Bogota - Leftist rebels in Colombia said Thursday they will soon release the hostage they have been holding longest, a soldier kidnapped more than 11 years ago.

Corporal Pablo Emilio Moncayo was abducted by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) on December 21, 1997 in an attack on an army communications base on Mount Patascoy.

The rebels seized several members of the military during the raid in the south-west region of Narino, but only Moncayo and Jose Libio Martinez remain in captivity.

Bogota  - Colombian police arrested Wednesday Daniel Rendon, known with the alias "Don Mario," the boss of a paramilitary gang devoted to drug trafficking.

Cesar Mauricio Velasquez, press secretary at the government palace in Bogota, said that the man - one of the most sought after suspects in Colombia - was arrested in the town of Apartado, in the northwestern region of Antioquia.

Geneva  - More Colombian civilians continue to flee the armed conflict in their country, the International Committee of the Red Cross said Wednesday, pointing to the emergence of new armed groups.

It is estimated that between 2.8 to 4 million people have been displaced during the decades-long conflict between government forces and armed groups.

The ICRC alone gave food and other aid to 73,000 displaced people in 2008, an increase of 10 per cent over the previous year. About 50 per cent of the people receiving ICRC aid are children.

Bogota - Clara Rojas, a former hostage held by leftist Colombian rebels, said the family of high profile hostage Ingrid Betancourt hid for two months evidence that Betancourt was alive.

In an interview published by the Colombian daily El Tiempo on Monday, Rojas - who was Betancourt's vice presidential candidate when the two were kidnapped by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in February 2002 - said Betancourt's family hid the evidence to keep her in the media spotlight.

Bogota  - Wide areas of the Colombian capital Bogota were in chaos Thursday after several hours of rain caused flooding and blocked key avenues, prompting Mayor Samuel Moreno to declare a state of emergency.

The damage, particularly in the western districts of Fontibon, Kennedy and Tunjuelito, became clear Thursday morning after rains had fallen since Wednesday.

Officials at the Colombian Hydrology and Meteorology Institute said the amount of water that fell overnight in 12 hours was equivalent to the average for the city in a whole month.