Colombia frees Telesur reporter accused of bombing
Source: Reuters
BOGOTA, Jan 9 (Reuters) - Colombia on Tuesday freed a correspondent for the Venezuela-backed Telesur television channel who had been jailed since November on accusations of helping leftist rebels bomb electricity facilities in 2002. While Freddy Munoz, 36, has been freed, the investigation into his possible role in the bombings in the Atlantic coast cities of Barranquilla and Cartagena, remains open, a spokesman for the Attorney General's office told Reuters. His jailing sparked outcry from press groups including Paris-based Reporters Without Borders, which said it may have been prompted by interviews that Munoz conducted with guerrillas who are fighting a four-decade-old insurgency and are branded terrorists by Bogota and Washington. The government of conservative President Alvaro Uribe said the arrest had nothing to do with Munoz's work as a journalist. Telesur was started by leftist President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and other Latin American governments as an alternative to cable news networks like CNN. Uribe, whose father was killed by the rebels more than 20 years ago, has received millions of dollars in U.S. aid to crack down on the guerrillas and the cocaine trade that helps finance them.
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