Colombia's FARC to release captured general
Colombia's FARC to release captured general
Rebel group and government announce agreement on terms for release of five people whose capture had halted peace talks.
Last updated: 20 Nov 2014 12:44
The armed rebel group FARC and the Colombian government have announced that they have agreed on conditions for releasing a captured general and four other people.
A joint statement from Cuba and Norway, who helped broker the deal, said the two sides agreed "on the conditions for the release" of Colombian army General Ruben Dario Alzate and four others taken captive in recent days by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, also known as FARC.
FARC had blamed the situation on the government for its insistence on negotiating without a ceasefire.
The Colombian army had launched a massive search for Alzate, captured by FARC on Sunday, a move that had derailed peace talks as they hit the two-year mark.
President Juan Manuel Santos, who had suspended the talks in Havana, immediately praised Wednesday's agreement, saying in a statement that government peace negotiators would return to the Cuban capital as soon as all the prisoners were released.
More:
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/americas/2014/11/farc-agrees-release-captured-general-20141119231522423811.html