Colombia's Farc guerrillas will free five hostages, including three military officials and two local politicians, in what they called a humanitarian gesture, the rebels said today.
The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or Farc, is at its weakest in decades after nearly 10 years of the government's US-backed counter-insurgency campaign. Rebels still hold around 18 kidnap victims for political leverage.
The Farc has in the past released kidnapped victims in an attempt to gain political ground. But the rebel leadership is under intense military pressure and Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos is unlikely to ease up his hard-line security campaign.
"We have taken the decision, but the date will depend on the guarantees given by the government," the Farc said in a letter published on a website and addressed to a left-wing former Colombian senator who brokered past hostage releases.
The Farc plans to free a police major, an army official and a marine as well as two presidents of local community councils, it said in the statement on Anncol news website, which often carries rebel statements.
The letter was directed to Piedad Cordoba, the ex-senator who was fired from her congressional post over charges she had links to the rebels.
There was no immediate statement from the Santos government on the Farc move.
The release would the latest handover from the Farc, which has held police, soldiers and politicians captive in secret jungle camps, often chained up in harsh conditions, some captive for more than a decade.
Once a large peasant army controlling swaths of Colombia, the rebels have been driven back to rural mountains and jungles. As violence has ebbed, foreign investment in Colombia has grown rapidly, especially in oil and mining.
But the Farc and other armed groups remain a dangerous force in areas where state presence is weak, and Colombia is still the world's number one producer of cocaine.
Attempts to broker talks with the Farc have gone nowhere. The Farc wants to exchange hostages for jailed rebels, including commanders extradited to the United States. The government says the guerrillas must end hostilities and offer an act of good faith before any negotiations can start.
Reuters