Salvador Reported to Free 4 Sought by Kidnapers

The Salvadoran government has released four political prisoners and is willing to hand over 21 more in response to demands by the kidnapers of President Jose Napoleon Duarte’s daughter, a government source said Wednesday.

The source, who declined to be identified, said the prisoners were taken by the International Red Cross on Tuesday to the northern province of Chalatenango, a guerrilla stronghold.

He declined to name the prisoners, but said all were members of the Popular Liberation Forces, one of the five groups that make up the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front.

Red Cross officials could not be reached for comment.

The source said the four were part of the “first phase” of a larger prisoner release in exchange for the safe return of Ines Guadalupe Duarte Duran, 35, who was kidnaped Sept. 10.

The abductors have asked the government to hand over 34 political prisoners, including Nidia Diaz, a commander of the Central American Revolutionary Workers Party, and Americo Mauro Araugo, a Communist Party leader, according to government sources.

The government says it only has 25 of the 34 people named on the list.

“Everybody on the list who we have is going to be released,” said the source.

The government also is proceeding with the release of Costa Rican pilot Julio Romero Talavera, 36, arrested four years ago for allegedly smuggling arms to the rebels. The legislative assembly has granted Talavera amnesty, and he is to be released eight days after the decree is published in the government’s official gazette.

Driver Was Killed

Duarte Duran and a friend were abducted by gunmen as they arrived for classes at the New University of El Salvador. Duarte Duran’s driver was killed in the attack.

The source said officials have received an instant-camera photograph of Duarte Duran and her friend holding a recent newspaper, proving she is alive and well.

Government sources have said the kidnapers identified themselves as the Pedro Pablo Castillo Commando of the Farabundo Marti Front. Spokesmen for the Marti Front have said they do not have a Castillo Commando and do not know who has Duarte Duran.

The source said the Red Cross released the four prisoners in the town of Comalapa, about 50 miles north of the capital. He called the prisoners “high-ranking intellectuals” of the left and said all had been picked up in the last three weeks. The rebels have not announced the capture of any high-ranking officials lately.

The government has been negotiating with the kidnapers via radio for about three weeks.

“Everything is going to be in phases. This is the first phase,” the source said. He said the prisoners would be released in stages because “it would be hard to see them all trucked away at once. This way we hardly feel it.”

Also on the list of prisoners demanded are Janeth Samour Hasbun and Maximina Reyes, commanders of the Peoples Revolutionary Army. The rebels say the two were captured by the government last spring. The government says it has never held them.