AFP/Bogota

Colombia’s leftist ELN rebels have freed a Canadian engineer in what they called a humanitarian gesture after holding him for more than seven months, the Red Cross said.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said in a statement that Jernoc Wobert had boarded an ICRC helicopter in good health and was flown to safety. It said he was handed over by the National Liberation Army (ELN) rebels in a rural area in the southern Bolivar department.

The ICRC turned Wobert over to Colombian authorities and representatives of the Canadian embassy upon landing in the city of Barrancabermeja, located 400kms (250 miles) northeast of the capital Bogota.

The ELN had announced earlier that it would release the 47-year-old, who works for the Braeval Mining Corporation.

He was captured by guerrillas in northern Colombia on January 18 along with two Peruvians and three Colombians employed by the Toronto-based mining company.

The South Americans were freed a month later, but the ELN hung on to Wobert, demanding that the company give up its mining rights.

Top ELN commander Nicolas Rodriguez, also known as Gabino, said in comments on the group’s website ahead of the release that it was a “humanitarian act” that he hoped would be seen as a “contribution for peace in Colombia.”

“We want to highlight that this successful outcome shows that negotiated solutions to conflicts are possible, even if there are competing interests,” Rodriguez said.

The ELN said Wobert’s release was facilitated by the company’s announcement on July 24 that it was renouncing some mining rights the rebels said it had secured in Bolivar department, where Wobert was abducted.

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said last week that Wobert’s release would be a step in the right direction to starting talks between Bogota and the ELN, which has some 2,500 fighters.