Colombian rebels confirm abductions

Insurgents of the 34^th Front of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) confirmed they are holding Christian agronomist Ahimer Velasquez, the youngest brother of Medellin pastor and Prison Fellowship evangelist Carlos Velasquez, and his co-worker, Luis Carlos Herrera, after kidnapping the two men March 17.

Father Giovani Presiga, a priest of the Diocese of Santafe’ de Antioquia who mediates hostage crises, said that rebels told him they are holding the two men. Velasquez and Herrera were abducted from a community center in Caicedo.

Ahimer Velasquez and his wife of six years, Mery Gaviria, have two children: Mateo, 5, and Jeronimo, 3.

(CD)