Family says no ransom was paid for Swedish hostage

The family of the Swedish hostage that was released by FARC guerrillas Tuesday says no ransom was paid for the man’s release.

One of the sons of the 69-year old Roland Erik Larsson told Spanish press agency Efe there had been no kind of payment to the FARC whatsoever. According to the son, the liberation “was the FARC’s decision.”

The Larsson family is “economically limited,” the son added.

The former hostage was able to talk to his family in Sweden just after his release in the north Colombian Córdoba department.

The Swede had been in FARC captivity since May 2007 and was the last known foreign hostage in FARC hands. The guerrillas initially demanded a five million dollar ransom for the release of the former engineer.