FARC rebels set to hand over kidnapped French journalist

GlobalPost

A delegation of mediators has set off for the jungle in southern Colombia for the anticipated release of kidnapped French reporter Romeo Langlois, who has been held hostage by left-wing FARC rebels for more than a month.

France 24 journalist Langlois, 35, was abducted in April during a rebel attack on a Colombian army unit he was accompanying in order to film a documentary on the destruction of narcotics laboratories in the Caqueta region.

More from GlobalPost: Colombia's FARC rebels 'to release' French journalist Romeo Langlois

The rebels agreed over the weekend to free Langlois on Wednesday to a delegation consisting of members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), French envoy Jean-Baptiste Chauvin and peace activist Piedad Cordoba.

The ICRC’s told the Agence France Presse on Wednesday that “we have begun the operation,” with a convoy of three cars bearing the Red Cross symbol leaving the town of Florencia for the jungle before dawn.

According to the BBC, the Colombian army has suspended all operations in the designated – and as yet undisclosed – hand-over area. On Monday the rebels released a video showing Langlois with a bandage around his left elbow but otherwise in apparent good health.

The FACR, which took up arms in 1964 and which authorities say finances itself by selling cocaine, has an estimated 9,000 fighters. It recently stepped up hit-and-run attacks on Colombian security forces after years of setbacks from Colombia’s US-backed army, but announced in February that it was ending ransom kidnapping and last month released 10 soldiers and police whom it had held for up to 14 years, according to the Associated Press

More from GlobalPost: Video of kidnapped journalist released by FARC

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