Colombia reward offer in kidnap hunt

Colombia reward offer in kidnap hunt

By Jeremy McDermott BBC correspondent in Bogota

FARC has been keen to get its hands on US Government personnel

The Colombian Government has offered a massive reward for information on three kidnapped Americans in the hands of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.

The men were part of a five-man crew on an intelligence plane that was forced to crash-land after engine failure.

The other two crew members - another American and a Colombian - were executed by the guerrillas when they resisted the abduction.

The sum of $345,000 is beyond the imagination of most Colombians, who get by on just over $100 a month.

But that is the amount being offered for information on the whereabouts of three kidnapped Americans held by the FARC.

'CIA front'

Despite the fact that military helicopters arrived at the scene of the crash just half an hour after the plane went down and thousands of troops were deployed in a net around the site, FARC guerrillas slipped away with their precious hostages.

The rebels are keen to show the US cannot interfere in Colombia

They are the first US Government personnel the rebels have ever captured and it was the first time they had murdered a US Government employee.

Washington is refusing to provide any information on the identity or the jobs of the kidnapped men.

But US embassy sources said they were part of the Office of Regional Administration, which they indicated was a CIA front.

Fighting 'Yankee imperialism'

The FARC had been desperate to get their hands on US personnel since US President George W Bush increased US aid to Colombia to more than $500million a year.

Mr Bush has stepped up military aid and embraced Colombia as one of the frontlines in the war on terrorism since three of the country's warring factions, including the FARC, are on the US terrorism list.

The rebels are keen to show Washington that it cannot intervene with impunity in Colombia and have said they will fight Yankee imperialism.

Things do not look good for the missing Americans.