Hostage mediator and former senator Piedad Cordoba confirmed ten security forces personnel held by the FARC will be released March 26, reported Colombian media Wednesday.
Speaking at a press conference in Bogota, Cordoba said, “Colombians for Peace in solidarity with the suffereing of the hostages announces that the FARC have choosen next Monday, the 26 of March, to conduct the humanitarian mission of the ten soldiers and police held hostage.”
The announcement came despite the government’s denial of the FARC’s request made Saturday that Cordoba be allowed to visit imprisoned FARC members as a condition for the hostage release.
Cordoba said, “We trust we’ll be able to make these visits, and we trust in the prison authorities that they will respect the lives and rights of the imprisoned.”
The hostages are a group of ten police and soldiers, some of whom have been held by the FARC for 13 years.