Gunmen may belong to old rebel insurgency

BOGOTA, Colombia - Suspected FARC guerrillas have captured 23 Colombian oil contractors carrying out exploration work for Canada's Talisman Energy in a rare mass kidnapping, authorities said on Monday.

Colombia, Latin America's No 4 oil producer, has recently enjoyed a boom in petroleum and mining investment as violence from its long war has subsided, but illegal armed groups remain a threat in remote areas where the state's presence is weak.

Vichada Provincial Governor, Juan Carlos Avila, said gunmen forced the contract workers out of the camp from where they were conducting work for Talisman, a partner of state oil company Ecopetrol.

"They entered the camp and forced the 23 to go with them into the jungles," Avila told Caracol radio, saying that all those kidnapped were Colombian nationals.

The Colombian army said the gunmen appeared to belong to a local unit of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, Latin America's oldest surviving rebel insurgency, which is now at its weakest in decades.

A spokeswoman for Talisman in Canada could not immediately comment on the incident. The Canadian company recently finished the purchase of BP operations in Colombia with Ecopetrol.

Reuters