Colombian president condemns child's kidnapping

Colombian president condemns child's kidnapping

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos on Friday denounced the kidnapping of a mayor's daughter in the violence-plagued eastern city of Fortul, calling it "a crime against humanity."

Nohora Munoz, 10, whose father was the mayor of Fortul municipality in the eastern Arauca department, was snatched by armed men on her way to school.

"I would like to take this opportunity to categorically condemn the kidnapping of a girl yesterday in Arauca. Kidnapping is the most abominable crime. It is a crime against humanity," Santos said.

The perpetrators of the crime and their motives remained unclear, but "we are going to pursue them wherever they are and we are going to rescue that girl whatever it takes," the president said.

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, the National Liberation Army and other illegal groups involved in drug-trafficking have a strong presence in the Arauca department, which borders Venezuela.

Military units have begun searching operations around Fortul, and a reward of 100 million Colombian pesos (about 50,000 U.S. dollars) has been put aside for whoever could give information about the girl's whereabouts.

The girl's kidnapping was widely condemned in Colombia, where this kind of crime has been a common practice used by illegal armed groups.

Editor: Lu Hui

English.news.cn   2011-10-01 12:34:57 FeedbackPrintRSS
BOGOTA, Sept. 30 (Xinhua)