A former US Marine who Colombia's main insurgency says it "captured' a month ago in a turbulent southeastern region is not a member of the US mission and should be released immediately, Washington's ambassador said today.
The rebels had offered to free Kevin Scott Sutay as a good-faith gesture in announcing on their website that he was in their custody.
The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, said Sutay had described himself as a 2010-2011 veteran of the Afghan conflict who had left the armed forces in March.
It did not disclose how it came into possession of Sutay but suggested he was "a mercenary."
US Ambassador Michael McKinley denied that, saying Sutay was not an active member of the military.
"We understand that (he) was on a trip as a private citizen through Latin America," the ambassador told reporters when questioned about Sutay after attending a Mass marking Colombia's independence day. "He is a citizen who has nothing to do with Colombia's internal conflict."
The Pentagon today referred queries about Sutay's military background to the US State Department and the embassy in Bogota.
An embassy spokeswoman, Erika Avila, said she had no additional information to offer on Sutay. It was not clear what he was doing in the Guaviare region, which is not a tourist region.
The FARC has three active fronts in the region and said it captured Sutay on June 20 in the town of Retorno. The rebels said he had been in the nearby town of San Jose de Guaviare, where a Colombian military base is located.
No US citizen had been reported missing in Colombia before the announcement.
The regional military commander, Gen Enrique Navarrete, told The Associated Press that he had no record of Sutay's presence in the region or of his abduction.
The US military has long assisted Colombia's armed forces and at any given time has dozens of uniformed personnel as well as civilian contractors in the country.
Three US military contractors held by the FARC for more than six years were rescued in 2008 along with former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt and a group of Colombian soldiers and police.
The FARC said Sutay identified himself as anti-mining and explosives specialist.
It said Sutay's passport says he was born in New York City. It published what it said was the passport number and date of issue. It also said he arrived in Colombia on June 8 after travelling through Mexico, Honduras, Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Panama.
