Columbia/National Liberation Army (ELN) – Colombia's National Liberation Army (ELN) said on the 7 Nov 16 it would free hostage ex-congressman Odin Sanchez if the government first carries out a promised pardon of two jailed guerrilla leaders. The rebel group ELN and the government are set to begin peace talks to end decades of conflicts, and the ELN said it wants the two leaders to be at the negotiating table. Nicolas Rodriguez Bautista, the ELN's top commander, said the government of President Juan Manuel Santos has already agreed to the pardon in an agreement signed "in the presence of guarantors Cuba, Venezuela, Norway, Chile and Brazil." "Everything is ready to be carried out, as long as the government complies with what was agreed, pardoning the two detained ELN guerrillas, exactly as contained in the documents," he added. On the 4 Nov 16 Pablo Beltran, the ELN's chief peace negotiator, said Sanchez would be freed this week, but his release depends on the promised pardon. The peace talks between the government and the ELN were to start on the 27 Oct 16 in Quito, Ecuador, but Santos called them off, saying that the rebels failed to meet the pre-condition of releasing Sanchez.
United States/Iran/Houthis/Yemen – Fars news agency, which is affiliated with Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, said on the 4 Nov 16 that Houthi missile units pounded the Yemeni forces’ military positions in the capital city of Sanaa with the ballistic “Zalzal-2” missile. It added that forces’ gathering in the center of the Malah region of Sanaa came under attack by the ballistic Zalzal-2 missile, according to the news agency’s army source. “It was a precision missile strike and [it] hit the target,” the source said without expanding on the damage and toll inflicted. The agency quoted “a prominent analyst” Seyed Sadeq al-Sharafi as saying that militias “are developing their missile power to target Riyadh and Dubai in the future, after they increased their missile and military capabilities and expanded the range of their military operations against the enemies.” The Zelzal-2 is an Iranian developed long-range unguided rocket in use by the Iranian military, Hezbollah and the Houthis. Previously, Iran’s foreign minister repeatedly rejected the reports confirming that his country supplied the Shiite militias in Yemen with missiles. The official IRNA news agency quoted Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif as saying these are “baseless accusations.” The latest news comes a few weeks after news that warships from the US Navy and allied nations intercepted four weapons shipments from Iran to war-ravaged Yemen since April 2015, according to a US admiral.
Columbia/National Liberation Army (ELN) – Colombia's National Liberation Army (ELN) said on the 7 Nov 16 it would free hostage ex-congressman Odin Sanchez if the government first carries out a promised pardon of two jailed guerrilla leaders. The rebel group ELN and the government are set to begin peace talks to end decades of conflicts, and the ELN said it wants the two leaders to be at the negotiating table. Nicolas Rodriguez Bautista, the ELN's top commander, said the government of President Juan Manuel Santos has already agreed to the pardon in an agreement signed "in the presence of guarantors Cuba, Venezuela, Norway, Chile and Brazil." "Everything is ready to be carried out, as long as the government complies with what was agreed, pardoning the two detained ELN guerrillas, exactly as contained in the documents," he added. On the 4 Nov 16 Pablo Beltran, the ELN's chief peace negotiator, said Sanchez would be freed this week, but his release depends on the promised pardon. The peace talks between the government and the ELN were to start on the 27 Oct 16 in Quito, Ecuador, but Santos called them off, saying that the rebels failed to meet the pre-condition of releasing Sanchez.
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