Colombia’s FARC vows to end civilian kidnappings

BOGOTA - Agence France-Presse

Colombia’s FARC, the country’s largest left-wing militant group, vowed Feb. 26 to free 10 remaining police and military hostages and to end once and for all its practice of kidnapping civilians, while Colombian leader said the move was “not sufficient.”

“We wish to announce that in addition to our already announced plans to free six prisoners of war, we will free the four others,” the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia militants said on their www.farc-ep.co site. The communique said the group planned to “outlaw the practice” of civilian kidnapping, which for decades it had used as a way to raise revenue, saying the tactic was no longer seen as compatible with “our revolutionary activity.”

Colombia’s President Juan Manuel Santos welcomed the FARC’s pledge, but said the moves were “not sufficient.” “We appreciate the announcement by the FARC that it is renouncing kidnapping as an important and necessary step in the right direction, but it is not sufficient,” the Colombian leader wrote on his Twitter account.