Hunger-strikers are near death

Buenos Aires - Hunger-striking survivors of Argentina's last Marxist guerrilla group will be force-fed if their promise to starve…

Buenos Aires - Hunger-striking survivors of Argentina's last Marxist guerrilla group will be force-fed if their promise to starve to death unless allowed to appeal their life terms puts them in serious danger, officials said yesterday.

The 12 guerrillas of the All for the Fatherland movement (MTP) - jailed for a 1989 army base attack that killed 39 people and, they argue, prevented a planned coup - entered the 109th day of their strike yesterday. Their spokesman has warned they could have just days to live.