COLOMBIAN REBELS KILL 6

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) -- Leftist guerrillas tortured and killed six people
in northern Colombia, but police and soldiers managed to free dozens of
others taken captive elsewhere by the rebels, authorities said.

Fighters from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia shot five men and
one woman to death Friday in the hamlet of La Culebra, about 250 miles
north of Bogota, after gagging and torturing them, an army news bulletin
said. The victims ranged in age from 18 to 23.

It wasn't immediately clear why they were assassinated. Armed groups
fighting in Colombia's 37-year civil war frequently execute unarmed
peasants suspected of collaborating with the enemy.

Earlier in the week, the rebel army -- known by its Spanish initials, FARC
- -- killed 15 peasants in nearby Cordoba state after accusing them of
sympathizing with a rival right-wing paramilitary group.

Also Friday, suspected rebels seized 50 people traveling along a rural road
near the village of Tucurinca, 430 miles from Bogota, authorities said.
Police and soldiers bore down on the rebels, managing to secure the release
of 41 of the hostages, police Col. Luis Mesa said.

The fate of the nine remaining captives was unknown, he said.

On the Magdalena River, the nation's largest waterway, gunmen from an
obscure rebel faction called the People's Revolutionary Army abducted six
people in boats Friday, police said.

Leftist guerrillas frequently put up roadblocks on rural roads and stop
vehicles for potential kidnapping victims in a strategy known as "fishing
for miracles."

Earlier this month, the National Liberation Army, or ELN, suspended
roadblocks along three major routes as a "goodwill gesture."

The government is trying to open peace talks with the ELN, Colombia's
second-largest guerrilla group, while advancing negotiations with the FARC
to end fighting that kills some 3,000 people every year.

Some 3,700 people were kidnapped in Colombia last year, most by leftist
guerrillas, according to Free Country, a private group.