Colombia Prez: Rebels Don't Have Hostage's Love Child

DNA to determine if boy is orphan in custody
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 2, 2008 10:29 AM CST
Colombia Prez: Rebels Don't Have Hostage's Love Child
Clara de Rojas, mother of Clara Rojas, speaks to the press at a hotel in Caracas, Sunday, Dec. 30, 2007. Rojas is waiting for the expected release of her daughter who is being held hostage by the Armed Revolutionary Forces of Colombia, or FARC. (AP Photo/Gregorio Marrero)   (Associated Press)

Relatives of FARC hostage Clara Rojas yesterday underwent DNA testing to determine whether a boy surrendered to a Bogota orphanage 2 years ago is her 3-year-old son, as Colombian president Alvaro Uribe contends. Uribe yesterday said FARC rebels couldn't release Emmanuel Rojas, along with his mother and another hostage, as they had promised to do, because he’s not their captive at all, the AFP reports.

It’s the latest snag in protracted saga that began Dec. 18, when the FARC announced plans to release the three hostages to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. The rescue operation, dubbed "Operation Emmanuel,"  has become a media circus, complete with filming by Chavez fan Oliver Stone. FARC said the hand-off was delayed by military activity in the area; Chavez dismissed the Emmanuel dustup as “a whole bunch of smoke” concocted by a Uribe administration that “makes things up.” (More Hugo Chavez stories.)

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