Rebel accused in US plane shootout held
A suspected member of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), accused of participating in the 2003 downing of a light plane carrying three US contractors, has been captured, authorities said.
The rebel has been identified as Nelson Cordoba Culma, and an official with the secret police said he was a member of FARC, the country's oldest and largest insurgent group.
Culma was apprehended in a house in southern Bogota thanks to good "intelligence work ... (and) information from the public," the police official told Spanish news agency EFE.
Along with Culma, security authorities arrested another person who has no police record, the source added.
The three US contractors - Keith Stansell, Thomas Howes and Marc Gonsalves - were captured by the FARC on Feb 13, 2003, in the southern province of Caqueta after their light plane, after being hit by gunfire from the ground, made an emergency landing. The trio were making an aerial surveillance of illegal drug crop cultivation in the region.
The FARC is evidently still holding the three men, hoping to work out a deal with the government of President Alvaro Uribe to exchange them and several dozen other high-profile hostages for imprisoned guerrillas.
Police said Cordoba Culma participated in at least one failed car bomb attack against Cielo Gonzalez, the mayor of Neiva, the capital of Huila province.
The captured rebel also participated in the massacre of nine city council members in the Huila municipality of Rivera, and the murder of former senator Jaime Lozada Perdomo along a highway near Neiva.
Less time to read?
Try Quickreads
-
Joe Biden formalises US support for Finland, Sweden joining Nato
The countries sought out Nato membership earlier this year to guarantee their security in the wake of Russian President Vladimir Putin's offensive in Ukraine. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization's rules require the consent of all of its 30 existing members before Finland and Sweden can officially accede into the alliance, which is expected in the coming months.
-
Suspect in killing of four Muslim men arrested in New Mexico
Muhammad Syed, 51, an Albuquerque resident, was formally charged with two of the homicides: those of Aftab Hussein, 41, and Muhammed Afzaal Hussain, 27, killed on July 26 and August 1, respectively, but he is considered a suspect in all four murders, city Police Chief Harold Medina said at a news conference.
-
Kyiv urges travel ban on Russians as Moscow steps up assault in eastern Ukraine
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wants a one-year travel ban and the apparent expulsion of Russians living in the West so that they could live "in their own world until they change their philosophy." He complained that sanctions imposed so far on Russia to punish it for invading his country on February 24 were too weak.
-
Ukraine is not taking responsibility for Crimea explosions: Prez Zelensky aide
Mykhailo Podolyak, asked by the Dozhd online television channel whether Kyiv was taking responsibility, replied: "Of course not. What do we have to do with this?"
-
New ‘Langya’ virus hits China as 35 people found infected: How deadly is it?
Currently, no vaccine or treatment for Langya virus is available, and the only solution is supportive care to manage complications pertaining to the zoonotic disease. A study published earlier revealed that the Langya virus was first spotted in human beings in 2019, with majority of the recent cases this year.
