Colombia seeks global support to release FARC hostages

Jan 22, 2008, 15:26 GMT

Madrid - Colombian Foreign Minister Fernando Araujo on Tuesday said his country needed global support to secure the release of people held hostage by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

Speaking at a congress bringing together more than 400 victims of terrorism in the Spanish capital Madrid, former FARC hostage Araujo said he wanted Colombia's cry for help to be heard 'in the confines of the universe.'

The 4th congress of victims of terrorism was also attended by Clara Rojas, a former Colombian vice-presidential candidate who was released on January 10 after being held by FARC for more than five years.

The congress brought together mainly Spanish victims of the Basque separatist militant group ETA, but also more than 30 victims from Latin America, Europe, the United States and Israel.

Nothing could compensate 'the many victims of the terrorist blight' for their loss, Crown Prince Felipe said in his inaugural speech.

The congress, staged by a conservative university. sparked controversy in Spain.

Several Spanish associations of victims of terrorism declined to participate in the two-day event, describing it as being ideologically close to Spain's conservative opposition.

Spanish conservative leaders attended the event, but the Socialist government did not send representatives despite the expected presence of Colombian President Alvaro Uribe on Wednesday.

Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero justified his absence by saying that the congress could be used for electoral purposes ahead of the March 9 general elections.

Pilar Manjon, president of the largest association representing the victims of the Islamist train bombings that killed 191 people in Madrid in 2004, criticized the planned participation of Madrid cardinal Antonio Maria Rouco.

Some of the victims of the Madrid bombings were Muslims, Manjon pointed out, saying the congress should have been a secular event.

Spain's conservative opposition has turned terrorism into one of its main campaign themes, accusing Zapatero of having encouraged ETA by making a failed attempt to negotiate with the group in 2006.

The congress followed similar ones in Madrid, the Colombian capital Bogota and the eastern Spanish city of Valencia between 2004 and 2006.