Colombia's FARC pledge to free French journalist Wednesday

BOGOTA, May 27 (Reuters) - Colombian FARC rebels will free captive journalist Romeo Langlois on Wednesday, according to a statement from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.

French reporter Langlois was seized last month by heavily armed FARC fighters during a clash with troops carrying out an anti-drug raid in Caqueta, a rebel-stronghold in Colombia's south.

The FARC statement was carried on www.resistencia-colombia.org and read out early this morning on Las Voces del Secuestro, a radio program that allows family members to send messages to rebel captives.

Langlois was reporting alongside troops for news channel France 24 when we was injured in the arm and ran toward the rebels, the government has said.

The FARC, Latin America's oldest and biggest guerrilla movement, called for the mediation of a committee formed by an envoy from the French government, a representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross and former Colombian Senator Piedad Cordoba.

The drug-funded group has called Langlois "a prisoner of war" because he was wearing army-issued clothes and bullet-proof vest.

The FARC, which has battled the government for almost 50 years, has made some gestures toward peace in recent months as a U.S.-backed offensive batters its front lines, halving its fighting force and killing top commanders.

President Juan Manuel Santos says he is open to peace talks only if they cease all attacks against civilian and military targets and stop kidnapping.

The group's leadership has pledged to stop taking hostages for ransom. It has kidnapped thousands of civilians over the decades to help pay for weapons, food and uniforms.

The FARC is classified as a terrorist group by the United States and the European Union. (Reporting by Helen Murphy; Editing by Jackie Frank)