Report: FARC Says 11 Hostages Killed

By TOBY MUSE

BOGOTA, Colombia – Eleven kidnapped state lawmakers held hostage for five years were killed after a military attack on the jungle camp where they were being kept, according to a statement on a Web site sympathetic to the country’s largest rebel group.

The Web site of the left-wing news agency Anncol carried a statement purportedly from the western command of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. It said 11 of the 12 provincial deputies being held were killed in the crossfire after an “unidentified military group” attacked the rebel camp June 18.

The interior minister and a close adviser to President Alvaro Uribe told Colombian media that they had no information on the reported deaths. There was no way to independently confirm the report.

The 12 state lawmakers were kidnapped in a brazen daylight raid in April 2002 in the southwest city of Cali. The statement said that just one survived, Sigifredo Lopez, who was not with the others at the time of the attack.

“To the families of the dead deputies, we offer our deepest condolences. We will do all in our power to help them recover the remains as soon as possible,” according to the statement.

As Uribe’s government has put the FARC on the defensive, the group has limited its contacts with most news organizations, but has continued to use Anncol to divulge information. The FARC’s own Web site carried no information on the deputies’ fate.

The Web site that reported the deaths is registered in Copenhagen, Denmark. A phone call to the number listed on the Internet registry reached an answering machine. The Associated Press left a message, which was not immediately returned.

The 12 deputies are among 60 prominent hostages held by the FARC, along with former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt and three kidnapped U.S. defense contractors, which the group wants to exchange for all imprisoned FARC rebels in Colombia and the United States.

Over the years, the families of the 12 kidnapped deputies have pressured the government for such an agreement.