Colombia's largest guerrilla group, the Marxist FARC, on Saturday released a soldier they held for almost three weeks, the International Committee of the Red Cross said. The release of Josue Alvarez, in southwestern Colombia, was the third hostage released after the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia rebels set free two police officers on Friday. The hostage was delivered to representatives of the ICRC and the local non-governmental group Colombians for Peace. Since 2008, more than 30 hostages have been released to these mediators.

Colombia's largest guerrilla group, the leftist FARC, released two police officers on Friday they had held for three weeks, the International Committee of the Red Cross said. The ICRC also said a smaller leftist rebel group, the National Liberation Army (ELN), had separately released five employees of a Canadian mining company kidnapped last month. The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) released the two police officers in a rural area in Cauca department in southwestern Colombia and both were in good health, the ICRC said in a statement.

Leftist Colombian rebels holding two Germans hostage have asked their families for information about the pair, a statement said Monday, suggesting they may be preparing to release them. National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrillas earlier identified their captives, who have been held for over three months, as "Messrs. Breur Uwe and Breuer Gunther Otto, of alleged German nationality." The men were captured in the Catatumbo region, in northeastern Colombia near the border with Venezuela, the group said, claiming they were spies.

Colombia's government and leftist guerrillas argued Sunday over whether two police officers and a soldier captured by the rebels are hostages or prisoners of war. The government delegation to peace talks here referred to them as kidnapping victims, and urged the FARC rebels to make good on their stated willingness to release them. The three men were captured by the guerrillas on January 25. "Each act like this is a direct attack on the peace process," said the head of the government delegation to the talks, Humberto de la Calle.