Kidnapped Canadian mining executive has been freed

TORONTO – A Canadian mining executive who was kidnapped seven months ago by Colombian rebels opposed to his company’s gold mining project has been freed.

The International Committee of the Red Cross says Gernot Wober was released today by National Liberation Army rebels and is currently being transported to the city of Barrancabermeja, north of Bogota.

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Wober, vice-president of exploration of the Toronto-based Braeval Mining Corp., was abducted on Jan. 18, along with two Colombian employees and two Peruvian consultants.

The National Liberation Army had demanded that Braeval drop plans to explore for gold at the Snow Mine property in Sur de Bolivar state, saying the land had been stolen from its legitimate owners.

Braeval announced last month that it was pulling out of Colombia.

The ICRC says Wober, 47, has been checked up by a doctor and is in good health.