Search for missing Spanish journalist continues, says Colombian president

Xinhua News Agency

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Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said on Monday that a search was ongoing to determine the whereabouts of Spanish journalist Salud Hernandez, who has been missing since Saturday.

There was still "no information as to whether she had been kidnapped or was being held against her will," Santos said at a press conference.

Salud Hernandez, a correspondent for Spanish newspaper El Mundo and a columnist for Colombian daily El Tiempo, has been missing since Saturday after she left for a motorcycle trip in the town of El Tarra in the northern state of Norte de Santander.

"We have no information and nobody has claimed to have kidnapped her or to be holding her against her will," said Santos.

"Salud has been a ferocious critic of my government ... but this is precisely why I have ordered public security forces to take all necessary steps to find her and return her to freedom," he added.

El Mundo stated that she was kidnapped by the National Liberation Army (ELN), according to military sources, but the guerrilla group has made no statements to confirm this.

El Mundo said that the journalist had been working on a story concerning illegal drugs in the state for the past 20 days.

Colombia's Foundation for the Freedom of the Press has also demanded that the government and military take "all necessary actions to find Salud Hernandez."

Peace talks between the Colombian government and the ELN have been expected for several months, but the guerrilla group has refused to surrender its remaining hostages, delaying the start of negotiations.

(APD)