Colombia's FARC Executes 4 Captives

BOGOTA, Colombia -- Colombia's main rebel group executed four of its longest-held captives during combat Saturday between guerrillas and soldiers searching for the men, the government said.

A fifth captive fled into the jungle and survived.

President Juan Manuel Santos called the killing of a soldier and three police officers "a crime against humanity" and dismissed any suggestions that Colombia's armed forces might be responsible.

"They were held hostage for between 12 and 13 years and wound up cruelly murdered," Santos said.

A senior Defense Ministry official told The Associated Press that government troops were not attempting to rescue the captives but rather trying to locate them based on intelligence indicating the rebels were holding them in the area. The official agreed to discuss the operation only if granted anonymity.

Defense Minister Juan Carlos Pinzon initially announced the deaths, then said hours later that a fifth rebel prisoner, police Sgt. Luis Alberto Erazo, had survived. Erazo, 48, had been held by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC for nearly 12 years.

Pinzon said troops had been in the area for 45 days chasing rebels and had intelligence the guerrillas might be holding police and soldiers as captives. No official explained how far the captives were being held from the area of combat. Pinzon did not take questions from reporters.

All four men were killed execution-style, three with shots to the head and one with two shots to the back, Santos told a community meeting in central Colombia.

Pinzon said the bodies were found together, with chains near them.