Paris, Dec 13 (IANS) Colombian President Alvaro Uribe has turned down the demand of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia (FARC) guerrillas to demilitarise two towns in southwest Colombia, and has insisted that the insurgents release all hostages “unconditionally and unilaterally”, Spanish news agency EFE reported Thursday.
“If the FARC wants to deliver the hostages to French President Sarkozy or the Venezuelan authorities, our government would welcome those unilateral and unconditional releases,” Alvaro Uribe told French daily Le Figaro Wednesday.
Regarding the rebel demand for the demilitarisation of two towns in southwest Colombia, Uribe said his administration “could not accept something that could potentially threaten the security of the Colombian people.”
The hostages include former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, a dual French-Colombian citizen, and three US military contractors. The FARC is also holding hundreds of other captives.
Although Uribe refuses to demilitarise the towns of Florida and Pradera, he announced Friday that he had agreed to accept a Catholic Church proposal for the creation of a temporary 150 square km “meeting zone” with the FARC that would be free of security forces.
He also agreed in August to allow leftist Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to broker a prisoner exchange, but – alleging a breach of ground rules – pulled the plug on those efforts last month, setting off a diplomatic row between the two neighbours.
Asked about the recent “proof-of-life” images of Betancourt, Uribe said they did not surprise him. He also said that the FARC has only shown proof that 16 of the captives are alive.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy, actively involved in seeking a solution to the hostage crisis, said in an interview published Wednesday that he believed that “a long road lies ahead” in achieving her release but that “things are moving.”
Although the hostage crisis and the war with the FARC has dragged on throughout his presidency, Uribe remains popular among Colombians for stepping up the pressure on the leftist rebels and bringing greater safety to urban areas.