Posted on 11/07/2003 5:04:03 PM PST by TexKat
BOGOTA, Colombia - The Colombian military has pinpointed the area where leftist guerrillas are holding three U.S. military contractors but won't launch a rescue raid for fear of endangering their lives, the defense minister said Friday.
The three Americans — Tom Howes, Marc Gonsalves and Keith Stansell — were captured by the outlawed Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, when their single-engine plane crash-landed in guerrilla territory while on a anti-drug mission in February.
"We have a very clear idea about where they are being held," Defense Minister Martha Lucia Ramirez told reporters. "But our armed forces' first priority it to avoid a military operation that could expose them to severe risk."
The rebels allegedly executed a fourth American, Tom Janis, and a Colombian soldier, Sgt. Luis Alcides Cruz, who also were on the plane.
In an interview with a Colombian journalist, the three Americans urged authorities to negotiate their release and not risk a rescue, saying they would likely die in the attempt.
The defense minister said Colombian troops were exercising "permanent pressure" on the guerrillas to make them realize "that there is absolutely no possibility of permanently holding those hostages."
The FARC has described the defense contractors as "prisoners of war" and wants to exchange them for jailed rebels. The government of hardline President Alvaro Uribe is opposed to making any such deal.
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