Colombian Marxist rebels agreed to release an army general captured by their comrades over the weekend, a move that may lead to a resumption of peace talks and defuse a crisis that threatened to extend five decades of war, Reuters reported. The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) promised to free General Ruben Dario Alzate and four others captured in the past two weeks "as soon as possible" after reaching agreement on liberation terms with the government and guarantor nations Cuba and Norway. President Juan Manuel Santos's office responded immediately to the announcement, pledging to resume talks as soon as the hostages are free. Alzate and two others were seized on Sunday by a FARC patrol as they left a boat in the poor and crime-ridden coastal region of Choco, prompting Santos to halt talks and throwing into doubt the two-year peace process under way in Cuba.
