Colombia's Uribe makes new offer on hostage plight

BOGOTA, Aug 3 (Reuters) Colombia's President Alvaro Uribe offered guerrillas a safe haven for peace talks if they free hostages, in the latest long-shot bid to break the deadlock over kidnap victims held for years in rebel camps.

Talks between hard-liner Uribe and Latin America's oldest left-wing insurgency are stalled over a rebel demand he allow a demilitarized zone before any talks to free hostages, who include a French-Colombian politician and three Americans.

The offer came after Uribe met with a Colombian teacher who sparked a surge in sympathy for hostages by trekking across the country to protest over the plight of his soldier son kidnapped by the country's largest rebel group, the FARC, a decade ago.

''If the FARC frees kidnap victims with the help of the international community, then the government will accept a zone for talks for 90 days on reaching peace,'' Uribe yesterday said at a public event where he received cheers and heckles.

Violence from the country's 40-year conflict has eased as Uribe sent the armed forces to retake areas once held by armed groups. But the FARC, or the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, are still fighting in rural regions.

Uribe, whose father was killed in a botched FARC kidnap bid in the 1980s, is popular for his U.S.-backed crackdown. But he is under pressure over kidnap victims and a scandal linking some of his allies to paramilitaries who once fought rebels.

The hostage plight has become more acute since last month when the government blamed the FARC for killing 11 local lawmakers who they had kidnapped five years ago.

Thousands also rallied to welcome Gustavo Moncayo on Wednesday as he ended his seven-week walk to protest for a hostage deal. His son was kidnapped in 1997.

Families, who want Uribe to end risky military rescue attempts, welcomed his announcement. But analysts said Uribe's new offer was unlikely to prompt the FARC to give up key hostages they can use for political leverage.

''This is at a dead-end for now,'' said Pablo Casas at the Security and Democracy think tank in Bogota.

Among key hostages are Ingrid Betancourt, a dual French Colombian kidnapped in 2002 while campaigning for the presidency, and three US contractors snatched after their plane crashed on a counter-narcotics mission.

The FARC demand for a haven the size of New York City has chilled attempts at negotiations by France, Spain and Switzerland.

Uribe steadfastly refuses to yield a troop-free zone, which he says will allow the FARC to regroup.

REUTERS SAM BST0545