Colombia's largest rebel group on Sunday rejected a government plan to release hundreds of accused guerrillas from prison, shooting down hopes it would prompt insurgents to free their own hostages.

In a statement carried by a Web site sympathetic to the rebels, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, said that the 200 prisoners the government plans to free in the next week were "deserters" who had "betrayed the FARC" or were innocent civilians falsely accused of being rebels.

The rebels said that President Alvaro Uribe's government was trying to distract public attention from several scandals, including an illegal spying program and links between Uribe's supporters in Congress and far-right death squads.

"Uribe's farce is another trick on the families and friends" of imprisoned rebels and guerrilla-held hostages, according to the statement.

Uribe has said that those freed must leave the insurgency and promise not to return to crime.

It was the first public comment by the FARC, Latin America's largest rebel army, since the government moved about 200 imprisoned guerrillas from prisons to a temporary holding center on Friday.

While this is not the first time the FARC has rejected Uribe's plan, there had been some hope that the guerrillas would release at least one of their hostages.

The FARC is demanding the government free more than 1,000 of its fighters, including two commanders held in the U.S., in return for the release of its hostages, among whom are former Presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt and three kidnapped U.S. defense contractors.

The FARC's statement repeated its demand that the government temporarily demilitarize two municipalities in southwest Colombia, something Uribe has ruled out.