4 Chinese oil workers freed by Columbian rebels- Joseph Katinas

In Bogota, Columbia, four chinese oil workers have been freed in the same southern jungles where the country's largest rebel group had kidnapped them 17 months ago, police said Thursday. The four Chinese nationals, three contractors and a translator, were the only foreigners known to still be held by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia, or FARC. There release around midnight Wednesday to the International Red Cross comes three days after FARC and Columbia's government began peace talks in Cuba that were partially conditioned on the rebels extortive kidnappping. It led Columbia's defense minister to call them 'mendacious and traitorous' Thursday for having claimed in September to no longer hold kidnap victims. The rebels announced in February that they were halting all kidnapping and they insist they hold no more captives, neither "political prisoners" nor "economic" hostages. The FARC has been fighting successful Columbian governments for half a century and has used political kidnapping for leverage and as a financing source, at one point lodging three U.S. military contractors as well as several dozen prominent Columbian politicians. Asked whether or not a ransom was paid for the men's release, Chinese ambassador Wang Xiaoyuan told reporters in Bogota that "a ransom was not even demanded.". He said no one ever claimed responsibility for the kidnapping. I like this article. It showed how a disagreement was settled without a single shot. news.yahoo.com/4-chinese-oil-workers-freed-columbian-rebels-230102812--finance.html