Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), Colombia's largest rebel group, announced on Thursday it would release Pablo Moncayo, a soldier kidnapped by the group 11 years ago.

Caption Gustavo Moncayo, father of Colombian soldier Pablo Emilio Moncayo who has been held hostage for about 11 years by guerrillas, displays a chain around his hand in Jamundi, Colombia June 29, 2007. [Xinhua]

In a statement posted on the website of Senator Piedad Cordoba, FARC said that the release will be a unilateral gesture of peace and they will seek mechanisms to make it possible.

Moncayo, one of the longest-held hostages by FARC, was captured during a rebel incursion in Colombia's Narino department on the border with Ecuador.

FARC requested Cordoba to lead a delegation to receive Moncayo. They did not give more details.

"Due to the continued requests of Senator Piedad Cordoba, the organization Colombians for Peace, Moncayo's father, (Ecuador's) President Rafael Correa and (Venezuela's President) Hugo Chavez, we announce our decision to unilaterally release soldier Pablo Emilio Moncayo," FARC said in the statement.

It said a ceasefire would have been agreed by both sides, and that "bilateralism is the indispensable rule" in order to build confidence and create a solid base for advancement.

Meanwhile, Moncayo's father, known as "walker for the peace", said that "the news surprised me. The illusion is so big that it blinds my senses and mind, we continue fighting, insisting on a negotiated political solution. It has been my interest to fight for all the hostages," he said.

In 2007, Moncayo's father walked for more than 1,000 km across the country to demand for the release of hostages under FARC, which was the beginning of his international tours and visits to call for public attention on the kidnaps.

(Xinhua News Agency April 17, 2009)