Colombian guerrilla group the FARC announced on Friday that although they have confirmed the release of hostages Josue Daniel Calvo and Pablo Emilio Moncayo, they will not yet be returning the remains ofpoliceman Julian Ernesto Guevara, who died in FARC captivity in 2006, reported El Espectador.
According to a statement released by the guerrilla group, the FARC will not be releasing the remains of Guevara, as they are located in an area that is occupied by the Colombian national army.
Army commander Freddy Padilla said, however, that the claims made by the FARC were false and that the guerrillas were “prolonging the agony to make political gains” from the situation.
Padilla said that the army had agreed to cease action in any area agreed for the hostage release operation.
“They know for sure that wherever these remains are located … operations will be suspended to help locate and extract the remains which will be taken to the Legal Medicine [Department] for the forensic checks that are required,” said the army official.
Mediators for the hostage release operation announced Friday that although the process was “advancing well,” the procedure had been pushed back by one day, meaning that soldiers Calvo and Moncayo are due to be released on Sunday and Tuesday respectively.
