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Colombia Offers Swap: Hostages for Prisoners

FARC must release ailing Betancourt for deal to go through

By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff

Posted Mar 28, 2008 10:43 AM CDT
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(Newser) – After more than 6 years in captivity, Colombian hostage Ingrid Betancourt will go free if FARC agrees to a deal Alvaro Uribe signed off on last night, the Guardian reports. The Colombian president issued a decree saying the country will release imprisoned rebel fighters in exchange for Betancourt, a onetime presidential candidate believed to be seriously ill with hepatitis B and a tropical skin disease.

“The government has joined the national and international cry that the life of Ingrid Betancourt be saved,” said the Colombian peace commissioner. “There is no more time to wait.” Farc has long wanted to swap the hundreds of hostages it holds for its jailed members, but Colombia's demand that freed guerrillas promise not to return to FARC's ranks looms as a sticking point, the BBC reports.

Former Colombia Senator Luis Eladio Perez, who spent six and a half years as a FARC hostage, and Anita Betancourt, the sister of hostage Ingrid Betancourt, arrive for a press conference, March 18.
Former Colombia Senator Luis Eladio Perez, who spent six and a half years as a FARC hostage, and Anita Betancourt, the sister of hostage Ingrid Betancourt, arrive for a press conference, March 18.   (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
A member of the European Parliament holds posters of captive Colombian-French politician Ingrid Betancourt during foreign policy debates Wednesday March 12, 2008 in Strasbourg, France.
A member of the European Parliament holds posters of captive Colombian-French politician Ingrid Betancourt during foreign policy debates Wednesday March 12, 2008 in Strasbourg, France.   (AP Photo/Christian Lutz)
Colombia's Peace Commissioner, Luis Carlos Restrepo, offers to suspend the sentences of jailed FARC members in exchange for high-profile captives in a news conference yesterday.
Colombia's Peace Commissioner, Luis Carlos Restrepo, offers to suspend the sentences of jailed FARC members in exchange for high-profile captives in a news conference yesterday.   (AP Photo/William Fernando Martinez)
Colombia's Peace Commissioner, Luis Carlos Restrepo, speaks during a press conference in Bogota, Thursday, March 27, 2008.
Colombia's Peace Commissioner, Luis Carlos Restrepo, speaks during a press conference in Bogota, Thursday, March 27, 2008.   (AP Photo/William Fernando Martinez)
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Betancourt's health is 'very, very delicate'
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Colombia • guerrilla • FARC • Alvaro Uribe • Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia • Ingrid Betancourt • guerrilla groups • Luis Carlos Restrepo • hostage

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