Peace talks in Colombia have been suspended while authorities search for an army general they believe was kidnapped by FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia).
General Ruben Dario Alzate and two civilians were travelling by motorboat on Sunday when they were abducted, according to Al Jazeera. A fourth soldier was able to escape during the ambush and reported that the kidnappers were FARC rebels.
There has been no comment from FARC.
If FARC is responsible, it will be the first time in 50 years that the rebels have captured an army general. Lucia Newman, a reporter for Al Jazeera, said that the general was in civilian clothing, so it is possible the abductors did not know they were taking an army general as their hostage.
"Let it be clear to the entire country: when a kidnapping occurs the only ones responsible are the kidnappers, in this case the FARC terrorists,'' Defense Minister Juan Carlos Pinzon said, according to Al Jazeera.
The kidnapping has halted two years of peace talks between the government and guerrilla fighters. According to Newman, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos was being pressured by "millions of Colombians hoping the negotiations would put an end to the longest-running internal conflict in the western Hemisphere."
"In the short term this is a really serious setback for peace talks which had been the cornerstone of Santos' administration," Newman said.
