Relatives of a child born to a hostage mother and a guerrilla father will undergo DNA testing on Tuesday to determine whether the child is still a captive -- or in a Bogota orphanage, as Colombia's president has charged.
The whereabouts of Emmanuel Rojas could be key to the release of three hostages the leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) promised on Dec. 18, but which has stalled despite international efforts, including those of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
In a statement read by Chavez on Monday, the FARC said it delayed the release because of military operations in the area where it was to take place.
Colombian President Alvaro Uribe said the real reason was that the rebels could not produce Emmanuel Rojas.
Uribe caused a stir by saying that the toddler child of Clara Rojas was in Bogota at a state-run orphanage of the Colombian Family Welfare Institute (ICBF) and had been there since July last year. He urged DNA tests on Emmanuel's grandmother to determine the truth.
Emmanuel was born in captivity, allegedly from a consensual relationship between hostage Clara Rojas and a FARC guerrilla.
Clara Rojas' brother, Ivan, said he and his mother were ready to collaborate with the DNA tests.
Uribe said his government began searching for Emmanuel after an internal FARC message intercepted in 2006 by the intelligence service suggested that the child was no longer in rebel hands.
Authorities reportedly found the child and moved him from a home in San Jose de Guaviare, 300km southeast of Bogota, to the ICBF facility in the capital.
"This boy bears a physical resemblance to Emmanuel. One of his arms is scarred and he shows signs of abuse," Uribe said.
The president referred to statements by an escaped hostage who said he saw the boy in captivity and that the child had cigarette burns on his body.
FOREST SITE: A rescue helicopter spotted the burning fuselage of the plane in a forested area, with rescue personnel saying they saw no evidence of survivors A passenger plane carrying nearly 50 people crashed yesterday in a remote spot in Russia’s far eastern region of Amur, with no immediate signs of survivors, authorities said. The aircraft, a twin-propeller Antonov-24 operated by Angara Airlines, was headed to the town of Tynda from the city of Blagoveshchensk when it disappeared from radar at about 1pm. A rescue helicopter later spotted the burning fuselage of the plane on a forested mountain slope about 16km from Tynda. Videos published by Russian investigators showed what appeared to be columns of smoke billowing from the wreckage of the plane in a dense, forested area. Rescuers in
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr is to meet US President Donald Trump this week, hoping Manila’s status as a key Asian ally would secure a more favorable trade deal before the deadline on Friday next week. Marcos would be the first Southeast Asian leader to meet Trump in his second term. Trump has already struck trade deals with two of Manila’s regional partners, Vietnam and Indonesia, driving tough bargains in trade talks even with close allies that Washington needs to keep onside in its strategic rivalry with China. “I expect our discussions to focus on security and defense, of course, but also
POINTING FINGERS: The two countries have accused each other of firing first, with Bangkok accusing Phnom Penh of targeting civilian infrastructure, including a hospital Thai acting Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai yesterday warned that cross-border clashes with Cambodia that have uprooted more than 130,000 people “could develop into war,” as the countries traded deadly strikes for a second day. A long-running border dispute erupted into intense fighting with jets, artillery, tanks and ground troops on Thursday, and the UN Security Council was set to hold an emergency meeting on the crisis yesterday. A steady thump of artillery strikes could be heard from the Cambodian side of the border, where the province of Oddar Meanchey reported that one civilian — a 70-year-old man — had been killed and
‘OPPORTUNITY TO ENGAGE’: Antonio Costa and Ursula von der Leyen are to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping to discuss EU-China relations and geopolitical challenges Top leaders from China and the EU are to hold a summit in Beijing this week, as the major economic powers seek to smooth over disputes ranging from trade to the Ukraine conflict. Beijing and Brussels have been gearing up to mark the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties, but a suite of squabbles over state subsidies, market access and wartime sanctions have dampened the festivities. A spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday confirmed that European Council President Antonio Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen would visit on Thursday. The statement came after the EU
RSS