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Colombian rebels delay release of six hostages

Wed, 1 Feb 2012 22:16 GMT

Source: reuters // Reuters

* Captives held hostage for more than a decade

* Rebels accuse government of planning rescue

* FARC kill five, injure 30 in bomb attack, paragraph 8 (Adds FARC bombing)

By Jack Kimball

BOGOTA, Feb 1 (Reuters) - Colombia's largest rebel group said on Wednesday that guerrillas would delay the release of six members of the armed forces held hostage for more than a decade due to military activity in the area.

The liberation of captives is one of the main sticking points before any possible peace talks to end Colombia's nearly five-decade war, which has killed tens of thousands of people, seen hundreds kidnapped and displaced 3.5 million more.

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, accused the government of planning a rescue, warning that it did not want a repeat of last November's "mournful result" when rebels killed four captives during a mission to free them.

"We want to free (the six police and military personnel) alive but it appears that the government prefers to deliver them to their families in coffins," the seven-member ruling FARC secretariat said in a statement on www.farc-ep.co.

"As soon as the insanity that has gripped the (Presidency) abates, we will make a new attempt for you to receive those who will be released," the group said.

The six captives are part of 11 members of the armed forces that the FARC has held for more than a decade - the government has called on rebels to release all captives, stop attacks and disarm before negotiations can take place.

"Dear God, no more tricks and deception. We don't even know where the hostages are. They haven't given us the coordinates. Free them now," President Juan Manuel Santos wrote on Twitter.

The FARC on Wednesday detonated a motorbike bomb in Tumaco, southern Narino province, killing five and injuring at least 30.

Strikes against the FARC since 2002 have severely weakened the rebels' ability to launch attacks while better security has helped attract billions of dollars in foreign investment.

Despite large gains by consecutive Colombian governments against guerrillas, rebels remain a force, staging attacks on economic infrastructure, setting off car bombs in rural areas and attacking military and police installations.

In one of the biggest blows to the Marxist FARC guerrillas, Colombian forces killed rebel leader Alfonso Cano late last year, and his replacement, a hardliner known as Timochenko, has vowed to fight on while also calling for peace.

Colombia's steps to improve security mask deep-seated issues such as unequal land distribution, grinding rural poverty, flourishing criminal gangs and weak institutions.

Santos has pushed through major reforms to address some of the structural issues of the long war, such as giving back land taken by illegal armed groups to displaced peasants and agreeing to pay reparations to victims.

"It's the best moment for the State to negotiate. The guerrillas are facing a strategic defeat, but still have the strength to do fatal damage in the country and to draw the attention of the international community," Leon Valencia, head of the think-tank Nuevo Arco Iris, wrote in an op-ed recently.

"They have bargaining power, but the significant decrease of their ranks does not allow them to demand too much," the former fighter with the smaller ELN rebel group wrote. (Reporting By Jack Kimball; Editing by Sandra Maler)