Militia kidnaps mayors to protest peace efforts

BOGOTA, Colombia -- A right-wing militia announced Monday it was holding six mayors hostage to protest their attempts to reach grassroots peace agreements with leftist guerrillas in Colombia.

Police confirmed that several mayors from war-riven northwest Antioquia state have been reported missing since Sunday. Top officials in Bogota, including Attorney General Luis Osorio, condemned the abductions and demanded the mayors be freed.

In a communique, the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, or AUC, said it would free the mayors if they acknowledge their contacts with rebels pose a "high risk for the country."

The mayors are part of a larger group who held discussions recently with the leftist National Liberation Army, or ELN, Colombia's second-largest guerrilla faction.

The ELN and a larger insurgency, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, are battling government security forces and the AUC in the South American country's 37-year war.

The mayors have asked the government to withdraw police posts from their towns in order to reduce the chances of civilians being caught in rebel attacks. But critics, including the government, say the mayors are bowing to guerrilla pressures and have no business engaging in direct talks with the rebels.

News of the kidnappings came as government peace envoys met in Cuba Monday with ELN delegates in an attempt to start formal negotiations. The AUC said it was not trying to disrupt those talks.

Antioquia state is one of the last remaining strongholds of the 5,000-strong ELN. The rebel group has been decimated in recent years by the AUC, an outlawed militia acting with support from landowners and rogue members of Colombia's U.S.-backed military.

Details on Sunday's kidnappings were sketchy. Local media reported the six mayors were from the towns of San Luis, Granada, Guatepe, Marinilla, Carmen de Viboral and Penal -- all small, remote mountain towns.

State police chief Col. Guillermo Aranda said the mayors were intercepted on their way to a meeting.