Hi Chatters, Calbirders and Tweeters,

Again, this is a story from CNN and Reuters who stayed on top of this story
throughout. If you want to go to the CNN website for news the URL is
http://www.cnn.com

Freed U.S. Hostages Dodge Final Threat in Colombia

Reuters
26-APR-98
By Karl Penhaul

LOS ALPES, Colombia, April 26 (Reuters) - U.S. hostages Todd Mark and Peter
Shen thought their 34-day ordeal was over when their Colombian rebel captors
freed them this weekend, but they still had to dodge an army mortar barrage.

Minutes after Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrillas
released the pair in mountains east of Bogota on Saturday they had to dive for
cover as mortar bombs, fired from a range of 2-1/2 miles (five km), rained
down just 50 yards (meters) away.

Regional army chief Gen. Freddy Padilla told reporters later the nearest
shelling was 3-1/2 miles (six km) from where the two men were handed over to a
group of local and international journalists. He said the lives of the
Americans had not been in danger.

What started as a sedate bird-watching trip turned into high drama for Shen,
Mark and their colleagues Louise Augustine and Thomas Fiori when FARC rebels
kidnapped them and accused them of being secret agents for Washington.

``They never told us to our faces that there was that danger (that they could
kill us) but we heard it on radio reports,'' Shen, 35, a research scientist
from New York, told Reuters at the handover above the mountain village of Los
Alpes.

``We had faith that they could find no evidence (that we were spies). We knew
very well that the whole thing was political,'' he said.

The four were snatched on March 23 as they searched the rugged region for rare
birds.

Augustine, a former nun from Chillicothe, Illinois, was badly injured when she
fell into a deep ravine just before Easter. She was freed on Friday, while New
York bicycle repair man Fiori escaped early this month.

The Soviet-inspired FARC -- particularly the 53rd Front which snatched the
Americans -- has traditionally specialized in financially and politically
motivated kidnappings.

Shen, Mark, Augustine and Fiori were captured at a sensitive time after FARC
leaders in the south had raised the alarm about the role of U.S. advisers in
Colombia.

Washington has some 230 advisers ostensibly engaged in the drug war in
Colombia, the world's top supplier of cocaine and a major player in the heroin
market.

The FARC, which Colombian and U.S. officials allege has close ties with the
drug trade, has accused Washington of spearheading covert counterinsurgency
operations.

``With the argument of the fight against narco-trafficking, the United States
has led a campaign to discredit the right of the Colombian people to rise up
against an oppressive regime,'' said a six-point FARC communique broadcast by
local media as a condition for the release of Augustine, Shen and Mark.

The commander of the FARC's 53rd Front, known by his alias ``Romana,'' ordered
the release of the Americans after saying he was satisfied they had no links
to foreign intelligence agencies. He said the rebel fight was ``not against
the North American people.''

Mark, 32, a flight attendant from Houston, was philosophical about the ordeal.
``(It is) something you have to accept when you travel beyond the borders of
your own country,'' he said.

Shen rejected suggestions that his abduction had any political motive. ``Being
held hostage is a crime against humanity. It's a violation of human rights,''
he said. ``I've always valued my freedom. It's an American right.''

Copyright 1998 Reuters Limited.All rights reserved.

Great birding and find that next lifer!

John (One of Birders2)

John+Irma=2, We are birders, too.

John C. LeVine
Birders2 at aol.com
Los Angeles, CA

Please put <To Birders2> in subject line when e-mailing us personally. I do
not open all of the 200-300 e-mails I receive each day, but I want to be sure
to read your e-mails to us. Thanks!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The problem with Modern Man is he can no longer
see the stars through his city lights!

A thought on a moonless night in Big Bend National Park 4/30/97


April 26, 1998
12:04 pm PDT