A French Foreign Legion soldier overpowered one of his Colombian captors and then jumped into a river with his hands tied in a dramatic escape from a guerrilla group that reads like the plot of a thriller.
A senior Colombian military source told AFP on Tuesday how José Melo Charry made it to safety after nearly a month captive at the hands of drug-trafficking rebels.
Melo Charry, a Colombian citizen, was on leave in his homeland when he was abducted in southwestern Narino department on August 6th by a dissident faction of the defunct FARC guerrilla group.
He escaped by asking to be taken to the bush to relieve himself.
Once he was away from the rebel camp, he wrestled with his guard, immobilised him and took his rifle.
