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Excerpt - CAIRO, Sept 29 (Reuters) - All 11 Western tourists and eight Egyptians taken hostage by gunmen in a remote border area of Egypt more than a week ago have been freed and are in good health, state-run Egyptian television said on Monday. ~ snip ~

MOGADISHU, Somalia — A man claiming to be a spokesman for the Somali pirates who seized a ship laden with Russian tanks says they want $20 million to release the vessel. Sugule Ali says others who have made earlier ransom demands did not speak for the particular pirates who hijacked the Ukrainian-operated cargo ship Faina on Thursday.

A year ago, the Ramsey County sheriff's office began looking closely at a group called the Republican National Convention Welcoming Committee. What it found, according to an 18-page search warrant application and affidavit, led to weekend raids on two Minneapolis homes and a temporary St. Paul office for the self-described anarchist group. According to the document, investigation learned: The self-described anarchist group — whose main goal was to "crash" the Republican National Convention," according to its Web site — traveled to or communicated with affinity groups in 67 cities to recruit members and raise money. Group members discussed the possibility...

The Pioneer Press reports that the Ramsey County, Minnesota, Sheriff's office investigated an anarchist group that was considering kidnapping delegates to the Republican Party's convention in St. Paul. The would-be terrorists, who called themselves the "Republican National Convention Welcoming Committee," planned to shut down the convention. The group bears a striking resemblance to the Weathermen, a violent terrorist group founded by Barack Obama's unrepentant terrorist associate William Ayers. According to the news report: # The self-described anarchist group - whose main goal was to "crash" the Republican National Convention," according to its Web site - traveled to or communicated with...

More than 130 Georgian civilians are being held captive by South Ossetian authorities in the regional capital, Tskhinvali, after being rounded up and herded into a single room in the interior ministry headquarters here, the Guardian has learned. The prisoners, who were plucked off the streets according to their nationality soon after hostilities broke out 10 days ago, are being kept indefinitely in the hope of exchanging them for Ossetian civilians allegedly abducted by Georgian soldiers during the conflict. One interior ministry official confirmed the plan, saying: "We hope there will be an exchange soon." The 131 "hostages" are being...

NGOs: Europe once urged Colombia to pay any price to free hostages. Now it pitches a fit when its own bill comes due. The International Red Cross' fury at Colombia for improper use of its emblem to save 15 lives is out of line.The argument goes that Colombia shouldn't have let an undercover soldier use a Red Cross bib over his Palestinian keffiyeh (a get-up that FARC found perfectly credible) to rescue 15 hostages on July 2, because it might make the FARC and groups like it distrustful of future Red Cross efforts. "If authenticated, these images could clearly establish...

Bogotá (ICRC) – Yesterday, 23 July, in a rural area of Vigía del Fuerte, Antioquia department, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) received eight civilians who had been held by the FARC-EP since 17 July 2008. The operation was the outcome of a strictly confidential dialogue between the parties concerned and the ICRC’s neutral and independent humanitarian action. The civilians were released following a request made by the FARC to the ICRC. The ICRC will continue to support efforts to find means of obtaining the release of other hostages and detainees in the hands of armed groups....

The Mossad secret was involved in the operation to free hostage Ingrid Betancourt from Colombian rebels, AFP quoted a Spanish newspaper as reporting on Sunday. Former hostage Ingrid Betancourt, right, greets her daughter Melaine Delloye after Melanie arrived from France to a military base in Bogota. Photo: AP Slideshow: Pictures of the week According to the report, American and French secret services were also involved. "Mossad, the US, and French intelligence services worked for more than a year with the Colombian authorities to develop the plan," the story run by Vanguardia claimed, citing an Israeli secret service source. The Jerusalem...

Excerpt - The kidnappers of five British hostages seized in Baghdad last year have claimed in a video-taped statement that one of the men has killed himself. According to the statement, the hostage – named only as Jason – died on May 25, four days before the first anniversary of the abduction. ~ snip ~

Former Colombian hostage Marc Gonsalves filed for divorce from his wife Alisa ''Shane'' Gonsalves Thursday in Key West. Gonsalves, a resident of Big Pine Key, was one of three Americans rescued from the jungles of Colombia on July 2 after being held captive for more than five years by FARC guerrillas. He returned to Big Pine Key on Saturday, flying into Marathon airport aboard a private plane. Gonsalves grew up in Connecticut. He and his wife have three teenage children: Joey, Cody and Destiny. Shane Gonsalves has declined all requests for interviews since her husband's rescue.

