Colombia has said it is prepared to withdraw troops from around a small mountain town if necessary to negotiate with Marxist rebels for the freedom of dozens of hostages held for as long as seven years.
President Alvaro Uribe said he accepted the proposal by France, Spain and Switzerland to break a deadlock with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc) over starting talks on freeing jailed rebels in return for the 63 hostages, who include a former presidential candidate and three Americans.
"I confess this is a concession on the part of my government," Mr Uribe told a news conference. "We want to be understanding of the anguish, the pain and suffering of so many Colombian families whose relatives have been kidnapped."
There was no immediate word on whether Farc had also accepted the proposal.
But the plan appeared close to meeting the guerrillas' earlier demands for talks to begin. Mr Uribe gave no date for the troop withdrawal 180 square km around the town of El Retiro in the southern province of Valle del Cauca.
The president, popular for his hard line against the Farc, made the concession as he prepares to seek a second four-year term in office in next May's election.
The hostages include Ingrid Betancourt, a Colombian-French national captured by the Farc while campaigning for the presidency in 2002. The rebels also seized three civilian US Defense Department contractors when their small plane crashed on a mission seeking out crops used to make cocaine in 2003.
The other hostages are politicians, soldiers and police officers, some held up to seven years in secret jungle camps. The Farc, a 17,000-strong peasant army that has been fighting for socialist revolution for 41 years and largely funds itself from the cocaine trade, wants thousands of jailed guerrillas freed in return for the hostages.