Colombia's ELN rebels free two Dutch journalists
Reuters
Published Jun 23, 2017 03:24PM ET
Colombia's ELN rebels free two Dutch journalists
BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombia's Marxist ELN rebel group said on Friday it has freed two Dutch journalists captured this week in the northeast of the Andean country.
The reporters, Derk Johannes Bolt, 62, a television journalist, and Eugenio Ernest Marie Follender, 58, a cameraman, "have been released in perfect conditions," the group said on Twitter.
Bolt and Follender were seized in El Tarra in Norte de Santander (MC:SAN) on Monday.
The 2,000-strong ELN frequently kidnaps Colombians and foreigners, many of whom work in oil operations, for ransom and political leverage.
The ELN, the second-largest rebel group after the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), is in talks with the government to put an end to more than five decades of war.
FARC signed a peace deal last year and is currently demobilizing its guerillas.
More than 220,000 people have been killed in a conflict that pitted the military against the FARC, ELN and right-wing paramilitary armies.
Last year the ELN seized a Spanish journalist, freeing her six days later.
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Written By: Reuters
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