Colombian rebels free kidnapped U.S. geologist

CNN 19 September 1998 Colombian rebels free kidnapped U.S. geologist

                  BOGOTA, Colombia (Reuters) -- Colombian Marxist rebels freed a U.S.
                  geologist on Friday, 20 months after abducting him in a rural area of northern
                  Bolivar province, authorities said.

                  Ruben Dario Ramirez, the head of the government's special anti-kidnapping
                  office, identified the American as Donald Riedl and said he was one of three
                  foreign rebel kidnap victims released Friday in separate handovers across
                  the country.

                  Riedl, who was turned over to Red Cross and Roman Catholic church
                  officials in Bolivar, had been held by Cuban-inspired National Liberation
                  Army (ELN) rebels since January 1997, Ramirez said.

                  He identified the other foreigners, who were freed by Revolutionary Armed
                  Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebels, as an Ecuadoran man and Felipe Sosa
                  Diaz of Uruguay, described as a personal friend of that country's President
                  Julio Mario Sanguinetti.

There were 1,822 reported kidnappings in Colombia last year -- more than
half blamed on rebels -- including 33 cases involving foreigners.

At least 15 of the people snatched so far this year were foreigners.

                  The FARC and ELN, which rose up in arms against the state in the
                  mid-1960s, have traditionally funded their insurgency with millions of dollars
                  collected yearly in kidnap ransom payments.

U.S. embassy spokesmen were unavailable for comment on Riedl's
hometown or to confirm the spelling of his name.