Bogota - Authorities yesterday searched for the 46 passengers and crew of a Colombian airliner hijacked by a group of armed men as some observers blamed the country's second largest rebel group.
The Fokker-50 plane operated by Colombia's Avianca airline was hijacked on Monday after taking off from the north-eastern city of Bucaramanga on a regular flight to Bogota.
The aircraft has been recovered, but the passengers, including politicians and one young baby, are still missing. "No one has claimed responsibility for this act," a government source said, stressing that "the search goes on".
But some lawmakers and commentators here have implicated the National Liberation Army (ELN), saying the group wishes to attract attention as the government resumes peace negotiations with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the nation's largest rebel organisation.