Leave it to CNN to worry that the Colombian government committed a war crime in its recent rescue of FARC hostages, including former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt.

BOGOTA, Colombia (CNN) -- Colombian President Alvaro Uribe says one Red Cross symbol was used in a daring and successful hostage rescue mission that took place two weeks ago. What seems to be part of a red cross is seen on a bib worn by a man involved in the rescue in this official image. One of the rescuers was wearing the symbol on a bib, Uribe said Wednesday in a nationally televised announcement that was also carried on radio. He described the wearing of the symbol as a slip-up. Such a use of the Red Cross emblem could constitute...

BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombia misused the symbol of the Red Cross in this month's military rescue of politician Ingrid Betancourt and 14 other guerrilla-held hostages, the government said on Wednesday, admitting a possible violation of the rules of war. "We regret that this occurred," President Alvaro Uribe said in a speech following reports that the Red Cross emblem was displayed on a vest or T-shirt worn by a Colombian intelligence officer who took part in the rescue mission. Falsely portraying military personnel as Red Cross members is against the Geneva Conventions as it could put humanitarian workers at risk when...

BOGOTA, Colombia (CNN) -- Colombian military intelligence used the Red Cross emblem in a rescue operation in which leftist guerrillas were duped into handing over 15 hostages, according to unpublished photographs and video viewed by CNN. Photographs of the Colombian military intelligence-led team that spearheaded the rescue, shown to CNN by a confidential military source, show one man wearing a bib with the Red Cross symbol. The military source said the three photos were taken moments before the mission took off to persuade the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia rebels to release the hostages to a supposed international aid group...

Liberated after six years of jungle captivity, Franco-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt exclaimed: "I think only the Israelis can possibly pull off something like this." If only.

MEXICO CITY – Gunmen killed eight youths and a police chief and took dozens of restaurant patrons hostage for hours in two attacks in the drug gang-ridden state of Sinaloa, officials saidSunday. A group of hitmen sprayed four cars with bullets on a busy street in the city of Guamuchil in the early hours of Sunday, killing five young men and three female minors, a police source told Reuters. Advertisement In an earlier attack on Saturday, six other armed men caused pandemonium in the Pacific port city of Mazatlan by taking refuge in a shopping mall to escape security forces...

FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas, July 11, 2008 – Years of preparation by U.S. Army South, Brooke Army Medical Center, Northrop Grumman Corp. and family members finally came to fruition on the night of July 2 when three American civilian contractors set foot in San Antonio. Former hostage Marc Gonsalves hugs his daughter, Destiny, during July 7, 2008, at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio. U.S. Army photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Marc Gonsalves, Thomas Howes and Keith Stansell, who were held captive for five and half years in a Colombian jungle, were escorted to Brooke Army...

On the day the Colombian military freed Ingrid Betancourt and 14 other long-held hostages, the Italian Parliament passed yet another resolution demanding her release. Europe had long ago adopted this French-Colombian politician as a cause celebre. France had made her an honorary citizen of Paris, passed numerous resolutions and held many vigils...

For months before a group of disguised Colombian soldiers carried out a daring rescue of three U.S. citizens and a prominent Colombian politician from a guerrilla camp, a team of U.S. Special Forces joined elite Colombian troops tracking the hostages across the jungle in the country's southern fringes. The U.S. team was supported by a vast intelligence-gathering operation based in the U.S. Embassy in Bogotá, far to the north. There, a special 100-person unit made up of Special Forces planners, hostage negotiators and intelligence analysts worked to keep track of the hostages. They also awaited the moment when the rescue...

Somali pirates took a 750,000 dollar ransom for the release of 15 crew and their German-owned ship after a 41-day hostage ordeal... "Tuesday morning, when pirates finally got the money they wanted, they counted it from seven in the morning until six in the evening and then they finally left," ... He did not say who paid the ransom or how it was delivered. Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Paet had earlier told the daily Eesti Paevaleht that the state was not involved in any ransom payment. "We don't make deals with terrorists," Paet said. The German-owner of the ship, the...

