Democratic Underground (Free subscription) | 07/25/2008
Source: [b]L. A. Times[/b] Colombia, Switzerland at odds over mediator Colombia accuses Jean-Pierre Gontard, who has been involved in hostage-release talks with the FARC, of being a money courier for the rebels. The Swiss say his work was 'exclusively humanitarian.' By Patrick J. McDonnell and Ch...
OTB News (Free subscription) | 07/25/2008
Colombia accuses Jean-Pierre Gontard, who has been involved in hostage-release talks with the FARC, of serving as a money courier for the rebel group. Switzerland says his work was ‘exclusively humanitarian.’ A [...]
LA Times (Free subscription) | 07/25/2008
Colombia accuses Jean-Pierre Gontard, who has been involved in hostage-release talks with the FARC, of serving as a money courier for the rebel group. Switzerland says his work was 'exclusively humanitarian.' A diplomatic dispute has broken out between Colombia and Switzerland over the role of a Swiss mediator involved in hostage-release talks with leftist rebels.
Transatlantic Intelligencer (Free subscription) | 07/18/2008
The Swiss weekly Die Weltwoche has much more on the subject of "international mediation" in the Colombian hostage crisis and, in particular, the role of Swiss envoy Jean-Pierre Gontard. E-mails found on confiscated FARC computers strongly suggest that the supposedly "neutral" mediator was in fact colluding with the FARC leadership and may even have served as a money courier for the "narco-guerilla"...
Counterterrorism Blog (Free subscription) | 07/17/2008
From the pages of Die Weltwoche comes news that Jean-Pierre Gontard, the special envoy from the Switzerland Ministry of Foreign Affairs whom the Colombian government invited to assist in hostage negotations with FARC, is now under investigation himself. Information developed from the computer of Raul Reyes, the FARC senior commander killed by Colombian troops on May 1 , implies that...
Saber Point (Free subscription) | 07/17/2008
Freeing the Colombian FARC hostages: The originator of the "Ransom Payment" rumor has been traced to a Swiss mediator and shown to be false. The German newspaper Die Weltwoche has the story: The Swiss mediator Jean-Pierre Gontard played a role in the hostage rescue in Colombia, albeit unknowingly and involuntarily. The false report concerning a supposed ransom payment originated from...
Democratic Underground (Free subscription) | 07/16/2008
Source: [b]Bloomberg[/b] Switzerland Asks Colombia to Stop Harassing Swiss Mediator By Marc Wolfensberger July 16 (Bloomberg) -- Switzerland has started a ``diplomatic procedure'' aimed at getting Colombia to stop harassing Swiss mediator Jean-Pierre Gontard, who helped release prisoners hel...
