Hostages die in rescue attempt

2003-05-06 22:15

Bogota - The Colombian government, under the gun after a botched army rescue attempt left 10 hostages dead, pressed efforts Tuesday for a prisoner swap that could send up to 1 000 jailed guerrillas to France in exchange for the liberation of some 800 of their hostages.

On Monday, during a jungle rescue attempt by special forces troops to free a group of high profile hostages, leftist Farc rebels executed 10 hostages, including Antioquia Governor Guillermo Gaviria, his peace advisor and former national defence minister Gilberto Echeverri, and eight soldiers.

Hours later, Colombian President Alvaro Uribe publicly told the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc) that France might accept its rebels held in Colombian jails if Farc's remaining hostages were set free.

Meanwhile, 64-year-old German businessman Heiner Hansen, held hostage by Farc rebels since December, was set free near the Pacific Coast port of Buenaventura, a military source told AFP at midday on Tuesday.

He did not say when the German was released.

In France, relatives of Ingrid Betancourt, a French-Colombian former presidential candidate in Colombia abducted 15 months ago by Farc, implored Uribe to refrain from further armed rescue attempts.

Army 'obliged' to try

Others still in rebel hands include three Americans captured when their surveillance plane was shot down, Colombian senators, governors, mayors, police and military officials.

"France voices its deep emotion and indignation," said French Foreign Ministry spokesperson Francois Rivasseau. "We condemn these murders which disgust us. We call once more for hostages in Colombia to be freed."

Asked about an offer last November by French foreign minister Dominique de Villepin to help arrange a swap, Rivasseau said: "It is up to Colombia to define the conditions."

Meanwhile, Colombia's army commander defended the failed rescue attempt, saying on Tuesday that the army was obliged to try to free them.

"It is our obligation to rescue kidnapped Colombians and to go where our presence is required and where people are being victimised by bandits," he told Radio Caracol.

Hundreds of troops were combing the jungles of northeastern Colombia searching for the guerrillas, the general said.

"We have not made contact because the bandits went into the jungle after killing their hostages, but we are looking for them."

Executions condemned

In Brussels, the European Commission condemned the executions and the botched rescue attempt, reiterating its "rejection of the practice of kidnapping, extortion and other similar crimes".

The commission demanded "that all currently held hostages be immediately and unconditionally liberated."

But the bitterest criticism of Uribe's strategy against the FARC rebels came from Betancourt's family in France.

"It is urgent for President Uribe to understand that violence and military operations will not solve this sensitive issue," said family spokesperson Dominique Voguet.

He called on Uribe to appoint a committee of negotiators with powers to discuss a humanitarian swap.

"The army fails nine times out of ten when it tries to free hostages, eg most of the time the hostages are killed by the guerillas," said Fabrice Delloye, the former husband of Betancourt.

Delloye said French President Jacques Chirac asked Uribe last August to refrain from military attempts to free Betancourt because of fears her life would be in danger.

But it was not clear on Tuesday what strategy the embattled Uribe would take.

Accept Paris's offer

In a nationally televised speech late on Monday, he appeared to accept Paris's offer, saying France could take charge of the rebel prisoners in any possible prisoner-hostage swap between the government and Farc.

He also proposed a mediating role for the United Nations, adding that between "600 and 1 000" jailed Farc guerrillas could leave for a "friendly country", in exchange for the release of "all the hostages" held by the rebels.

The jailed rebels would be placed under the "tutorship" of France, "to prevent them from coming back to Colombia to carry out more crimes", Uribe added.

The Farc has been a major thorn in Uribe's side since he took office last August 7, when his inauguration was greeted with a mortar attack on the presidential palace in Bogota that killed 21 people.

Colombia's nearly four-decade civil war has left some 200 000 dead, an average of 3 000 civilian kidnappings a year, mostly by guerrillas, and nearly three million people uprooted by violence.

- AFX