Colombia Vows to Press War Against Rebels
Colombia’s president said Wednesday the murder of an industrialist and his wife, a former Miss Colombia, underscored the need to subdue leftist rebels on the battlefield. The bullet-riddled bodies of Helmut Bickenbach, 68, and Doris Gil, 65, were found by an army patrol Tuesday lying in a ditch, with their hands bound, in central Colombia. “I personally and the nation are in grief,” President Alvaro Uribe said at a remembrance ceremony for the couple. “But I want to say this to my countrymen … we only have one path: to strengthen our conviction and our decision to root out terrorism.” Gil was crowned Miss Colombia in 1957. She and Bickenbach were kidnapped six months ago by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, which has been battling government forces for 39 years. Full Story