[NYTr] Helicopters at ready for Colombia hostage pickup

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

AFP - Dec 29, 2007 16:27
http://www.afp.com/english/news/stories/071229162231.xmwslt7s.html

Helicopters at ready for Colombia hostage pickup

VILLAVICENCIO, Colombia (AFP) - Helicopters were at the ready here
Saturday awaiting orders to pick up three hostages, including a small
boy, from leftist rebels in a landmark release deep in the Colombian
jungle.

A team of observers, including representatives of the International
Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), was on its way to this city some 100
kilometers (60 miles) southeast of Bogota where they hoped to receive
the coordinates for the pickup of the two women and the three-year-old
boy.

Two helicopters sent by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and bearing
ICRC markings were set for "Operation Emmanuel" -- named after the
three-year-old boy -- but the time and location of the pickup
tentatively set for Saturday remained unclear.

"The conditions are optimal," said regional governor Juan Carlos
Gonzalez. "The airport is ready to begin operations and all security
measures have been taken.

"We have good weather and we hope that everything will remain like
that." Chavez said Friday the mission was still waiting for the
guerrillas to disclose the jungle location where they will release
former lawmaker Consuelo Gonzalez de Perdomo, 57; Clara Rojas, 44 and
her son, Emmanuel, born to a rebel in captivity.

The women were snatched in 2001 and 2002 respectively; Rojas was a top
aide to Franco-Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, who
was seized at the same time and remains in the hands of the
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.

FARC announced December 18 it would release the three to Chavez or his
representative, in what will be the first time in more than five years
that the guerilla army will have unilaterally set free so-called
"political" hostages.

It comes after many months of failed negotiations between FARC and the
government of Colombian President Alvaro Uribe to swap about 45
hostages for some 500 FARC members held by the government.

Early Saturday three Falcon jets took off from the Colombian border
town of Santo Domingo to Caracas to pick up international observers and
take them to Villavicencio in the first stage of the delicate handover.

The observers include former Argentine president Nestor Kirchner and
representatives from France, Switzerland, Brazil, Cuba, Ecuador and
Bolivia, as well as US filmmaker Oliver Stone.

Marco Aurelio Garcia, an advisor to Brazilian President Luiz Ignacio
Lula Da Silva, said Saturday the group would probably not have any
contact with the guerillas.

"It would be a great risk for them because they are probably being
watched by Colombian security forces," he told Radio del Plata in
Venezuela.

The Russian-made helicopters set for the Chavez-choreographed mission
arrived Friday in Villavicencio, but the ICRC representative ruled out
launching the mission then, saying it was too dark to fly into the
jungle.

The handover could take place place anywhere in a
310,000-square-kilometer (120,000-square-mile) wilderness in central
and southeastern Colombia, where there are few roads but numerous
landing strips used by drug traffickers.

Colombia's Civil Defense has made available a 100-strong search and
rescue team of indigenous Colombians "who know the jungle very well,"
said Jorge Diaz, civil defense director for Villavicencio.

Security was tight Friday at the airport in Villavicencio as officials
there prepared for a crush of international dignitaries, medics and
journalists.

Meanwhile about 15 members of the hostages' families have travelled to
Caracas, where Chavez is expected to deliver Perdomo, Rojas and
Emmanuel after they are released.

Even if the release takes place, however, Colombian officials said the
government would not reauthorize Chavez to act as a mediator between
Bogota and the FARC -- a role cut off in November by Uribe after Chavez
allegedly broke protocols in talking directly with Colombian military
leaders.

"The government has been very clear on this subject," said Juis Carlos
Restrepo, Colombia's Peace Commissioner.

                            ***

AFP - Dec 29, 2007
http://www.afp.com/english/news/stories/071229020530.8qsvmz0g.html

Helicopters stand by for Colombia hostage pickup

VILLAVICENCIO, Colombia (AFP) - Two Venezuelan helicopters landed in
Colombia Friday for a mission to pick up three hostages, including a
three-year-old boy, to be freed by Marxist rebels in the jungle.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who is spearheading the effort, said
the helicopters marked with International Committee of the Red Cross
(ICRC) emblems could take off from Villavicencio, in central Colombia,
on Saturday.

But the time and location of the pickup were still uncertain.

Chavez said Friday the mission was still waiting for the Revolutionary
Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) to disclose the jungle location where
they will release former lawmaker Consuelo Gonzalez de Perdomo, 57;
Clara Rojas, 44; and Emmanuel, Rojas' three-year-old son, born to a
rebel in captivity.

The women were snatched in 2001 and 2002 respectively. The mission to
pick them up is dubbed "Operation Emmanuel."

"We have a little problem, which is that we don't have the exact
coordinates of where they are or are going to be," Chavez said earlier
in the Venezuelan town of Santo Domingo, where he personally supervised
the mission's launch.

"The FARC have not gotten the coordinates to us."

Colombian and Venezuelan government officials were meeting here with
the ICRC to finalize details of the operation, said presidential
spokesman Cesar Mauricio Velazquez.

The ICRC had ruled out carrying out the mission on Friday, saying it
was too dark to fly into the jungle.

"We can leave tomorrow (Saturday), but that depends on several factors
including the weather," said ICRC Colombian delegate Barbara Hintermann.

Chavez said Fridat a FARC patrol escorting the hostages was moving "but
the weather is bad and travel is difficult."

"I hope there will be good weather tomorrow (Saturday), that we can
fill in some small details that are missing and I hope that tomorrow we
can complete the operation."

He said FARC commander Ivan Marquez had reported US-made military
surveillance planes flying over the area. "I hope this does not
interfere," he said.

"If there were any problem finding the spot, for some military or
weather reason, we would be ready to conduct ground operations, but for
that we would need permission" from Colombian President Alvaro Uribe,
Chavez said.

The handover could take place place anywhere in a
310,000-square-kilometer (120,000-square-mile) wilderness in central
and eastern Colombia, where there are few roads but numerous landing
strips used by drug traffickers.

Colombia's Civil Defense has made available a 100-strong search and
rescue team of indigenous Colombians "who know the jungle very well,"
said Jorge Diaz, civil defense director for Villavicencio.

Chavez has choreographed an elaborate plan, under the auspices of the
ICRC, to pick up the three hostages whom FARC vowed on December 18 to
release to him.

Security was tight at the airport in Villavicencio, 100 kilometers (62
miles) southeast of Bogota, as officials there prepared for a crush of
international dignitaries, medics and journalists.

International observers converging on the area include former Argentine
president Nestor Kirchner as well as representatives of France, Brazil,
Cuba, Bolivia, Ecuador, Switzerland and the ICRC.

About 15 members of the hostages' families have travelled to Caracas.
A Colombian policeman stands guard near Vanguardia airport's control
tower ©AFP - Mauricio Duenas

It is the first time in more than five years that the FARC will have
unilaterally released so-called "political" hostages.

Rojas was the presidential campaign manager of French-Colombian
politician Ingrid Betancourt when the two were abducted by FARC in
February 2002. Betancourt is not expected to be released this time.

She is among some 45 hostages, including three Americans, whom the
rebels want to exchange for some 500 FARC members held by the Colombian
government.