Colombia's second-largest rebel army claimed responsibility on Monday for grabbing eight foreign tourists at a jungle ruin in the mountains, and said it wanted a "peaceful solution" to the kidnapping.

In a message sent to a local radio station, the National Liberation Army, or ELN, said it had seized the backpackers in the Sierra Nevada mountains on Sept 12. to mark the 30th anniversary of the coup that overthrew leftist Chilean President Salvador Allende.

"The National Liberation Army claims responsibility for 'Operation Allende Lives,' to mark the 30th anniversary of his death. In this operation the foreigners were retained on the Sierra Nevada," the ELN said. The group uses the term "retained" when it is holding people against their will.

The ELN did not specify demands for the release of four Israelis, one Briton, one Spaniard and a German. The eighth hostage, 19-year-old Briton Matthew Scott, escaped and was found by local Indians last week.

The pro-Cuba ELN, which has been fighting the state for 40 years, kidnaps hundreds of people for ransom every year. Its message made no reference to financial demands but said the rebels were open to dialogue. Last week, President Alvaro Uribe urged the ELN to free the hostages and start peace talks.

About 2,000 Colombian troops have been searching for the foreigners in the snow-capped mountains. The backpackers were sleeping near the ruins of the 2,500-year old Indian "Lost City" in northern Colombia when they were awakened by camouflage-clad gunmen and marched away into deep jungle.

The ELN said on Monday Uribe would be responsible for "any unfortunate incidents." In May, rebels of the larger Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as FARC, killed 10 hostages during a botched government rescue attempt.

SPECTACULAR ABDUCTIONS

Created in the 1960s, the 5,000-strong ELN has been weakened recently by defeats at the hands of the army and far-right paramilitary outlaws. The group has carried out spectacular abductions to pressure the government, including the 1999 kidnapping of 160 churchgoers.

In January, ELN rebels kidnapped a British reporter and U.S. photographer on an assignment for the Los Angeles Times. The ELN conditioned their release on vague political and military issues, freeing them nearly two weeks later.

In a rambling two-page communique, the ELN lashed out at ex-Chilean dictator Gen. Augusto Pinochet, the White House and the prime ministers of Israel, Britain and Spain.

It also called on officials from the United Nations, Europe and the United States to visit the Sierra Nevada mountains to verify the presence of paramilitary militiamen, who the ELN says cut off food supplies to local Indians.

The kidnapping brings more gloom to Colombian tourism. Gripped by a war that claims thousands of lives every year, Colombia is the world's kidnap capital. More than 1,000 people have been abducted so far this year.

(China Daily September 30, 2003)