By
The Associated Press
QUITO, Ecuador - Colombian rebels seized a helicopter from an oil field in the Amazon jungle early yesterday, kidnapping 10 foreigners aboard, military officials said.
Six Americans, a Chilean, an Argentine and the two Frenchmen piloting the plane were taken hostage at gunpoint at 4 a.m. in the El Coca region, 150 miles northeast of the capital, military officials said.
Vice President Pedro Pinto said the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, Colombia's largest guerrilla group, claimed responsibility, calling it "reprisal for Plan Colombia." Plan Colombia is an anti-narcotics initiative backed by a $1.3 billion U.S. aid package.
However, Pinto listed the hostages as two pilots and seven passengers, one of them believed to be Ecuadorean. The differing reports could not be reconciled immediately.
A spokesman for the rebel group refused to confirm or deny the reported claim.
The oil field, operated by Spanish energy giant Repsol YPF SA, lies in Ecuador's northern territory bordering Colombia's largest cocaine-producing region.
Radio reports speculated that the helicopter, seized just 60 miles from the border, was flown to Colombia after being commandeered.
Rebels and paramilitaries are vying for control of vast coca fields and millions of dollars in "tax" proceeds for whichever armed group controls the area.
Last September, another armed group seized eight oil workers - eight Canadians, three Spaniards and an American - from an oil-rich jungle area north of yesterday's kidnapping site.
The last of those hostages were freed months later, but it was never confirmed if a ransom was paid and the kidnappers were not identified.
