Pastrana meets FARC leader

Los Pozos - President Andres Pastrana met Colombia's most powerful rebel chief Manuel "Sureshot" Marulanda in a guerrilla-controlled…

Los Pozos - President Andres Pastrana met Colombia's most powerful rebel chief Manuel "Sureshot" Marulanda in a guerrilla-controlled demilitarised zone yesterday to revive a faltering two-year old peace drive.

Mr Pastrana arrived at the tiny south Colombian village of Los Pozos by helicopter and embraced the 69-year old leader of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), who has spent most of his life fighting in the country's 37-year old war.

Flanked by dozens of armed guerrillas and Mr Pastrana's own escort, the two men walked slowly in tropical rain to a purpose-built negotiation centre to begin crucial talks on the war that has claimed 35,000 civilian lives in the last 10 years.