By IANS
Bogota : Former Colombian president Ernesto Samper has strongly criticised the government of President Alvaro Uribe for its “rash and irresponsible” comments on the hostage release announced by the country’s guerrilla rebels recently.
Samper, who governed the Andean nation 1994-1998, warned Friday that the government’s announcement that it knows where the rebels will set the announced four hostages free would jeopardise their release, Spain’s EFE news agency reported Saturday.
The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) has announced earlier this week that they will free four of their hostages – lawmakers Gloria Polanco, Luis Eladio Perez, Orlando Beltran and Jorge Eduardo Gechem Turbay – who have been in captivity for more than seven years.
In a communiqué Thursday, Defence Minister Juan Manuel Santos said that he knew where the four captives would be released.
Reacting to the statement, Samper said: “Revealing the intelligence report on the hostages does not give the hostages any guarantees, but in a certain way alerts and warns the kidnappers and puts them on edge.
“This is like a nightmare: four people dragging themselves through the jungle trying to evade military operations to get to the place where they can be rescued safe and sound, and the minister comes out and says that he knows perfectly well where they are,” Samper said.
The four are part of the group of 44 high-value captives the FARC rebels have offered to free unilaterally to a delegate of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
The announced handover will be the second of hostages to be made by the rebels, after the Jan 10 release of former vice-presidential candidate Clara Rojas and ex-lawmaker Consuelo Gonzalez de Perdomo.
Samper is a prominent advocate of negotiations to reach agreement with the FARC on a prisoner exchange.