Colombian rebels freed four Israelis and a Briton on Monday to a humanitarian commission, which whisked them away on two helicopters after 101 days in captivity in the jungle-covered northern mountains. "We’re free! We’re free," said Mark Henderson, the British hostage, in a brief comment over a cell phone. Before the call was broken off, Henderson confirmed that he and the four Israelis had been freed by the National Liberation Army, known as the ELN. The five freed hostages were among eight foreign backpackers who were kidnapped from jungle ruins in the northern Sierra Nevada mountains on Sept. 12. One of the hostages, a British teenager, escaped days later. Two other hostages - a German and a Spaniard - were released to the humanitarian commission in November. Authorities have identified the Israeli hostages as Ohayon, 22, Beni Daniel, 26, Ido Yosef Guy, 26, and Erez Altawil, 24. The ELN said it kidnapped the foreign backpackers to raise awareness about the alleged hardship inflicted by outlawed right-wing paramilitary factions and the army on the mainly Indian inhabitants of the Sierra Nevada.
Well, I think they grabbed them for ransom money. Once they found out that they had snatched Israelis, that went out the window. So they decided to get some good PR out of it. Glad they got out OK. |