Article: Colombia Frees Rebel 'Foreign Minister'

BOGOTA, Colombia - The highest-ranking jailed member of Colombia's main guerrilla group was freed by the government Monday as part of a wider prisoner release intended to help secure the freedom of 60 hostages - including three Americans - held by the guerrillas.

Dressed in street clothes and carrying a backpack, Rodrigo Granda was escorted from La Dorada prison northeast of Bogota onto a helicopter, footage broadcast by Colombia's two main TV networks showed.

Granda, known as the 110"foreign minister" for the leftist rebels, was released even though he has refused to mediate in a prisoner swap. He was expected to travel to the headquarters of the Roman Catholic Episcopate in Bogota, ...

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