OTTAWA CITIZEN [Canada]
Monday, 27 September 1999
 

Kidnappers not Colombian

QUITO, Ecuador -- It's highly unlikely that Colombian rebels abducted 12 foreigners, including eight Canadians, in Ecuador on Sept. 11, Liberal MP David Kilgour said yesterday.

''I came down here quite convinced that it was a FARC (Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces) kidnapping,'' said Mr. Kilgour. ''Frankly, now I'm not sure that it is.''

Canada's secretary of state for Latin America and Africa said he changed his mind after a number of secret briefings with Ecuador's president, defence minister and military commanders. ''I've heard some very persuasive reasons why it isn't FARC.''

Mr. Kilgour wrapped up a four-day visit to Ecuador yesterday with no firm idea of who captured the seven Edmontonians and five others along an Ecuadorean jungle highway near the Colombian border.

With the Colombian rebels all but ruled out, Canadian and Ecuadorean officials now believe a previously unknown terrorist group snatched the eight Canadians, three Spaniards and one American.

''One of the hypotheses is it would be a local group either acting alone, or with guerrilla sympathizers in Ecuador or in Colombia,'' said Brian Dickson, Ottawa-based director of the South American division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who is travelling with Mr. Kilgour.

In FARC kidnappings, the Colombian guerrillas negotiate a ransom and release their captives -- the negotiations can take weeks or even months. ''If it's a local group, you're into a totally different ball game,'' Mr. Dickson said.

FARC often holds as many as 1,000 hostages, and negotiates their release. The rebel group controls most of the Colombian border region with Ecuador; by some estimates the rebels control 40 per cent of Colombia's territory. They have fought a 30-year civil war with a succession of Colombian governments.

Mr. Dickson said if FARC were responsible, there would be a predictable set of negotiations. But if a totally new group is involved, ''we really can't speculate on what we're dealing with.''

It was believed at first that a FARC unit had infiltrated Ecuador to snatch the 12 foreigners because the abductors spoke with Colombian accents.

''But there are a lot of people of Colombian origin living in that part of Ecuador,'' said Mr. Dickson.

While the Ecuadorean military is confident it is closing in on the abductors, said Mr. Kilgour, ''it could take a long time'' to secure the safe release of the hostages.

The Edmontonians, who were working for United Pipeline of Edmonton, were introducing a new technology to Ecuador, inserting a plastic liner into an existing pipeline that parallels the highway. They are Neil Barber, Steven Brent, Rod Dunbar, Colin Fraser, Barry Meyer, Grant Rankin and Brent Scheeler. With them was American oil worker Leonard Carter. The pipeline belongs to City Investing Company, an Ecuadorean firm bought three years ago by Alberta Energy Co.

The other Canadian is Sabine Roblain, who was on her way to visit the Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve when the taxi carrying her and three Spaniards was seized by the abductors. The Spaniards are Maria Mimenza, her husband Jesus Magunagoikoetxea, and her brother Ander Mimenza. Maria and Jesus married in Bilbao, Spain, on Aug. 28 and were in Ecuador on their honeymoon.

Mr. Kilgour left Ecuador for Colombia yesterday afternoon, for ''a very low key visit'' in which he'll consult with Colombian authorities to find out what they know about the kidnapping.

The minister leaves Colombia on Wednesday for a meeting in New York.