World News 21-12-2000 Orchid-Hunters` Kidnap Ordeal Ends who: Kidnapped Britons Paul Winder and Tom Hart Dyke what: Return home after nine months in captivity where: Colombia when: Yesterday snippet: "Two Britons who were kidnapped in March while looking for orchids in the jungle on the Panama-Colombia border are safe and well after being released," reports The Telegraph. On December 10th, Paul Winder, 29, and Tom Hart Dyke, 24, were released by their captors - who never identified themselves - and they arrived in the capital city, Bogota, yesterday after nine days of walking through the jungle. Yesterday they faced the press looking remarkably well. "We stayed at the ambassador`s house, had a good meal, a couple of beers, watched the BBC news on TV, and went to bed," said Mr Winder. "As you can see we are well and in very good spirits in spite of our experiences during the past nine months." "Nearly 3,000 abductions occurred last year alone in Colombia, which authorities often describe as the kidnap capital of the world," explains the BBC. "Most were blamed on the country`s two leading Marxist rebel groups, who use ransom money to help finance an uprising against the state that has claimed 35,000 lives since 1990." Mr Hart Dyke, "who has worked in the orchid section of Kew Gardens," says The Telegraph, was accompanied by Mr Winder "on a hiking trip looking for rare orchids when the armed group picked them up in the lawless Darien region of Panama". Yesterday, they told the press that all they wanted was to get home to their families for christmas. [... more]

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