End of the Bogota Siege

Terrorists fly to Havana with some hostages after freeing others

The red and white Cubana Airlines jet roared off the runway of Bogota's El Dorado Airport Sunday morning for an unscheduled flight to Havana. Among the passengers were twelve diplomatic hostages, including U.S. Ambassador to Colombia Diego Asencio, and 15 armed members of the so-called M-19 guerrilla group. Four other diplomats and two Colombian civilians had been allowed to leave the plane minutes before takeoff; the remaining hostages were to be liberated upon arrival in Cuba, where President Fidel Castro had offered sanctuary to the terrorists. Thus ended the 61-day siege at the Dominican Republic embassy in Colombia's capital, raided during a diplomatic reception on February 27 by terrorists who demanded a $50 million ransom and freedom for hundreds of jailed comrades.

The hasty departure was the result of an agreement reached Saturday between the guerrillas and the Colombian government, which had been painstakingly negotiating for the release of the hostages since the takeover. Thirty-seven of the 56 people originally held at the embassy had already been freed; one other had escaped. Throughout the numerous bargaining sessions, the government had steadfastly refused to consider the guerrillas' demand for the release of their imprisoned comrades. In the end, the terrorists settled for safe-conduct passes out of the country and an estimated $2.5 million ransom, apparently paid by private sources and foreign governments whose representatives were among the hostages. In addition, the Colombian government agreed to transfer prosecution of all political prisoners from military to civilian courts.

The guerrillas and 16 hostages had left the Dominican embassy at 6:45 a.m., local time, and sped eight miles to the airport in two gray and white Red Cross buses. Escorted to the runway by a Colombian Army Jeep and a yellow airport fire truck, the hostages and their captors slowly filed onto the Cuban plane, which had arrived and refueled about an hour earlier. The guerrillas, wielding semiautomatic weapons, wore masks over their faces and had identification patches stitched to the jackets of their brightly colored sweatsuits.

Shortly before takeoff, the freed Ambassadors of Venezuela, Israel, Egypt and the Dominican Republic descended the steps of the four-engine Soviet-built Ilyushin jetliner and were driven across the airfield in a speeding bus. One of them, Dominican Ambassador Diogenes Mallol, praised Colombian President Julio Cesar Turbay Ayala for handling "this problem with prudence and calm," adding that "only in the beginning were we in danger because the terrorists were very nervous. Then everything calmed down." Another, Venezuelan Ambassador Virgilio Lovera, jubilantly told reporters: "I feel like running a mile in the Olympics."

The flight arrived around noon in Havana, where a small group of cheering Cubans greeted the guerrillas as they emerged from the plane. Asencio deplaned a few minutes later and was taken directly to a chartered Learjet bound for Florida's Homestead Air Force Base, where his family awaited him. The Ambassador seemed in good health and spirits, though a quick physical checkup showed that he had lost a little weight. He was to receive a ceremonial welcome in Washington, where officials of the Carter Administration are glad to have something to celebrate after a demoralizing week.

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