The World - News from May 4, 1988
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Left-wing Colombian guerrillas kidnaped a West German honorary consul and tried to kidnap a French honorary vice consul in separate incidents, police said. In Bucaramanga, a regional capital 190 miles north of Bogota, the West German, Siegfried Markert Kurts, 59, was kidnaped by gunmen from a metallurgical factory he owns. The kidnapers, belonging to the pro-Cuban National Liberation Army, told some of the 40 factory workers that they will release Markert, who has lived in Colombia for 22 years, within three days with a message for the government. In Cali, 190 miles southwest of Bogota, police foiled an attempt by two gunmen to kidnap the French honorary vice consul, Annette Exiga.
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