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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Colombian minister flees captors | Colombian minister flees captors |
| (about 7 hours later) | |
| A Colombian ex-minister held hostage for more than six years by left-wing guerrillas has escaped after a military operation to secure his release. | A Colombian ex-minister held hostage for more than six years by left-wing guerrillas has escaped after a military operation to secure his release. |
| A number of rebels from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc) are said to have been killed. | A number of rebels from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc) are said to have been killed. |
| Fernando Araujo was one of 59 high profile hostages held by the Farc as potential bargaining chips for a prisoner exchange with the government. | Fernando Araujo was one of 59 high profile hostages held by the Farc as potential bargaining chips for a prisoner exchange with the government. |
| He is on his way to be reunited with his family in the city of Cartagena. | He is on his way to be reunited with his family in the city of Cartagena. |
| Video | Video |
| The former development minister escaped from a rebel camp in the north of the country as Farc rebels battled troops, Defence Minister Juan Manuel Santos said. | The former development minister escaped from a rebel camp in the north of the country as Farc rebels battled troops, Defence Minister Juan Manuel Santos said. |
| I escaped... with only the clothes I was wearing Fernando Araujoformer hostage Mr Araujo, he added, was in good health, and the offensive in a rural part of the department of Bolivar was continuing. | |
| Mr Araujo said he was the only hostage in the camp and had made a "decision of life and death" to flee when the gunfight began. | |
| He said: "I escaped... with only the clothes I was wearing, not a drop of water, without a blanket, without a machete - only with my fingernails to find the route that would return me to freedom." | |
| President Alvaro Uribe said an informant had led troops to the camp. | |
| The last time Mr Araujo's family had heard he was alive was in December 2005, when the Farc released a video in which he called on the government to agree to a prisoner exchange. | The last time Mr Araujo's family had heard he was alive was in December 2005, when the Farc released a video in which he called on the government to agree to a prisoner exchange. |
| He had been captured in December 2000, while jogging on the beach in Cartagena, his home town. | He had been captured in December 2000, while jogging on the beach in Cartagena, his home town. |
| Mr Araujo served under President Andres Pastrana who governed from 1998 to 2002. | |
| The Farc is the largest of the left-wing rebel groups in Colombia. | The Farc is the largest of the left-wing rebel groups in Colombia. |
| It has been fighting state forces and right-wing paramilitaries in a long-running conflict in which kidnapping, extortion and drug trafficking have played a major part. | It has been fighting state forces and right-wing paramilitaries in a long-running conflict in which kidnapping, extortion and drug trafficking have played a major part. |
| Tens of thousands of civilians have been killed. | Tens of thousands of civilians have been killed. |