Rebels likely to free Colombian general next week

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos says he expects five captives, including a general in the Colombian army held by leftist guerrillas, to be released next week.

General Rubén Darío Alzate was taken by rebels from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia along with two others last weekend while traveling by boat along a remote river.

Santos suspended two-year-old peace talks after the kidnapping but plans to resume the negotiations in Havana after the release of the hostages.

In a tweet, Santos said the coordinates and instructions for the liberation of the hostages had been received and that the operation was expected to take place next week.

Alzate is the first general to be kidnapped in Colombia's more than 50-year civil war. He holds a master's degree from the Army War College in Harrisburg, Pa., and Gen. David Petraeus, now retired, presided over his promotion ceremony when Alzate made colonel in 2005.

"A military career in Colombia is full of risks, but I never imagined this was going to happen," Alzate's wife, Claudia Farfan, told the Associated Press before the deal to release the general was announced.

"I can't wait for the moment to welcome my husband home," she said after learning of the plan to free him.

In addition to Alzate, the FARC will release lawyer Gloria Urrego and Corp. Jorge Rodríguez, who were captured along with Alzate, as well as two soldiers taken a week earlier in Arauca.

Kidnapping is nothing new for the FARC, which has abducted high-profile politicians and Americans in its violent history. One former guerrilla faces life in a U.S. federal prison if convicted of kidnapping three Americans in 2003 after being extradited to the U.S.

Contributing: The Associated Press

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