BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — A group representing relatives of hostages in Colombia said Thursday that it will likely take at least a month for guerrillas to fulfill a pledge to free six captives.
The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, announced plans for the release Tuesday, saying the six hostages will include three police officers who were kidnapped in 1999.
Marleny Orjuela, who heads an organization representing hostages' relatives, said it may take one or two months to organize the release due to difficulties in communicating with the guerrillas.
"We're hopeful of having them alive and free, all of our kidnapped loved ones," said Orjuela, an activist who leads the Colombian Association of Relatives of Security Force Members Held and Freed by Guerrilla Groups.
Orjuela said she and others who have been pressing for the hostages' release plan to meet with Defense Minister Juan Carlos Pinzon and officials of the International Committee of the Red Cross, which has facilitated previous releases.
The FARC has held a dozen hostages, including eight police officers and four soldiers, for more than a decade.
The leftist rebel group has been fighting Colombia's government since 1964 and is estimated to have between 8,000 and 9,000 fighters.
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