MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Uribe proposes a “meeting zone” for hostages exchange

Colombian president Alvaro Uribe said he is willing to create a “meeting zone” to enable talks to take place with the country's Revolutionary Armed Forces, FARC, aimed at freeing rebel-held hostages.

Addressing a police ceremony in Bogota, Mr Uribe said the zone would be in a rural and sparsely populated area where there were no military or police posts, and preferably with the presence of international observers. "The Catholic Church proposed this meeting zone and the (Colombian) government has indicated its readiness to accept it," Mr Uribe said. The zone designated for talks must not exceed 150 sq km, he said, and the negotiating parties must not be armed. Mr Uribe insisted that his government had made every attempt to end the drama of the hostages whereas the guerrillas' answer had been "killings and lies". Mr Uribe's announcement reverses his opposition to such a zone, which is a key demand by the Farc rebels. His offer comes amid increasing international pressure for a deal to secure the humanitarian release of 45 high-profile hostages in return for rebel prisoners. FARC rebels have been pushing for a much bigger demilitarized zone, like the one granted to them by the previous president, Andres Pastrana. The Colombian government is seeking to swap some 45 hostages held by the FARC for hundreds of guerrilla prisoners. Among the hostages are French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt and three Americans. French President Nicolas Sarkozy this week offered to become involved in mediation. He is particularly keen to secure the release of Ms Betancourt, who holds French citizenship through a former marriage. She was kidnapped by FARC in 2002 while campaigning for the Colombian presidency. In video and photos released last week, Ms Betancourt was shown in a jungle setting, looking gaunt and subdued, along with 15 other hostages. Uribe recalled that several months ago he had accepted the creation of "a meeting zone" in the towns of Florida and Pradera, to the southwest of Cauca Valley, proposed by the governments of Spain, France and Switzerland which had offered to mediate in the armed conflict. Apparently at the time FARC denied having received such an offer from the European countries and later rejected it. FARC all along has preferred the good offices of President Hugo Chavez from neighboring Venezuela, mainly because the EU categorizes FARC as a "terrorist" group. However Uribe decided to end such mediation when Chavez talked directly to the Colombian Army commander.