Kevin Scott Sutay: Release of Kidnapped Former Marine is ‘Imminent’

Kevin Scott Sutay’s release is “imminent,” according to Jesse Jackson.

The U.S. civil rights activist has accepted a request from Columbia’s FARC rebel group to oversee the release of Sutay, a former U.S. Marine.

“We accept this obligation and opportunity to render service to Kevin Scott, his family and our nation,” Jackson said in Havana, where he met with FARC commanders, reported Reuters. “We have made contact with the State Department urging them to contact as quickly as possible the nearest of kin of Kevin Scott because his release is imminent.”

Sutay was kidnapped in June when he was hiking through a known guerrilla zone. He is a veteran of the war in Afghanistan.

FARC published a statement on the website of the Spanish-language newspaper El Tiempo asking Jackson to help with the release, reported AFP.

Jackson began entering the conversation after calling for the release two weeks ago during a global forum of black leaders in Columbia, South Carolina.

He said he plans to be in Columbia within a week to negotiate final details of the release.

Former Colombian senator Piedad Cordoba, meanwhile, has declined to be involved with the mission.