French FM Says Colombian
Rebels To Free 4
Hostages
The Revolutionary Armed
Forces of Colombia (FARC),
Colombia's largest rebel
group, will free four
hostages instead of
three in the coming
days, visiting French
Foreign Minister Bernard
Kouchner said Wednesday.
Kouchner said the fourth
hostage to be freed is a
Colombian lawmaker, but
the French minister did
not release any
information about the
identity of the person.
The minister confirmed
the previous three
hostages whom the FARC
promised earlier to
release are all
Colombian politicians
who have been held by
the rebels since 2001.
Kouchner arrived here to
talk with President Hugo
Chavez about the release
of FARC-held hostages
including
French-Colombian citizen
Ingrid Betancourt.
Chavez has successfully
mediated the release of
two FARC-held hostages
in January, bringing
hope to the long-stalled
hostage crisis in
Colombia.
The FARC, which
currently holds about
700 hostages, proposed
to swap over 40
high-profile hostages
with jailed FARC rebels,
and required the
demilitarization of two
municipalities in the
southern part of the
country.
Colombian President
Alvaro Uribe has agreed
to negotiate on the
exchange issue but ruled
out any
demilitarization.
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