Colombian president: opponent can accompany releases but only if FARC frees all hostages

September 19th, 2009 Colombia extradites captured guerrilla to USBOGOTA — A captured leftist rebel who unwittingly helped officials rescue 15 hostages — including three American military contractors — was bundled aboard a plane to Florida on Saturday to face charges of terrorism in a U.S. federal court.

September 19th, 2009 Uribe changes tack on release of rebels' hostagesBOGOTA, Colombia — President Alvaro Uribe's government said Saturday it is dropping a demand that Colombia's main rebel group release all its police and military hostages at once, possibly opening the way for negotiations. Colombia's peace commissioner, Frank Pearl, said relatives of the hostages had met with Uribe and asked him to help secure their loved ones' freedom.

September 19th, 2009 BOGOTA - Colombia has extradited a captured leftist guerrilla, the ex-girlfriend of a jailer of high-value captives rescued last year, and nine other suspects to the US. Nancy Conde Rubio, alias Doris Adriana, who is accused of serving as logistics coordinator for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, was the girlfriend of Gerardo Antonio Aguilar, one of the jailers of three kidnapped US military contractors freed in a dramatic operation on July 2, 2008.

September 15th, 2009 BOGOTA - A FARC guerrilla who guarded 15 high-value hostages, including former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt who was rescued by the Colombian military last year, has surrendered, the army said. The guerrilla, known as "Angelo", turned himself in to soldiers in Miraflores, a hamlet in the southern province of Guaviare, and requested protection.

September 7th, 2009 Colombia releases new videos of 10 FARC hostagesBOGOTA — Authorities released "proof-of-life" videos Monday showing 10 soldiers and police officers held captive by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, for more than a decade. The footage shows the four military men and six officers sitting individually in front of a camouflage cloth on a makeshift hammock, restrained by chains padlocked around their necks.

August 18th, 2009 Videos of rebel-held hostages released in ColombiaBOGOTA — Videos of nine hostages held by Colombian rebels were turned over to their families Monday as proof they remain alive. Videos of six Colombian police officers and three soldiers were obtained by Sen.

July 26th, 2009 BOGOTA - At least 45 rebels of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) were killed Saturday in an aerial bombardment in Meta province, the Caracol radio station reported. The attack came as Colombian forces were hunting down Jorge Briceno, one of the leaders of the leftist rebel organisation.

July 25th, 2009 Colombian: 16 rebels, 1 soldier killed in fightingBOGOTA — The Colombian military says at least 16 suspected guerrillas and one soldier have been killed in clashes. Defense Minister Gen.

April 30th, 2009 BOGOTA - Eight Colombian soldiers were killed and another wounded in clashes with Leftist guerrillas in a mountainous area near the border with Venezuela, military sources said Thursday. The gunbattle between an army unit and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) fighters occurred Wednesday in the El Templado region in the restive Caribbean province of La Guajira.

April 30th, 2009 BOGOTA - Eight Colombian soldiers have been killed in a clash with leftist rebels of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in the northeastern Perija mountains on the Venezuelan border. 'Unfortunately eight military officers died today in the province of La Guajira.

March 1st, 2009 BOGOTA - The latest fighting between Colombian military forces and guerillas from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) left 11 people dead, authorities said Saturday. The death toll comprised 10 alleged members of FARC, a Marxist group that has been waging a civil war for 45 years, and one government soldier, the military said in a statement.

February 9th, 2009 BOGOTA - The leftist rebels of Colombia who have unilaterally freed six captives last week have now softened their terms to release other prominent hostages, EFE news agency reported Tuesday. In their messages handed over to opposition Senator Piedad Cordoba during last week's hostage releases, the leaders of Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) said they were not ready to release other 22 top captives without a 'humanitarian exchange' that includes hundreds of jailed guerrillas.

January 30th, 2009 BOGOTA - Colombia's largest leftist rebel group will free from its captivity six hostages, including two politicians and security personnel, EFE reported. The hostages will be released in three stages, Colombia's Senator Piedad Cordoba said, adding that the four security personnel would be freed Sunday, while former governor Alan Jara and former lawmaker Sigifredo Lopez would be handed over Monday and Wednesday, respectively.

January 13th, 2009 BOGOTA - Two Colombian rebels have turned themselves in to the police along with two hostages they were guarding, in apparent response to government offers of rewards for turning themselves in, the authorities said. Two members of the leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) identified with the aliases 'Ernesto' and 'David' Tuesday fled a camp between the villages of Cubarral and Vistahermosa, in the central Colombian province of Meta.

January 3rd, 2009 BOGOTA - The Colombian Army has seized a huge cache of explosives belonging to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in southwestern part of the country, EFE reported. Soldiers have found 432 grenades of different types in a FARC hideout in Paez Belalcazar City in Cauca province, the army said in a statement Sunday.