CARACAS (AFP) — A Colombian mediator said Saturday that ongoing military operations in Colombia could delay the release of three hostages by the FARC guerrilla army.
Speaking on a brief visit to Caracas, Colombian opposition Senator Piedad Cordoba, who is working with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to obtain the release, said that she did not know yet when or where the three hostages would be released.
"There are a lot of operations in the country (Colombia), they are not going to suspend them and it could cause a delay," Cordoba said at Caracas' airport.
The delay is likely "until there are conditions that don't work against the security and integrity of the hostages," she said.
Until then, she added, "I don't know the date or hour, nor the place for the handover ... I don't know if it will be here, in Brazil, in Ecuador, or on the border."
On Tuesday the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) said it would free hostage Clara Rojas, along with her three- or four-year-old son Emmanuel, who was born in captivity to her and a rebel father; and lawmaker Consuelo Gonzalez de Perdomo.
The three are part of some 45 hostages held by the group. Rojas was kidnapped in 2002 along with the highest-profile hostage, former Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, a French-Colombian citizen.
The FARC said the release of the three is a gesture of goodwill towards the relatives of the hostages, and to Chavez and Cordoba, while accusing Colombian President Alvaro Uribe of obstructing attempts to arrange a swap of their hostages and some 500 FARC members held by the government.
FARC has said it will turn the three hostages over to Chavez, who had been officially negotiating a release or swap until Uribe stopped those talks amid accusations Chavez broke protocol.
Chavez, who is in Cuba, Friday called arranging the handover sensitive.
"It is a delicate operation," Chavez said at the close of the PetroCaribe summit in Cuba's southern coastal city of Cienfuegos.
"On our return to Caracas, we will try to develop a plan to receive them," said Chavez, expected to arrive back in Venezuela on Saturday.
Copyright © 2009 AFP. All rights reserved. More »
