French television network France 24 has sent two journalists to Colombia to gather information on the disappearance of Romeo Langlois, who was apparently taken hostage during an alleged FARC attack Saturday.
“The International Service Manager Loic Berrou and journalist Pascale Mariani are on board a plane to Bogota to gather information,” a France 24 spokeswoman was quoted as saying by Univision Noticias.
“We do not know if [he] was kidnapped and, if so, by who, or if he is injured,” Univision reported the spokeswoman as saying.
Colombia’s Defence Minister Juan Carlos Pinzon stated Sunday Langlois had been hit by a bullet in the left arm before surrendering to guerrillas.
Pinzon added Monday that a military effort to recover Langlois would only be carried out with the aid of reliable information regarding his whereabouts and the full support of the French government, according to a seperate Univision report.
Langlois was captured while embedded in a Colombian military unit carrying out counternarcotics operations in southern Caqueta Department. The unit was apparently attacked by alleged FARC guerrillas dressed in civilian clothing, resulting in four security forces personnel being killed and six wounded.
Langlois apparently removed his helmet and body armor to reveal himself as a civilian before approaching the guerrilla units.
The French Foreign Ministry condemned the hostage taking, with deputy spokesman Romain Nadal saying the FARC had “pledged publicly to renounce kidnapping. We ask insistently for them to respect that commitment and call for the immediate release of Langlois.”