Colombia group could join terror list

Date: 06/06/02

KIDNAPPINGS carried out by Colombia's best-known guerrilla movement make it imperative that the EU outlaw the group, a leading MEP said this week.

German Social Democrat Rolf Linkohr, head of the European Parliament's delegation to South America, believes it would be an 'important gesture' for the Union to include the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) on its list of terrorist organisations.

Linkohr was speaking at a Brussels meeting of human rights group Pax Christi. It estimates that more than 3,000 kidnappings took place in Colombia last year. From 1994-2001, 90 European citizens were abducted there.

Spain wants FARC's name added to the EU's list before its presidency ends later this month. Member states will discuss the issue today (6 June), with Sweden believed to be the most reluctant to include the group.

MEP Rolf Linkohr, head of the European Parliament's delegation to South America, believes the European Union should include the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) on its list of terrorist organisations.