Colombian government offers to meet rebel leaders to discuss prisoner swap
8/10/2005 - Tout-o.com, Canada.com, Nouvel Obs, Fox23news, Terra, El Diario NY
The Colombian government said Tuesday it would be willing to meet with rebel leaders to discuss a possible exchange of jailed rebels for hostages, including three Americans.
Government Peace Commissioner Luis Carlos Restrepo said commanders of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, who travel to the talks would have their security guaranteed. He proposed Aures, 120 miles west of the capital, Bogota, as the site of the talks, adding that any meeting should begin within eight days.
There was no immediate reaction from the FARC. The rebels last week all but ruled out any meeting unless authorities grant them a sizable safe haven in southwest Colombia - a request President Alvaro Uribe has rejected.
Restrepo made the announcement after meeting with relatives of FARC hostages, who have pressured the hardline Uribe to agree to a prisoner swap. The president is concerned that such a trade could spur rebels to even more kidnappings in hopes for more swaps.
The Americans- Tom Howes, Marc Gonsalves and Keith Stansell - were captured on Feb. 13, 2003, after their small plane crashed in a rebel stronghold in southern Colombia while on an anti-drug mission. The rebels allegedly killed a fourth American and a Colombian soldier also on the plane.
The U.S. Embassy says it is doing everything possible to secure their release but that it will not negotiate with the FARC, which Washington has labeled a terrorist organization.
The FARC, a 13,000-strong force, was created in 1964 by disgruntled peasants to push for social revolution, but has since evolved into a criminal organization deeply involved in drug trafficking and kidnapping for ransom.
More than 3,000 people are killed every year in the conflict that pits the FARC and a smaller leftist group against outlawed far-right militias and government forces.
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