Society

Contact with Colombia kidnappers likely

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-06-14 09:04

BOGOTA - The Colombian Army on Monday said it expects to establish contact in the next few days with the group of kidnappers suspected to be responsible for holding four Chinese citizens who were captured last week in southern Caqueta province.

"We are in a state of offensive and because of this pressure there has not been contact, but for sure one of these next days we will be able to establish contact," Colombia's National Army Commander Alejandro Navas said at a press conference.

A reward worth $35,000 for information leading to the kidnappers has been offered by the government.

On June 8, the four Chinese citizens, three engineers and their translator, were kidnapped by unidentified armed men believed to be members of the illegal Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FACR) guerrilla group.

Colombian authorities say a division of the FARC known as the " Teofilo Forero column" are responsible for the kidnapping, which is part of operations to expand territorial control.

The four Chinese were working for the Emerald company, an affiliate of China's State-owned Sinochem in Colombia, and were visiting exploration projects in the region when they were forced out of their vehicle on a remote highway and marched into the jungle.