Colombia seeks swap for rebels' hostages
Proposes talks with leftist group
BOGOTA -- Colombia's hard-line government said yesterday that it is willing to meet with members of the country's main leftist rebel group in an unprecedented offer aimed at freeing dozens of rebel-held hostages, including three Americans.
But before any face-to-face meeting can occur, the rebels must agree to swap 15 hostages for 15 rebels jailed on minor charges, Peace Commissioner Luis Carlos Restrepo said.
Despite mistrust on both sides, Restrepo said the government is willing to release the 15 jailed rebels first, provided the rebel Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, expresses a willingness to reciprocate.
"All we're looking for is a minimum sign of hope, and we will start the ball rolling," Restrepo told local radio.
After any initial prisoner exchange, the meeting, which could last as long as five days, would occur in the Vatican Embassy in Bogota or at another diplomatic mission in the capital, according to the government proposal, which was first announced Thursday night and then described further yesterday.
The FARC had no response late yesterday.
The proposal calls for a total of 50 jailed rebels to be freed in return for about 60 prisoners held by the FARC in jungle hide-outs. The FARC's hostages include politicians, police officers, soldiers, and three US contractors whose small plane crashed in rebel-held territory early last year.
Restrepo said the government would allow the Red Cross to escort FARC negotiators to the capital and would return them home when the talks end, accompanied by representatives from the Roman Catholic Church.
Luis Augusto Castro, vice president of the Catholic Church's ruling body in Colombia, said he hoped the FARC reacts positively.
The previous administration, led by President Andres Pastrana, held face-to-face peace talks with the FARC for three years inside a Switzerland-sized safe haven in the jungles and cattle country of southern Colombia. The talks collapsed, and the safe haven was rescinded in 2002 after FARC rebels hijacked an airliner and kidnapped a senator who was aboard.
