Arthur Milnes
Northern News Services

NNSL (Aug 12/98) - Both officials in Ottawa and with a Vancouver-based mining company are releasing little information about a former Yellowknife man kidnapped in Columbia June 24.

"Officials in Ottawa are following the case closely to ensure Mr. Leonard's release as soon as possible," department of foreign affairs spokesperson Valerie Noftle said on Friday when asked about Edward Leonard.

"Mr. Leonard is in good health."

Leonard, who lived in Yellowknife from the 1940s through to the 1960s, was abducted while on his way to a Columbian mine site.

A diamond driller, Leonard was in Columbia working for an Ontario-based company.

In Vancouver, Greystar Resources, the company which had hired the Ontario firm Leonard was working for, also had little information to offer.

"They're negotiating," Greystar's corporate affairs manager Willie Spat said, adding that Leonard is in good health.

He would not provide any further details, including who in fact was in negotiations.

He did, however, say that Leonard had been abducted by a Marxist group called FARC.

The company's Columbian operations are located about 45 kilometres from the Venezuelan border.