Colombia’s largest guerrilla group FARC released a Swedish citizen the
rebels had held hostage for almost two years, a government official said
Tuesday.
The FARC released Erik Roland Larsson in the Córdoba department, where they kidnapped the 69-year-old Swede in May 2007.
Two photographs from the DAS state security police showed agents
lifting Larsson, barefoot, dressed in a green T-shirt and blue pants,
out of a canoe and carrying him across muddy, rural terrain after he
was handed over by guerrillas.
“He is in a delicate state of health and at this moment is being
evaluated by a medical team in the city of Monteria. He will later be
transferred to Bogota,” the DAS said in a statement.
The guerrillas initially demanded five million dollars for the hostage’s release. It is unknown if that money was paid or not.
According to the Fondelibertad, an organisation linked to the Defence
Ministry that monitors kidnapping, Larsson was the last foreigner held
in FARC captivity.