Ecuador gives kidnappers 12 hours for news on abducted reporters

Quito (Ecuador) (AFP) – Ecuador’s president gave renegade Colombian rebels 12 hours Thursday night to say whether three abducted reporters are alive, or face a forceful response.

The journalists were abducted by rogue forces of Colombia’s FARC guerillas along the countries’ shared border on March 26.

President Lenin Moreno, in an emotional speech, said if the government does not receive word on the team’s status “we will move forcefully … not hesitating to punish these human rights violators,” the president said.