Bogotá, December 8 (teleSUR-RHC)-- Delegates from the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) rebel movement traveled to the town of Bojaya to personally ask the local residents for forgiveness for a 2002 accident that killed approximately 80 people.       

The delegation took part in a private ceremony Monday with the inhabitants of Bojaya in the western department of Choco to pay tribute to the deceased and ask for forgiveness. 

May 2, 2002, the guerrillas were engaged in a conflict with AUC (United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia) paramilitaries in the region, as the AUC was carrying out an expansion offensive in the area. 
 
During the conflict, the FARC launched a handmade projectile at the paramilitary group, which was hiding near a church. However, instead of hitting the troops, the projectile exploded on the church, where some 80 of the 300 townspeople were hiding. 

“There never was the intention to harm the civilian population and much less the elderly and children who died in this dreaded attack,” said Pastor Alape, one of the FARC delegates who traveled to the region to personally ask the townspeople for forgiveness. 

Alape, who is also a member of the FARC's negotiating team at the ongoing peace talks in Cuba, was accompanied by other guerrillas and members of the Red Cross.  The guerrilla leader added that the rebels will “compensate the damage done and repay the victims of these acts, as well as never repeat situations like this.”   

Meanwhile, the FARC also said Monday its willingness to release soldier Jesus Angel Rojas, who was seized in Caqueta while developing combat intelligence missions.  In a statement released through their website, the FARC requested the participation of the Red Cross for the release process.

The insurgency says that the soldier was posing as a truck driver's assistant carrying a truck full of timber. 

“We reject such practices, which not only endanger the lives of soldiers, but undermine the cease-fire established unilaterally by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia,” said the insurgents in a statement, adding that it seeks the peaceful conclusion of the current peace negotiations.  

The Red Cross has been involved as a mediator in previous prisoner exchanges.