Colombia's FARC confirms to have French journalist
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E-mail Xinhua, May 7, 2012
The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the country's largest rebel group, Sunday admitted holding French journalist Romeo Langlois.
In a video spread by local media, the commander of a group called FARC's Front 15 wing, who identified himself as Ancizar, said "the French journalist was captured at the heat of the battle wearing an army uniform. He's in our hands, is a prisoner of war."
Langlois, 35, correspondent of TV channel France 24 and French daily "Le Figaro," went missing on April 28 when he was accompanying an army unit in an anti-drug operation in the southern province of Caqueta and came under attack from FARC rebels.
"He has a slight injury in an arm. He had the necessary medical care and is out of danger," said the guerrilla leader, adding the video was made on April 30.
Langlois did not appear in the 3-minute video.
However, the Colombian Army denied that Langlois was dressed in a military uniform and that more than four officials were killed in the confrontation as FARC claimed in the video.
Colombian Army Commander Alejandro Navas said that so far, there have been no operations in the area to rescue Langlois, adding that "the military forces will guarantee the conditions for the journalist to return to freedom" as soon as possible.
This is the second time that the FARC guerrilla had recognized what is considered as a kidnapping by international humanitarian organizations.
On May 1, journalists stationed in Caqueta received a phone call from an alleged guerrilla woman who read the same statement as the one from the video. However, officials and local media found it hard to believe her for the form of communication is unusual among guerrillas.
