Bogota/Paris - Wilson Bueno Largo, a former member of
Colombia's Marxist FARC rebels, arrived in Paris on Wednesday in a
deal giving him political asylum, French media reported.
Largo, also known as Isaza, gained hero status and a 400,000-dollar
reward for freeing a kidnapped Colombian lawmaker, Oscar Tulio
Lizcano, 62, whom he dragged to freedom in October.
The 28-year-old Largo was accompanied to Paris by former FARC
hostage Ingrid Betancourt and his girlfriend, Lilia Isabel, who
deserted from the rebels three months earlier.
Late last year, French President Nicolas Sarkozy offered to extend
political asylum to repentant FARC rebels. He repeated the offer after
Betancourt, a former Colombian presidential candidate, was freed by
the military in July after eight years as a FARC hostage.
Betancourt said Largo's asylum in France would be a message to
other rebels still holding hostages.
Before leaving Colombia, Largo said the government had kept its
promise not only to spare everyone who dropped their weapons, but also
to aid them.
Colombia prosecutors previously dropped all charges against Bueno
concerning Lizcanco's abduction eight years ago. Sarkozy had offered
asylum to former Colombian rebels if they swore off armed combat and
did not face charges in their home country.
Betancourt ended a one-week tour of Latin America in which she
tried to gather support for the remaining 3,000 kidnap victims in
Colombia. FARC is believed to still hold about 700 hostages.
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