army arrests man carrying proof of Colombian hostages' condition
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[September 07, 2009]

Army arrests man carrying proof of Colombian hostages' condition

(EFE Ingles Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Bogota, Sep 7 (EFE).- The Colombian army has found proof that several hostages being held by the FARC guerrilla group are alive, arresting a man over the weekend who was carrying the information in a USB computer memory stick, officials said Monday.



The proofs of life seized by the army are photos of 10 of the 23 soldiers and police that the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, guerrilla group is holding captive, acting Attorney General Guillermo Mendoza said.

They are "specifically photographs and details of personnel of the armed forces that are being held hostage," Mendoza said at a press conference in Bogota.



He also discussed the arrest of Ramiro Valbuena Ospina, a FARC courier, that occurred Saturday as he was riding a motorcycle down the highway between the central city of Villavicencia and Bogota.

The suspected rebel, who belongs to the FARC's 44th Front, was carrying a USB computer memory stick with proofs of life of four soldiers and six police, some of them kidnapped as long ago as 1998.

"This is proof contained in electronic media," Mendoza said.

A judge on Monday ordered the release of Valbuena Ospina because the soldiers and judicial authorities taking part in his arrest and investigation violated his due process rights.

This is the second message send by the FARC that has been intercepted by the army since November 2007, when intelligence units arrested two women and a man in Bogota with videos of several hostages, among whom appeared the ex-presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt.

On July 2, 2008, the Colombian army rescued former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, U.S. military contractors Thomas Howes, Keith Stansell and Marc Gonsalves, and 11 other Colombian police officers and soldiers. EFE jgh/cd (c) 2009 EFE News Services (U.S.) Inc.

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