FARC free abducted Colombian soldier
Members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) set up a check point at the entrance of San Isidro, in the Colombian southern department of Caqueta, on May 30, 2012 (AFP Photo/Luis Acosta)FARC guerrillas on Sunday freed a Colombian soldier after holding him for nearly two weeks, the president said, on the eve of a unilateral rebel ceasefire.
Lieutenant Cristian Moscoso "is free and in good condition," President Juan Manuel Santos wrote on Twitter, following an International Committee of the Red Cross humanitarian operation.
Moscoso, 26, was abducted on July 7 while fighting the FARC in Putumayo department in the south of the country. He was injured in the fighting, but not badly.
The FARC — the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia — are the largest rebel force in Colombia with around 8,000 fighters. The internal conflict has gone on for half a century and claimed some 200,000 lives.
A slow-moving peace process has been taking place since 2012, but fighting continues.
However, last week the FARC said it had agreed to a one-month unilateral ceasefire starting on Monday, raising hopes for a breakthrough in the talks.
SOURCE: AFP
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