wfn.org | WCC NEWS: Colombia: after Betancourt's liberation more hostages should be released

["WCC Media" <Media@wcc-coe.org>]

World Council of Churches - News Release

Contact: +41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507 6363 media@wcc-coe.org

>For immediate release - 03/07/2008 13:33:35

WCC SALUTES INGRID BETANCOURT'S LIBERATION, CALLS FOR OTHER HOSTAGES TO BE  RELEASED

The World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia  expressed "joy" at the liberation of Ingrid Betancourt and other hostages  in Colombia today. Welcoming the liberation "as an important step in a yet  uncompleted process", Kobia called upon the FARC "to release hostages on a  humanitarian basis".

Commenting on Betancourt's liberation, Kobia stated that the detention of  hundreds of people who are still hostages of the FARC is "an unacceptable  situation which should be reverted immediately".

"Hostage taking should have no place in the processes of social and  political transformation," the WCC general secretary stated, reiterating  the call to President Alvaro Uribe and the FARC "to look for a peaceful  solution of the conflict in Colombia".

Kobia expressed hope that mediation efforts by the governments of France,  Switzerland, Spain, Ecuador and Venezuela will be strengthened to "achieve  peace with justice in Colombia".

Full text of the WCC general secretary's comments
http://www.oikoumene.org/?id=6098

Additional information:Juan Michel,+41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507 6363media@wcc -coe.org

The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness  and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of  churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 349 Protestant,  Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 560 million  Christians in over 110 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman  Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia, from  the Methodist Church in Kenya. Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland.