Colombia's rebels execute four, one escapes

Colombia's FARC rebels have executed four hostages soon after naming a new leader for the group, but a fifth hostage was found alive after escaping his captors, the defense minister said Saturday.

The hostages had been held at a FARC encampment in the remote Solano region of southern Colombia. The grisly discovery of the bodies -- and the good news that a hostage had escaped -- came after a firefight between troops and rebels.

"Four hostages, members of the security forces, have been killed," Defense Minister Juan Carlos Pinzon told a press conference, adding that their bullet-ridden bodies had been found early Saturday.

Pinzon said Colombian troops had approached the FARC camp in Caqueta department, and the two sides exchanged gunfire.

Only afterward did they discover the hostages' bodies -- three shot in the head, one in the back, all apparently executed.

Three of the hostages were policemen and the last was soldier Jose Libio Martinez, the FARC's longest-held hostage who was abducted nearly 14 years ago in a rebel ambush on a military base, the defense ministry said.

Two of the three policemen had been held for more than 13 years. The last hostage killed was kidnapped in December 1999 by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, Latin America's longest-running insurgent group.

President Juan Manuel Santos said the FARC were "solely responsible" for the four hostage deaths, saying: "It's a heinous crime that deserves the condemnation of all Colombians and the international community."

Marleny Orjuela, who heads a group of relatives of FARC hostages, however condemned the military operation leading up to the discovery of the bodies, and slammed the "inhuman" attitude of the government and rebel forces.

"They killed the hopes of our families," said Orjuela, recalling how the pressure group had consistently opposed the use of confrontation to gain the freedom of hostages.

Pinzon later shared the good news that police sergeant Luis Alberto Erazo, who had been held for 12 years, fled the rebel camp when the firefight broke out, hid in the jungle and later made contact with government forces.

"When he heard the first shots, he decided to flee," the minister said, adding he was in "reasonable" physical condition, despite the fact that he suffered injuries to his face when rebels in pursuit tossed grenades at him.

Erazo's 16-year-old daughter Gisella said, "I'm very happy. It's the best day of my life."

After the latest executions, 14 police and soldiers remain in FARC hands. Some have spent more than a decade in captivity.

Pinzon said the rebels needed to "answer for these unacceptable crimes," and noted that troops had found chains at the site, presumably for restraining the hostages.

In his first message since taking over earlier this month as leader of Colombia's main leftist guerrilla outfit, new FARC chief Timoleon Jimenez warned Santos a week ago: "We all have to die."

Alfonso Cano, who had led the FARC since 2008, was gunned down in a November 4 firefight with Colombian government forces.

Santos said Thursday that Jimenez, alias Timochenko, would share Cano's fate unless he gave his actions serious thought.

The FARC, believed to have 8,000 members, has been at war with the government since 1964. It began a campaign of kidnappings in the mid-1980s, seizing army hostages to serve as bargaining chips for FARC prisoners.

By the late 1990s, civilians and political leaders were also being snatched, winning the group greater notoriety.

The operation to kill Cano was the latest in a string of recent military victories in the government's quest to eradicate FARC, after years of unsuccessful attempts to find a negotiated solution.

The FARC lost its number two Raul Reyes during a Colombian army raid in Ecuadoran territory in 2008.

That same year, the FARC also lost Manuel "Sure Shot" Marulanda Velez, the reclusive 80-year-old rebel chief, who was last seen in 1982. He died after a brief undisclosed illness.

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