Colombian rebels spurn jail deal

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Colombia's biggest rebel group insists it will not release any hostages even though the government has announced plans to free some 200 jailed rebels.

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or Farc, said the gesture by President Alvaro Uribe was a "farce".

A Farc statement said the government must first create a safe haven for talks - a move Mr Uribe has ruled out.

Hopes had risen that there could be a breakthrough leading to the release of some of the 56 hostages in rebel hands.

But in a statement published on a rebel website, the Farc guerrillas left no room for doubt about their position.

They reiterated their demand for a demilitarised zone as a condition for any talks on freeing hostages.

"The demagogic announcement of a unilateral release of prisoners has nothing to do with an exchange, which must be reached with an accord with the government," the statement said.

The plan was merely an attempt by the president to divert attention from a scandal linking some of his political allies to illegal paramilitary groups, the statement said.

The guerrillas said many of the prisoners that the government is planning to free are Farc deserters or civilians mistaken for rebels.

Brutal conditions

President Uribe has said he will go ahead with what he calls a unilateral goodwill gesture and free up to 200 jailed rebels.

Pressure to secure the hostages' release has grown in recent weeks after a police officer escaped from nine years in captivity.

He emerged to give details about how some of the other people were being held and treated by the rebels.

The latest Farc announcement is a blow to the families of the hostages, who include three Americans and prominent French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt.

Some of the captives have been held for several years in brutal conditions deep in the Amazon jungle and the prospects for their release seem as distant as ever, says the BBC's Jeremy McDermott in Medellin.