May 31, 1999
Web posted at: 11:44 p.m. EDT (0344 GMT)

CALI, Colombia (CNN) -- Dozens of hostages remained in the hands of Marxist rebels Monday, one day after guerrillas seized more than 100 people from a church service.

At least 84 of the men, women and children have been freed after being snatched from the sanctuary of a church as they attended Mass in a wealthy neighborhood of Cali, Colombia's second largest city, authorities said.

The exact number of people taken hostage was not known. Local reports have estimated that about 120 people were kidnapped and taken into the mountains by members of the National Liberation Army (ELN).

About 45 rebels carried out the kidnapping in the La Maria church in the upscale Ciudad Jardin district, witnesses, including several former hostages, said. A small number of rebels, posing as government security force members, entered the Roman Catholic church as morning Mass was under way, claiming they had been sent to investigate a bomb threat.

As panic-stricken parishioners fled the building, they were herded into two waiting trucks that sped off toward mountains on the city's southern outskirts, the witnesses said. Troops backed by helicopter gunships pursued the guerrillas as they fled into the mountains with their hostages.

The rebels shot and killed a civilian bodyguard outside the Roman Catholic church, and at least three guerrillas died in shootouts as police and soldiers moved to track down the kidnappers, Cali Mayor Ricardo Cobo told reporters.

A freed hostage

Seven people who are not Colombian, including two diplomats, were among the hostages, local media reported. But officials said they were unable to give their nationalities or say whether they were among those freed.

"This was an act of international terrorism and a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law," said Colombian President Andres Pastrana. "Colombians condemn it, and it is condemned by the international community."

Pastrana blamed the mass kidnapping on National Liberation Army (ELN) rebels, the same group that abducted all 41 passengers and crew aboard a commercial airliner hijacked over northeast Colombia last month.

Colombia has what police and government officials routinely describe as the highest abduction rate anywhere in the world, with more than 2,500 cases reported last year alone, most blamed on rebels who use ransom money to help bankroll their war effort.

But Sunday's kidnapping in this predominantly Catholic nation was seen as especially callous. It was also thought to be the first guerrilla attack within Cali's city limits in a war that has killed more than 35,000 people over the past decade.

"In wars and conflicts like this, there are generally certain symbols that are respected," said Juan Manuel Santos, a newspaper columnist and former foreign trade minister. "When a church is violated, it produces a very special reaction in people's souls and in their hearts."

"This grave act violates an infinity of human rights," said Finance Minister Juan Camilo Restrepo, who was serving as acting head of state on Sunday because Pastrana had left for Canada and the United States to seek international investment.

Pastrana has started peace talks with Colombia's largest rebel group -- the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. But attempts to begin negotiations with the ELN have failed so far.

The rebel group was founded in the mid-1960s and attracted several radical Catholic priests to its ranks. It is still holding 25 hostages following the April 14 hijacking of an Avianca Fokker 50 aircraft moments after it took off from the northeast city of Bucaramanga.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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