Lawmakers Kidnapped From State Parliament

Suspected rebels dressed in military uniforms burst into a provincial parliament building in the city of Cali and kidnapped 13 lawmakers, police said.

The army later rescued one of the legislators and four aides, said Fernando Cardenas of the army’s anti-kidnapping unit.

Witnesses said the gunmen posed as a bomb squad to gain entry. One police officer was killed in the attack. A television crew driver was killed and a cameraman and two soldiers were injured in the rescue operation.

Legislature President Juan Carlos Narvaez called his wife, Fabiola Perdomo, on a cell phone to ask that rescue operations be suspended, saying they were endangering him and the other hostages.

She said the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, the country’s largest rebel group, was responsible for the kidnapping.