A group of rebel prisoners on Tuesday rejected on offer of early release if they agree to demobilize, a proposal the government hoped would restart talks to free rebel-held hostages, including three U.S. defense contractors.

Diego Leonardo, a leftist rebel who said he spoke on behalf of 90 other rebels in the Palo Gordo prison, called the offer an attempt by President Alvaro Uribe to aid his political allies jailed on charges of working alongside far-right death squads.

«The proposal by the president is cynical and aims to distract public opinion,» Leonardo told Caracol radio from the prison in northeast Colombia.

In a separate interview with Caracol, Interior Minister Carlos Holguin said, however, about 1,000 other imprisoned guerrillas have applied for early release.

Holguin said the government is reviewing the cases of those who have applied and estimated about half would be eligible for early release. He did not say how many rebels are imprisoned.

Uribe's government has said it will free hundreds of imprisoned guerrillas on June 7 as long as they leave the ranks of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or the FARC, rejoin civilian life and remain under the supervision of an international agency or the church.

The government hopes the offer will help restart stalled talks with the FARC over an accord to swap imprisoned rebels and some 60 hostages, including ex-presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt and three U.S. military contractors seized when their plane crashed in a rebel stronghold during an anti-narcotics mission in 2003.

The proposed release of the rebels comes as Uribe's government is considering freeing a number of politicians, the majority of whom back the administration, currently in jail on charges of collaborating with the right-wing paramilitaries.

Leonardo said the imprisoned rebels would follow the orders from FARC command. In a statement last week, the FARC rejected Uribe's offer.