Army rescues kidnapped Colombian bishop

BOGOTA, Colombia -- Colombian army troops rescued one of Latin America's leading Roman Catholic bishops and another priest Friday after a gunbattle with their rebel captors in an Andean mountain region.

Laughing with joy, his face covered with several days of white stubble, Bishop Jorge Enrique Jimenez was flown in a military Huey helicopter to an army base in Bogota, where he was mobbed by family members, camouflage-clad soldiers and journalists.

"This is an unforgettable moment," Jimenez said. Asked if he had feared for his life, he said: "I always have faith in God."

Jimenez, 60, and the Rev. Desiderio Orjuela were kidnapped Monday in the mountains of central Colombia by suspected rebels of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. Jimenez is the president of the Latin American bishops conference, which determines Roman Catholic Church policy in the 22 nations of Latin America, home to nearly half the world's Catholics.

Friday's dramatic rescue -- in which one rebel was killed and two were captured -- ended a kidnapping saga that had shaken Colombia and drawn condemnation from Pope John Paul II and other Roman Catholic leaders.

"The safe and sound rescue fills Colombians with satisfaction," Colombian President Alvaro Uribe said upon arriving in the Dominican Republic for a summit of Latin American and Iberian heads of state. "I invite the Colombian people to rebel against kidnapping."

Army troops fought 21 rebels in the battle to rescue the clerics, said Consuelo Garcia, spokeswoman for Colombia's armed forces.

Government troops continued fighting running battles with hundreds of rebels in the area.

"It is a great success for the army," Defense Minister Martha Lucia Ramirez said. "I think this is happy news for the country."

The rescue was a huge triumph for the U.S.-backed military and the president's efforts to get civilians involved in ending the country's 38-year civil war by having them alert the army and police to rebel movements.

"God has given me back my life so I can be of service to my country," Jimenez said.

The FARC holds dozens of kidnapped politicians, including former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt and a state governor, as well as soldiers, police and ordinary civilians as political pawns and for ransom. More than 3,000 people were kidnapped in Colombia last year alone -- most of them by the rebels.

Orjuela recalled being forced to walk for nearly 10 hours in a rainstorm as the rebels tried to elude government troops. He said they walked for days, often in circles to avoid troops, and were rescued near the village of Topaipi, 50 miles north of Bogota and only 7 miles from the spot where they were kidnapped.

By 5 p.m. Thursday, the military and police had narrowed down the area where the kidnapped clerics were, based on information from residents in the farming and ranching region, said army intelligence sources.

Around 9 a.m. Friday, army troops spotted three rebels on horseback and captured and questioned them. That led the troops to where the priests were being held.

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