Lawmaker in Colombia dies

BOGOTA, May 5: A Congressman held hostage by leftist rebels for nearly two years drowned in the Caguan river in the southern department of Caqueta on Sunday, local officials said.

The body of Rodrigo Turbay 8211; held hostage by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia FARC since June 1995 8211; was found hours after the FARC told local radio stations Turbay had disappeared after a boat he was on sank. The FARC had demanded the government construction of a highway in the region in exchange for releasing Turbay, who was President of Colombia8217;s lower house of Congress and member of the governing Liberal Party.