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TechnoratiWASHINGTON - Two people who helped rescue 15 hostages from Colombian rebels posed as journalists from a real Venezuela-based television news organization, Colombia's defense minister said Wednesday.
Two of the nine rescuers assumed the roles of journalist and cameraman from the news organization TeleSUR during the daring rescue, Juan Manuel Santos said.
An actual doctor and nurse also took part in the bloodless mission, along with members of the Colombian military who pretended to be an Italian, an Australian, an Arab, a Cuban and a Dominican, he said.
TeleSUR is based in Venezuela and primarily funded by that country's government, but also receives funding from other Latin American countries.
"The supposed journalist had a microphone that said 'TeleSUR,' " Santos said. "I don't know if it was the same one or a different one."
Operation Check snatched 15 hostages from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia by duping the rebels into believing that they were releasing the hostages to a humanitarian organization that would bring them to another rebel camp.
The actors "were drilled 24 hours per day in their own script" for the operation, Santos said, which freed former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, three American military contractors and 11 Colombian law enforcement members.
"They set up a facade of a false humanitarian organization, and they had to learn their lines," Santos said. "If they were caught or were asked and they did not respond correctly, they were dead."
The move also brought the capture of two rebels.
TeleSUR's general director of information, Armando Jimenez, said the company was preparing a response.
Jean-Francois Julliard, deputy director of the press advocacy organization Reporters Without Borders, said authorities can endanger journalists when they pose as members of the news media.
"We think it is a dangerous practice because it puts in danger real journalists," he said.
The next time a reporter approaches FARC rebels, he said, the FARC members "will be very suspicious and maybe they will take some physical measures against these journalists because they will think that they are not real journalists."
Initially, the international community hailed the Colombian government for infiltrating the rebel group and carrying out the operation without firing a single weapon or causing bloodshed.
But the government has drawn criticism as details have emerged regarding methods used in the mission.
Last week, Colombian President Alvaro Uribe said that Colombian military intelligence used a Red Cross symbol in the mission after CNN reported on unpublished photographs and videos that showed a man wearing a Red Cross bib.
Previously, Uribe and his top generals had denied that international humanitarian symbols were used in the mission.
The Geneva Conventions prohibit the use of the neutral emblem of the International Committee of the Red Cross by parties to any armed conflict.
Uribe said the man was a member of the Colombian military rescue team who panicked upon seeing the guerrillas as the helicopter was about to land.
"He saw so many guerrillas that he went into a state of angst," Uribe said. "He feared for his life and put on the Red Cross bib over his jacket."
However, the confidential military source who showed CNN the photographs said they were taken moments before the mission took off.
Uribe said he was sorry for the mistake and apologized to Red Cross officials. There will be no official sanction against the man wearing the bib, he indicated.
International legal expert Mark Ellis, executive director of the International Bar Association, said the use of the Red Cross symbol could endanger humanitarian workers and violate the Geneva Conventions.
"The way that the images show the Red Cross emblem being used could be distinguished as a war crime," he said.
© 2008 CNN News
2 Comments so far
Show AllShoddy transparent propaganda is all it takes to convince idiots who already believe the god myth.
Being an observer of the USA and it's "friends" allies, lackeys, servants and slaves----I have found the entire story to be so unbelievably and profoundly smelling of fabrication that it is arch typical of the USA and the current administration to have reported it. And the conservative minded to believe it. And the "War on Drugs" is one of America's most cherished myths---they will never win it, but they "love it" so they lie about it every chance they get.
"Americans just love a war; if they're winning it" ----Mark Twain
The subliminal messages are for the "conservative audience" and since it is usually very easy to convince them of almost anything; they just ate this one up. In fact it has been my experience the more ridiculous a story the more likely it is to be believed by the conservative mindset---especially if it follows their efforts and intentions.
The future will most likely tell the truth, or it may be lost to the other more fantastic stories due to be released here in the US election year.
The facts "post event facts" may never be known. The "pre event facts" are clearly understood.
A group of extreme leftist guerrillas, who have been extremely effective in keeping their coffers full with "drug money", which in most part is derived from the sale of illicit drugs in the USA.
The kidnappings may bring in some money but they are much more valuable as a tool to show the establishment that they are in control of the jungles--- which surround the cities. At the same time they have been effective in making problems for the Colombian Gov. who has been the "pet monkey" of the USA. The LEFTISTS as I will call them, took prisoners of war----Americans who were working for private contractors who were working for the US Gov in it's "war on drugs"----and instead of executing them---held them for ransom. By their appearance on TV they did not suffer ill health, or torture, or any of the treatment that the USA admits to inflicting on it's POWs---they just held them successfully for ransom. Bettencourt was a French National who attempted to run for President and was caught up in the "revolution"----she took the risk---she lost. So here the story is told in another form where the LEFTISTS were "tricked", by clever ruse into releasing their POW's and it was "all caught on video"------------only the conservative mindset could possibly be the "target market" for this story. Never mind the international legal fact that the use of the Red Cross 'bib" was a violation of the Geneva Convention, the LEFTISTS are not bound by the Geneva Convention----only those who sign it are----like the USA and Colombia.
If I had been part of the LEFTITSTS I would have offered the USA the opportunity to use this ruse to Public Relations advantage----for extra ransom money of course-----and let the USA slip up one more time and reveal the truth----after Bush is out of office of course. But there are millions of people who believe this story----very few of them are Colombian---but the Columbians are not throwing money at a huge hole in the ground----in a "War on Drugs" they cannot possibly win.
That great act of collective stupidity is the exclusive territory of the USA and they guard that territory very closely.
While I'm at this, For any of the readers who actually believe the story mentioned above---I have in my possession (or can get it quickly) a "dead alien", disguised in a "Skunk Costume", that I found "playing dead" (or can find)on a road side near me in a rural area---that I would be willing to sell to a good Republican voter (must be ULTRA conservative) at a very good price---because I like you folks---- and our country would "never be the same without you".
You just gotta love the USA--and such a wonderful source of entertainment----for the entire world.
Good luck.