Journalist kidnapped by Colombian rebels

An American travel writer who specialises in guiding readers through the world's trouble spots has been kidnapped in Panama, apparently by Colombian guerrillas on a cross-border raid.

Robert Young Pelton, author of The World's Most Dangerous Places and other books offering advice on avoiding precisely the kind of trouble he has now encountered, was seized along with two travel companions during an armed raid on a cluster of Indian villages in the so-called Darien Gap, an area of remote rainforest frequented by arms and drugs smugglers.

A seasoned reporter as well as a travel writer, Mr Pelton was in the area researching an article for National Geographic Adventure Magazine.

Word of his capture reached his wife, Linda Pelton, at their home in California earlier this week. The leader of a far-right Colombian paramilitary group, Carlos Castano, has since claimed responsibility for taking the three reporters, but said he did it for their own safety and would soon release them to the Roman Catholic Church.

A Panamanian guide who had been with Mr Pelton and his companions told reporters he urged them not to go too deep into the rainforest. Four Indians are believed to have died in the cross-border raid.

Mr Pelton's previous exploits include reporting from Chechnya and Afghanistan, where he was the first person to interview John Walker Lindh, the so-called American Taliban. He has also survived a plane crash in Indonesia, various car accidents and an attack by killer bees in Africa.