Chief executive Manny Fontenla-Novoa said the company was also on the lookout for acquisitions, as rivals struggled with rising fuel costs and slowing consumer spending.

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Few details of the atrocity emerged until this month, when Mapiripan's judge, Leonardo Cortes Novoa, revealed his own chilling account of the three-day occupation of his town.

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"This is an acquisition that fits perfectly with our strategy of enhancing Thomas Cook's position in the independent travel sector and will also further strengthen our mainstream business, " said Thomas Cook Group chief executive Manny Fontenla-Novoa.

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