Colombia: Missing journalist may not be hostage of rebels

[Judi Lynn]

Colombia: Missing journalist may not be hostage of rebels
May 25, 6:19 PM EDT
By LIBARDO CARDONA
Associated Press

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) -- Colombia's president said Wednesday that a Spanish journalist missing in a lawless region might not be a hostage of leftist rebels as has been widely thought in this war-weary country, but instead is reporting from inside a rebel camp.

President Juan Manuel Santos' comments provided a glimmer of hope after four days of so far unsuccessful searching for Salud Hernandez-Mora, a longtime correspondent for the Spanish newspaper El Mundo and a prominent columnist for the Bogota daily El Tiempo.

Santos said he has received information that Hernandez-Mora made contact with the National Liberation Army by choice and that the rebel group was trying to figure out how to return her safely amid the extensive search by security forces. He said he was still trying to verify the report but that it came from a trustworthy source whom he didn't identify.

"It's not completely verified but it has logic," Santos said, adding that the information coincided with information from the journalist's editors

More:
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/L/LT_COLOMBIA_MISSING_JOURNALISTS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2016-05-25-18-19-20

[Eugene]

1. Three missing journalists being held by Colombia's ELN rebels: government

Source: Reuters

World | Thu May 26, 2016 7:38pm EDT

Three missing journalists being held by Colombia's ELN rebels: government

The Colombian Marxist rebel group, the National Liberation Army, is responsible for the disappearance of three journalists who disappeared in recent days near the border with Venezuela, Colombia's defense minister said on Thursday.

The reporters vanished while working in El Tarra municipality in Norte de Santander, where the group, known as the ELN, earns money from illegal cocaine production in the lawless region about 400 km (250 miles) north of Bogota.

The government did not classify the disappearances as kidnappings, but the group has held hundreds captive during more than 50 years of war.

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"Based on intelligence information gathered until up to a few hours ago, it's confirmed that the ELN is responsible for the disappearance of the three journalists," Defense Minister Luis Carlos Villegas told reporters.

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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-colombia-rebels-idUSKCN0YH2R8