August 19, 2004 - 6:30 AM

Colombia offers to free rebels for hostages

BOGOTA, Colombia (Reuters) - The Colombian government has offered to free 50 jailed guerrillas if Marxist rebels release
the same number of political and military hostages, some held captive for up to seven years.

The offer, made through an unidentified third party, was the first time the government has made a detailed public proposal on
the release of hostages and could open a bargaining process with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, a
17,000-strong band known by its Spanish initials FARC.

The group is holding around 50 soldiers, police officers and politicians, together with three U.S. Defence Department
contractors, in hidden jungle camps.

The rebels have said they want the government to allow thousands of their members to return to guerrilla ranks in return for the
hostages.

Government peace negotiator Luis Carlos Restrepo said on Wednesday the government would only free 50, and that they
would have to either join government rehabilitation programs or leave the country, guaranteeing they stayed out of a 40-year-old
guerrilla war.

The rebels have said they oppose that condition.

"Since the beginning of his administration, President (Alvaro Uribe) has authorised the United Nations, the Catholic Church,
local dignitaries and foreign governments as facilitators to seek a humanitarian accord. Up to the present, all these efforts have
been unsuccessful," Restrepo said.

He said the government's offer had been delivered to an unnamed facilitator on July 23 and that France, Switzerland, the
Roman Catholic Church and the International Red Cross were prepared to support the liberation of hostages and rebels.

Some of the hostages have been held for years in muddy camps, suffering from repeat attacks of malaria and hardly seeing
the sun through thick jungle foliage.

The three American civilians were captured in February last year while flying a mission to spy on rebel drug crops. The FARC's
other most famous hostage is former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, a dual French-Colombian citizen, who was
kidnapped while campaigning in early 2002.