Colombian rebel group forbids kidnapping

BOGATA, Colombia, Feb. 28 (UPI) -- Kidnapping is no longer a strategic practice employed by rebels in the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia, the group said in a communique.

The group, known by its Spanish initials FARC, issued a statement it would "forbid the practice" of kidnapping and release the last of its prisoners.

Luis Eduardo Celis, an analyst with conflict research center Nuevo Arco Iris, told The Christian Science Monitor that FARC leader Rodrigo Londono was trying to set the stage for peace talks with the government.

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, however, said that while the FARC declaration was "important" it was an "insufficient step in the right direction."

Some of FARC's 10 remaining hostages, mostly members of Colombia's security forces, were kidnapped more than a decade ago.

The U.S. State Department, in a travel advisory last week, said narco-terrorist groups continue to pose a threat to national security in Colombia. FARC was blamed for two attacks on Bogota last year.

The advisory stated that security has improved "significantly" in recent years but narco-terrorist groups like FARC and the National Liberation Army are lingering threats.