| Uribe: Betancourt rescuers used Red Cross
Quote:
By Karl Penhaul
CNN
BOGOTA, Colombia (CNN) -- Colombian President Alvaro Uribe admitted Wednesday that the symbol of the neutral Red Cross organization was used in a hostage rescue mission that freed 15 people from leftist rebels two weeks ago.
Uribe made the admission after CNN reported on unpublished photographs and videos that clearly showed a man wearing a Red Cross bib. Wrongly using the Red Cross logo is prohibited by the Geneva Conventions.
The man was a member of the Colombian military intelligence team involved in the daring rescue, Uribe said in an address carried on national TV and radio.
The president said that as the constitutional head of the armed forces, he takes full political responsibility for what he described as a slip-up.
"This officer, upon confessing his mistake to his superiors, said when the [rescue] helicopter was about to land ... he saw so many guerrillas that he went into a state of angst," Uribe said.
"He feared for his life and put on the Red Cross bib over his jacket."
| more ... Uribe: Betancourt rescuers used Red Cross - CNN.com
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That once an eagle, stricken with a dart,
Said, when he saw the fashion of the shaft,
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