Hi Tweeters

I know that I have self interest in the goings on. It does involve
birdwatchers. Any of you that know Todd Mark, Louise Augustine, Peter Shen
or Thomas Fiore will probably follow the events. I shall cease posting
this except to interested parties after this message (until the outcome)
unless requested to continue.

Paul Salamon (discoverer of the Choco Vireo -- whose scientific name was
auctioned to gain conservation funds) is confirmed to not be one of the
hostages.

This is an additional new release sent by UKBirdNet:


Rebels Kidnap Americans in Colombia

By PAUL HAVEN Associated Press Writer

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) -- Leftist guerrillas were holding four Americans
and an Italian kidnapped at a roadblock on a highway south of the capital,
their leader said Thursday. The government said at least 30 people were
taken hostage.

The Americans -- three men and a woman -- were on a bird-watching trip
when the rebels captured them Monday about 35 miles south of Bogota. The
Italian was in a separate car.

``We have four Americans and we have an Italian,'' said Commander Romana,
the local leader of the country's largest rebel group, the Revolutionary
Armed Forces of Colombia.

In a local television interview, Romana, dressed in green camouflage
fatigues and a black beret, said the rebels were holding only eight other
hostages, presumably Colombians.

The guerrilla commander gave the interview accompanied by at least several
dozen other rebels on the outskirts of El Calvario, a town near the
kidnapping site in rugged mountains. He issued no demands for the
foreigners' release. Foreigners are a prime kidnapping target because they
fetch the highest ransoms.

Later, Romana and other rebels handed out shirts and other items stolen
during Monday's roadblock to townspeople from the back of a truck. The
townspeople gathered round and reached up to receive the gifts.

Witnesses said the roadblock was set up for several hours along a major
trade route between Bogota and Villavicencio, the nearest mid-sized city.
But it is also an area where rebel kidnappers have operated for years, and
foreigners and wealthy Colombians have frequently been abducted.

Radio reports identified the Americans as Peter Shen, Todd Richardson,
Lois Agustino, and Thomas Fiore. The U.S. Embassy had no comment.

Shen is from New York City, a source close to the investigation said. The
ages and hometowns of the others were not known.

In Washington, State Department spokesman James Rubin said the Americans'
rental car was found near the scene and that the embassy in Bogota is
working with Colombian authorities who have contacts with the rebels.

``We had some significant travel warnings in effect for Colombia, and we
may be considering upgrading that warning in light of this event,'' he
said.

Bartolo Mucci, Italy's commercial attache, confirmed that an Italian
business owner from Bogota, Vito Candela, was kidnapped.

Colombia has the greatest diversity of birds in the world, with some
species found nowhere else on the planet. In August 1995, rebels kidnapped
Tim Cowley, the British Embassy's assistant defense attache, while he was
on a bird-watching trip in central Colombia. He was freed after a police
raid in December 1995.

Colombia has the world's highest kidnapping rate, with an average of about
four abductions a day. Leftist rebels and common criminals often abduct
people and demand huge ransoms for their release.

The four Americans would be the only U.S. citizens known held by rebels in
Colombia, with the exception of three missionaries missing since their
1993 abduction and feared dead.