French President Nicolas Sarkozy sent a letter to his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chávez thanking him for the "tireless efforts that helped" release last week several hostages held by the Colombian guerrillas, including Ingrid Betancourt. "As we celebrate the release of Ingrid Betancourt and other 14 hostages, I thank you again for your tireless efforts that helped the hostages of Colombia to come back to freedom and the love of their beloved ones," said the French president, as quoted on Tuesday in a press release from the Venezuelan government. Early this year, Chávez welcome six hostages in Venezuela, who were unilaterally...

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki says his government is hoping that a President Obama will reestablish a U.S. diplomatic presence in his country. “The absence of a U.S. Embassy reduces the ability of our government to effectively communicate with the U.S. government,” Mottaki asserted. “The present arrangement is no substitute for the face-to-face interaction we enjoyed when Jimmy Carter was the U.S. president.” The United States has not had a formal diplomatic presence in Iran since the embassy was overrun by Iranian “students” and the staff taken hostage in 1979. Since that time, the Swiss Embassy has represented U.S. interests...

Three German mountaineers were kidnapped by terrorists in Turkey's eastern province of Agri, the state-run Anatolian Agency reported Wednesday quoting the governor. (UPDATED) PKK terrorists seized the climbers, part of a group of 13 mountaineers, as they were ascending the mountain in Agri province, provincial governor Mehmet Cetin told the AA. "The terrorists said they carried out this action because of the German government's recent moves against PKK associations and sympathizers," the Anatolian Agency reported the Governor Mehmet Cetin as saying. Cetin said the terrorists kidnapped the three late on Tuesday, adding the gendarmerie had launched a wide-scale search and...

FORT SAM HOUSTON - In his first public remarks since he and two other American hostages were freed in Colombia, a US defense contractor on Monday branded their captors as terrorists and praised the Colombian army for a daring rescue. Keith Stansell, one of three US defense contractors freed on July 2 after five years as a rebel-held hostage in Colombia, holds his twin 5-year-old sons at a news conference at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas, July 7, 2008. [Agencies] American defense contractor Marc Gonsalves appeared with fellow hostages Keith Stansell and Thomas Howes at a...

BOGOTA, COLUMBIA - THE daring rescue of Ingrid Betancourt and 14 other hostages will be made into a movie by a Colombian director, a Hollywood production company and RCN-TV, the television channel said on Sunday. 'They still have to choose a language for the script ... (and) whether the film will be shot in Colombia or France,' an RCN News said in a report. It said the film will be directed by Colombia's Simon Brand and produced 'jointly by a Hollywood production company and under RCN-Cine supervision.' The report did not say when the shooting might start. A former presidential...

AS THE unmarked white helicopter descended into the jungle clearing, Ingrid Betancourt had no reason to believe that her six-year-long ordeal was nearly over. Looking at the crew, some wearing Che Guevara T-shirts, the captive politician reasoned this was just going to be another day as a pawn in the struggle between her tormentors from the Revolutionary Army of Columbia, better known as the Farc guerrilla group, and her country's government. Along with 13 other hostages, her hands were bound with white plastic cuffs as she was shepherded towards the waiting aircraft. Angry and upset, she refused a coat they...

As we learn more about the Colombian military's daring hostage rescue last week, one detail stands out: In tricking FARC rebels into putting the hostages aboard a helicopter, undercover special forces simply told the comandantes that the aircraft was being loaned to them by a fictitious nongovernmental organization sympathetic to their cause called the International Humanitarian Mission. It may have taken years for army intelligence to infiltrate the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, and it may have been tough to convincingly impersonate rebels. But what seems to have been a walk in the park was getting the FARC to believe...

Undercover Officers Got Acting Lessons; 'Crocodile Dundee' BOGOTÁ, Colombia -- New details have emerged about an important supporting role for the U.S. in Colombia's daring rescue of 15 hostages held by the country's Marxist guerrillas. One area where the Americans were directly involved: Giving Hollywood-style acting classes to the Colombian undercover military officers who duped the guerrillas into handing over the hostages. Preparation for the rescue mission, which freed three Americans and former Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, involved mounting a makeshift studio on an army base and drilling the undercover military officers in their acting roles, according to senior...

This video of the release of the 15 hostages, including 3 Americans, was taken by Colombian special forces on July 2, 2008.

Video link

Leaders of the Colombian FARC rebel movement were paid millions of dollars to free Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt and 14 other hostages, Swiss radio said on Friday, quoting 'a reliable source'. The 15 hostages released on Wednesday by the Colombian army 'were in reality ransomed for a high price, and the whole operation afterwards was a set-up,' the radio's French-language channel said. Saying the United States, which had three of its citizens among those freed, was behind the deal, it put the price of the ransom at some $20 million. The radio said its source was 'close to the events,...

