Colombia: Rebels Release Captives

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/16/world/americas/colombia-rebels-release-captives.html

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The country’s largest guerrilla group on Friday released two police officers it had taken captive in a recent action that appeared to have briefly threatened the group’s peace talks with the government. The police officers were captured by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, in January, shortly after the group ended a two-month unilateral cease-fire. Government peace negotiators reacted angrily to the officers’ capture and the FARC quickly promised to release them. The FARC and the government began talks last fall to end their nearly 50-year war. Also on Friday, another rebel group, the National Liberation Army, or ELN, released five mining company contractors it kidnapped last month, said the International Committee of the Red Cross, which assisted with the release. In a Twitter post President Juan Manuel Santos criticized the ELN for not also releasing a Canadian captive.