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Colombian rebels reject hostage mission
Wednesday, 9 April, 2008
FARC rebels have ruled out releasing Ingrid Betancourt without a prisoner exchange (Getty Images)
Colombian guerrillas have refused to allow a French medical mission to treat high-profile hostage Ingrid Betancourt in their jungle camps.
The rejection is a blow to French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who has made it a priority to secure the freedom of Ms Betancourt, a French-Colombian citizen held by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia since 2002.
The French medical team flew into a Bogota air base on Thursday hoping to help the politician, who is believed to be gravely ill after more than six years in captivity.
But their mission was in doubt from the start as Paris had no prior deal with the rebels.
"The French medical mission is not reasonable and even less so when it was not the result of any agreement," the FARC said in a statement.
Sarkozy 'deeply disappointed'
"We do not act under blackmail or under pressure from media campaigns," the rebels said.
FARC said if Colombian President Alvaro Uribe had demilitarised an area in the country's south earlier in the year, as the rebels had requested, Ms Betancourt and other hostages "would already have regained their freedom, and it would have been a victory for all."
Mr Sarkozy said he was "deeply disappointed"; his foreign minister Bernard Kouchner is to travel to the region soon to review options.
"France will stay fully mobilised to ensure the hostages return to life and to their families," the French president said.
France, Spain and Switzerland, who worked together on the mission, believe that "keeping the medical mission in place is no longer justifiable" after FARC rejected it.
Prisoner exchange wanted
"It will therefore leave Colombia soon," a statement released by the French foreign ministry and signed by the three countries said.
Ms Betancourt, 46, who was taken hostage while campaigning for the presidency in 2002, is one of dozens of captives the FARC says it wants to exchange for jailed fighters.
Other hostages released this year say she is seriously ill - she is thought to be suffering from Hepatitis and a serious skin condition - and has been chained up after attempting to escape.
A rebel video broadcast at the end of last year showed the former lawmaker looking pale and extremely gaunt.
Source: SBS staff and agencies
The rejection is a blow to French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who has made it a priority to secure the freedom of Ms Betancourt, a French-Colombian citizen held by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia since 2002.
The French medical team flew into a Bogota air base on Thursday hoping to help the politician, who is believed to be gravely ill after more than six years in captivity.
But their mission was in doubt from the start as Paris had no prior deal with the rebels.
"The French medical mission is not reasonable and even less so when it was not the result of any agreement," the FARC said in a statement.
Sarkozy 'deeply disappointed'
"We do not act under blackmail or under pressure from media campaigns," the rebels said.
FARC said if Colombian President Alvaro Uribe had demilitarised an area in the country's south earlier in the year, as the rebels had requested, Ms Betancourt and other hostages "would already have regained their freedom, and it would have been a victory for all."
Mr Sarkozy said he was "deeply disappointed"; his foreign minister Bernard Kouchner is to travel to the region soon to review options.
"France will stay fully mobilised to ensure the hostages return to life and to their families," the French president said.
France, Spain and Switzerland, who worked together on the mission, believe that "keeping the medical mission in place is no longer justifiable" after FARC rejected it.
Prisoner exchange wanted
"It will therefore leave Colombia soon," a statement released by the French foreign ministry and signed by the three countries said.
Ms Betancourt, 46, who was taken hostage while campaigning for the presidency in 2002, is one of dozens of captives the FARC says it wants to exchange for jailed fighters.
Other hostages released this year say she is seriously ill - she is thought to be suffering from Hepatitis and a serious skin condition - and has been chained up after attempting to escape.
A rebel video broadcast at the end of last year showed the former lawmaker looking pale and extremely gaunt.
Source: SBS staff and agencies
