New York, November 4, 1999 — Reuters stringer Henry Romero, kidnapped by the Colombian National Liberation Army (ELN) on October 26 as punishment for having published a photo of a rebel commander’s unmasked face, was freed near the town of Suárez. He reached his hometown of Cali at 9:30 p.m. Wednesday evening after walking and…
New York, November 3, 1999 — Seven cameramen and reporters kidnapped by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) were released yesterday. The journalists were set free in the afternoon of November 2 near Barrancabermeja, an important oil-refining center. Concern for the journalists’ safety had been running high since heavy fighting erupted on October 16…
New York, November 3, 1999 — Jerry Needam, acting editor of the bimonthly Ogoni Star newspaper in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria, was arraigned and released on bail yesterday. Needam had been held since October 11 in connection with the publication of a police operational order that detailed a planned clampdown on ethnic Ijaw…