Colombia ELN rebels open to talk on arms handover

CARACAS, Venezuela, Apr 13 (Reuters) Colombia's second-largest rebel group believes a peace accord with President Alvaro Uribe is possible and would discuss an arms handover as part of broader negotiations, according to a commander.

The 5,000-strong leftist National Liberation Army, or ELN, recently held exploratory talks in Havana with the Colombian government, but came away with an agreement only to meet for talks again in April.

Uribe, a conservative who looks set to be re-elected in May, is a close US ally and has vowed to crush Colombia's insurgencies.

Thousands are killed each year in the violence involving the army, rebels and rightist paramilitaries.

''We believe this space we have open with the rightist government allows us to send a message that Colombia's future is peace,'' ELN military chief Antonio Garcia told Telesur television in an interview in Caracas yesterday.

''The subject of arms has to be discussed at the negotiating table and must be discussed at the same time as talks on the process of democracy,'' he said.

Garcia was not scheduled to meet with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, a self-styled socialist revolutionary fiercely at odds with Washington over US foreign policies.

The ELN, a Cuba-inspired group founded in 1964 by students and Roman Catholic priests, is demanding sweeping political reforms in Colombia to broaden democratic participation and end what it condemns as a state ruled by a rich oligarchy.

The government wants a cease-fire, but the matter has not been discussed in two rounds of talks that began in December in Havana.

Garcia said a Venezuelan plane would transport him back to the Colombian city of Medellin on Monday. He will be escorted by European diplomats and Colombian representatives.

During recent talks, the ELN managed to gain political recognition from the Colombian government, which had until then branded the ELN as a criminal and terrorist group. A capture order for Garcia was suspended to build trust for talks.

Uribe has overseen the demobilizing of thousands of paramilitaries. But Colombia's main leftist guerrilla group, the 17,000-member Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, says it will not deal with his government.

REUTERS DH BD0500