COLOMBIA: Colombian troops launched a major hunt yesterday to rescue a senior Roman Catholic bishop who was kidnapped by suspected leftist rebels. The Church finds itself once again in the crossfire of the country's 38-year war.
In Rome, Pope John Paul appealed to guerrillas to free Mgr Jorge Enrique Jimenez. He was seized along with another priest near the capital Bogota on Monday by suspected rebels of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, also known as FARC.
Mgr Jimenez is bishop of the city of Zipaquira, where he officiates in a subterranean cathedral carved out of salt, and is also president of CELAM, the conference which groups all of Latin America's Roman Catholic bishops.
The kidnappers' motive was not immediately known but Marxist rebels have previously held priests and bishops for short periods, later releasing them with messages or peace proposals for the government.
The army has suggested that FARC, which was thrown out of peace talks in February by former president Mr Andres Pastrana, could add Mgr Jimenez to the list of high-profile kidnap victims it wants to swap for jailed guerrillas. The list includes regional lawmakers, congressmen, a former defence minister and former presidential candidate Ms Ingrid Betancourt.
FARC, a 17,000-strong peasant army fighting in a war which claims thousands of lives a year, has not made any comment on whether it was involved in the kidnapping, which took place in a rural district just north of Bogota.
"Since last night we have made a significant deployment of troops in that entire region. We also have some helicopters helping in the operation," said Defence Minister Ms Martha Lucia Ramirez.
The Church has played an important role in peace negotiations between the government and leftist rebels. Earlier this month, Cardinal Pedro Rubiano, president of Colombia's Episcopal Conference, said the Church was willing to help set up a meeting between the government and right-wing paramilitary outlaws.
More than 20 Catholic priests and two bishops have been killed by guerrillas, paramilitaries or drug gangs since 1989.
Two bishops have been kidnapped and subsequently released by armed groups since 1984. Last March, gunmen apparently on the payroll of drug traffickers killed the outspoken Archbishop of Cali, Dr Isaias Duarte Cancino.
President Alvaro Uribe took office in August propelled by widespread frustration at peace talks with FARC. He is stepping up a military campaign under state of emergency powers he renewed on Friday.