Colombia rebels free 2 pipeline company workers after nearly 3 weeks
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Aug. 13, 2012: Members of the Colombian rebel group National Liberation Army, or ELN, escort Gina Paola Uribe Villamizar, 32, second from left, and Elida Parra Alfonso, 33, right, during their released in Fortul, northeast of Bogota, Colombia. (AP)
Colombia's second-largest leftist rebel band has freed two female employees of an oil pipeline company whom it had held for nearly three weeks.
The International Red Cross says National Liberation Army guerrillas released 33-year-old Elida Parra, a community outreach worker and journalist, and 32-year-old Gina Uribe, an environmental engineer, on Monday in the northeastern state of Arauca.
It was not known whether a ransom was paid.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Both women had been kidnapped from their homes in the regional capital of Saravena on July 25 by men in civilian clothing and driven away in cars.
Parra told The Associated Press that the women were blindfolded and moved constantly.
The rebels, known by their Spanish-language initials ELN, did not explain why the women were kidnapped.