War On Terror: A foreign country puts its men on the line to rescue American hostages and pulls off one of the greatest rescues in history. Might a little gratitude from Congress be in order?Not since the 1976 Israeli raid on Entebbe has a rescue of hostages held by terrorists ended so spectacularly. Wednesday's liberation by the Colombian army of three Northrop contractors and 12 others will go down as one of history's great strikes against terror. In the wake of the rescue, Democrats' caricature of Colombia as a night-haunted right-wing dictatorship, a la 1976 Guatemala, looks increasingly hollow. The...

July 3, 2008 Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos said Colombian military intelligence managed to infiltrate the top hierarchy of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia and arrange for a transfer of hostages purportedly to be handed over to Alfonso Cano, the rebel group's top leader. A government mole arranged for the hostages to be brought from three locations to one camp, then taken to a helicopter the FARC believed belonged to a friendly aid group that would take the hostages to Cano. Instead, the chopper was a military helicopter piloted by intelligence officers who whisked a total of 15 hostages...

You will REALLY enjoy this 2-minute clip. Great little short mini-documentary showing the release yesterday of the Colombian and American hostages who had been kidnapped years ago by pro-Communist, pro-Che Guevara FARC guerillas.The former Presidential Candidate, (female), lead hostage and one of the main speakers on the airport tarmac, profusely thanks the pro-US President Uribe, and then, rolling her eyes still in disbelief, says she was "amazed by the BRILLIANCE of the Army of Colombia" in their plan to seize the hostages, faking as if they were leftists rebels themselves.Another of the liberated, a man, shouts, LONG LIVE LIBERTY! and...

Americas: Colombia's rescue of 15 hostages from FARC is more than just good news. It signals that the surest path to victory is in fighting, not appeasing, terrorists. Colombia's path is now clear to end the scourge for good.was Magical Realism, the Colombian literary genre, come to life. First, America's most famous former prisoner of war flies to Colombia on Tuesday to stand by the country in its 45-year war against the communists. Then on Wednesday, Keith Stansell, Marc Goncalves and Thomas Howes are rescued after spending the past 6 1/2 years in jungle tiger cages. Flash back to 1980,...

Colombian President Alvaro Uribe and top military officials addressed the country late Wednesday to explain the daring rescue operation to freed former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt and 14 other hostages held by leftist rebels...

Colombian security forces rescued the French-Colombian politician, 11 Colombian police and three US intelligence operatives in an operation in the eastern jungle province of Guaviare which saw the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc) lose their negotiating trump cards. The guerrillas were holding almost 60 political hostages, whom they want to exchange for hundreds of rebels in prison. General Freddy Padilla, Colombia's armed forces commander, said it was high-level military intelligence that assured the safe rescue of the hostages. "We have infiltrated the Secretariat (Farc's ruling seven-man body) and military intelligence gave us the location of the hostages," said Gen...

President Bush held a press conference this morning in the Rose Garden of the White House. He discussed his upcoming trip to the G8 Summit in Japan (his eighth and last as president), the economy, and reemphasized the need for domestic oil drilling. (Transcript) But one thing is for certain here in the United States, that we can help alleviate shortages by drilling for oil and gas in our own country -- something I've been advocating ever since I've been the President. I've been reminding our people that we can do so in environmentally friendly ways. And yet, the Congress,...

14:20 | The Colombian Minister of Defense Juan Manuel Santos reported that the army had rescued 15 hostages, among them the former presidential candidate and three US citizens, during a military operation called "Operation Check". Bogotá (EFE) .- The Colombian army rescued safe and sound ex-presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, three US citizens, and eleven soldiers held hostage by FARC in Guaviare department (south), announced today Minister of Defense Juan Manuel Santos. The minister said in a press conference that the French-Colombian former presidential candidate, held captive since February of 2002, and US citizens Thomas Howes, Keith Stansell and Marc Gonsalves,...

Colombia says rescues Betancourt, Americans 02 Jul 2008 19:18:25 GMT Source: Reuters BOGOTA, July 2 (Reuters) - Colombia said on Wednesday it rescued three Americans and French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt from leftist guerrillas who had held them for years in secret jungle camps.

