FARC seeks UN help in peace bid

Colombia's Marxist FARC rebels have approached the United Nations with what they says is a plan to end 40 years of fighting with…

Colombia's Marxist FARC rebels have approached the United Nations with what they says is a plan to end 40 years of fighting with government forces in the South American republic.

In a letter sent to Secretary General Mr Kofi Annan, FARC have asked to address the General Assembly to give its view of the conflict which kills thousands each year.

In the letter sent by email on behalf of the 17,000-strong force, the group asked for security for a delegation to travel to New York to discuss "peaceful solutions" to the conflict.

There was no immediate response from the UN but it has previously provided an official to use his "good offices" to contact the guerrillas and encourage peace in Colombia .

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The FARC has been pushed into retreat since the collapse of peace talks with then-president Mr Andres Pastrana's government in early 2002.

Colombia

Past FARC peace proposals have included calls for sweeping agrarian, political and economic reforms.

The FARC traces its origins to a peasant communist militia attacked by government troops in 1964. It has grown thanks to money from kidnapping and "taxing" cocaine, and opinion polls show it has only marginal support despite a majority of Colombians living in poverty.

's current President, Mr Alvaro Uribe, is demanding a cease-fire before new peace talks can start.