AMERICAN HOSTAGE RELEASED

BOGOTA, Colombia -- Leftist rebels on Saturday released an American hostage,
one of 41 passengers and crew members seized in the mid-April hijacking of a
domestic flight, officials said.

Daniel Hoffman was released by guerrillas of the National Liberation Army,
or ELN, and flown by helicopter to a clinic in Bucaramanga, 185 miles
northeast of the capital Bogota, said Mauricio Geremia, a Red Cross spokesman.

Forty-one people were kidnapped when five pistol-wielding ELN guerrillas
hijacked the Avianca airliner and forced it to land at a remote jungle
airstrip six months ago.

The rebel group still holds 15 passengers and crew-members -- including a
Colombian congressman -- and has demanded a ransom. One other hostage died
of a heart attack while still captive.