<p>BOGOTA (Reuters) - French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt, three Americans and 11 other hostages were rescued from leftist guerrillas by Colombian troops on Wednesday after years in captivity, the government said.</p>

MEXICO CITY—Senator John McCain congratulated President Alvaro Uribe of Colombia on Wednesday for the Colombian government’s rescue of 15 hostages, including three Americans, held by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, a Marxist-inspired insurgency that Mr. McCain repeatedly criticized this week during a trip to Latin America. “This is great news,” Mr. McCain told reporters on his campaign plane enroute to Mexico City from Cartagena, Colombia, after Mr. Uribe called Mr. McCain in the air to inform him of the success of the operation. “Thank God they are released.” The timing of the rescue, which occurred while Mr....

The Colombian military said today it has rescued 15 hostages from a leftist guerrilla group, including three American defense contractors and former Colombia presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt. Colombian Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos told a news conference in Bogota that all the rescued hostages are in reasonably good health after being held for years in jungle camps by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as FARC. Eleven of those rescued are members of the Colombian army and police. The three Americans -- Keith Stansell, Marc Gonsalves and Thomas Howes -- were conducting an aerial surveillance mission as part of...

The bloodshed in Ciudad Juarez being fueled by the drug war must have triggered a major alarm in Washington, D.C., this past weekend when the sister-in-law of a prominent U.S. Congressman was kidnapped while on a shopping excursion in the Mexican border town.

CAMP TAJI, Iraq – Multi-National Division – Baghdad soldiers rescued a kidnapped Iraqi citizen May 8 near Ibrahim Bin Ali, northwest of Baghdad. Soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment “Gimlets,” 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team “Warrior,” 25th Infantry Division, acted on tips from Iraqi Army soldiers from the 3rd Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 1st Iraqi Army Division, in addition to tips provided by Iraqi Police and Sons of Iraq (Abna al-Iraq) members. The suspected kidnappers were detained and are being held for further questioning. “U.S. soldiers, in full partnership with Iraqi Security Forces, are aggressively pursuing criminals and terrorists,...

Butler said he felt it was better to be kidnapped in Iraq then taken into custody by Americans in Afghanistan. "I was pleased I wasn't being mortarboarded in Guantanamo or being held for six and a half years like an Al-Jazeera cameraman, for instance," he said. Butler said he lost about 42 pounds and during the last 12 days of his captivity, ate one tangerine and four boiled eggs. On the day he was found, he heard voices outside where he was staying that escalated into a gunfight. The door to his room was kicked in. A soldier aimed a...

Five British hostages who were kidnapped in Iraq almost a year ago are being held inside Iran by Revolutionary Guards, according to two separate sources in the Middle East and London. The hostages were handed over to the Revolutionary Guards by their Iraqi kidnappers last November, the sources believe. One of the sources said they were being held in the western Iranian city of Hamadan. If confirmed, the involvement of Revolutionary Guards would be seen as evidence that senior figures in the Iranian government had backed the decision to hold them in the country. However, British officials said that while...

Five British hostages who were kidnapped in Iraq almost a year ago are being held inside Iran by Revolutionary Guards, according to two separate sources in the Middle East and London. The hostages were handed over to the Revolutionary Guards by their Iraqi kidnappers last November, the sources believe. One of the sources said they were being held in the western Iranian city of Hamadan. If confirmed, the involvement of Revolutionary Guards would be seen as evidence that senior figures in the Iranian government had backed the decision to hold them in the country. However, British officials said that while...

THE crew of a Spanish fishing boat seized by pirates off Somalia have been freed... The Playa de Bakio trawler has been taken to "safer waters", escorted by a Spanish warship, and the government is making plans to repatriate the 13 Spaniards and 13 Africans, she said. Speaking at a press conference, she did not indicate the circumstances in which the crew were released, or whether a ransom had been paid. Spanish news media said earlier a ransom of 1 million euros...had been demanded, and negotiations were taking place at a London hotel. The 76-metre trawler and its crew were...

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - The family of a contractor kidnapped in Iraq said Sunday that U.S. officials have notified them they've found a body that could be his. The family of Jonathon Cote said on the Web site Free Cote that an unidentified sixth body has been recovered near Basra, in southern Iraq. Cote was one of six Western contractors kidnapped in two separate incidents. The Getzville, N.Y., resident was working in Kuwait for Crescent Security Group when he and four colleagues were abducted in November 2006. -snip-