COLUMBIA: An unarmed group of Paez Indians surrounded a battalion of left-wing rebels in south-west Colombia on Wednesday and obliged them to return a kidnapped priest, writes Michael McCaughan.
The incident occurred in the Cauca region where FARC rebels and government troops engage in frequent skirmishes on the edge of indigenous territory. The Paez Indians have the right to refuse entry to army or rebel troops inside their territory but the accord is often violated, giving rise to armed confrontation.
On Tuesday, Swiss priest Father Florian Arnold was seized inside Paez territory where he has spent the past 27 years co-ordinating education projects. An estimated 2,000 Paez Indians searched the nearby mountains and located the priest, who could have spent months or years negotiating his release with the rebels.
A tense standoff occurred when the Indians, bearing their staff of authority, challenged the FARC rebels, beginning a six-hour negotiation process to secure the priest's freedom.
The FARC rebels, suspicious of the role played by foreigners in the conflict zone, finally handed over their hostage without a single shot being fired.
Over the past two years, as rebel-government peace talks collapsed, isolated communities have taken the initiative in expelling warring forces from their towns.
In another incident a group of citizens surrounded and disarmed a group of rebels who blew up electricity pylons and cut water supplies.
The Colombian President, Mr Alvaro Uribe, has committed himself to a military defeat of the FARC rebels, replacing civilian mayors with army majors in the conflict zone. Political analysts agree however that the guerrillas, flush with recruits and cash, have sufficient firepower to wage war indefinitely.