Wonder how good their information is, the US recently offered a $5 million reward for info on this.
<clips>
BOGOTA, Colombia, Nov. 7 — The Colombian military has a good idea where Marxist rebels are holding three U.S. Defense Department contractors hostage but has not attempted to rescue them for fear of endangering their lives, the Colombian defense minister said on Friday.
''We have a pretty clear idea of where they are keeping them, but the prime concern of our armed forces has been the responsibility to avoid any operation which could put them in serious risk,'' Defense Minister Marta Lucia Ramirez told reporters.
Thomas Howes, Marc Gonsalves and Keith Stansell were captured by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia in February when their light aircraft crashed on a southern Colombian jungle hillside while on a mission spying out drug crops.
The rebels, a 17,000-strong group known by the Spanish initials FARC, say the three civilians are CIA agents and have put them on a list of politicians and soldiers they want to swap for guerrillas held in government jails. They killed two other crew members who survived the crash -- a Colombian army sergeant and a U.S. Vietnam veteran.
The Colombian army, assisted by U.S. experts, launched a massive search operation for the men when they were captured, relatively close to a large military base. But the Colombians' record in such operations has been mixed, and FARC guerrillas killed 10 hostages as troops staged a botched rescue attempt in thick jungle in May.
<
http://famulus.msnbc.com/FamulusIntl/reuters11-07-101039.asp?reg=AMERICAS>