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FARC rebels free abducted Colombian soldier

This handout picture released by the Colombian Defense Ministry press office shows Colombia's Defense Minister Luis Carlos Villegas (2nd-L) and the commanders of the Police and Armed Forces of Colombia greeting Army Lieutenant Cristian Moscoso Rivera, upon his release by the FARC rebels, on July 19, 2015, at a military hospital in Bogota, Colombia.

Rebels belonging to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) have freed a Colombian soldier after almost 2 weeks.

Lieutenant Cristian Moscoso "is free and in good condition," following his release on Sunday, said President Juan Manuel Santos on Twitter.

Moscoso, 26, was abducted on July 7 while fighting the FARC in Putumayo department in the south of the country. He was injured in the fighting, but not seriously.

His release preceded a one month ceasefire between FARC and Bogota, set to start on Monday.

The goal of the month-long truce is to "create favorable conditions in order to advance with the opposing side toward a bilateral and definitive ceasefire,” FARC said in a statement released earlier this month.

The government and the rebels said they would work together to try to speed up an agreement on a permanent bilateral ceasefire.

Progress of the new agreement will be assessed by both parties in four months according to the Colombian government.

FARC is Latin America’s oldest rebel group and has been fighting the government since 1964. More than 200,000 people have been killed in clashes between the two sides.

The two sides have been in on-off negotiations since 2012 in an attempt to end more than half a century of conflict.


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