A humanitarian commission today took a firsthand look at impoverished villages in northern Colombia, meeting a key demand of a rebel group holding seven foreign backpackers.

A massive search for seven foreign backpackers being held captive by leftist rebels in northern Colombia will continue, Colombian President Alvaro Uribe vowed today.

Catholic Church mediators who travelled to the jungles of northern Colombia to try to negotiate the release of seven foreign tourists said they were heading home after receiving no word from rebels behind the mass abduction.

Colombian guerrillas have said they would be prepared to consider an exchange of seven hostages for rebels held in prison, it was reported today.

A British tourist who was kidnapped 12 days ago in the snow-capped mountains of northern Colombia has escaped from his captors and has been picked up by an army patrol, Colombia’s army chief said today.

A landslide triggered by heavy rains has killed at least six people and left at least 60 missing in a remote region of northern Colombia.

A child and two adults have been killed and another 22 injured in a bomb explosion in a tourist area of Columbia.