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| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| New delay for Colombian hostages | New delay for Colombian hostages |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Colombian leftist rebels say government military operations are blocking the release of three hostages, according to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. | Colombian leftist rebels say government military operations are blocking the release of three hostages, according to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. |
| Venezuelan helicopters have been waiting since the weekend to pick up two women and a boy the Farc promised to release to Mr Chavez. | Venezuelan helicopters have been waiting since the weekend to pick up two women and a boy the Farc promised to release to Mr Chavez. |
| They were due to be freed as a gesture but disagreements between Caracas and Bogota have dogged the process. | They were due to be freed as a gesture but disagreements between Caracas and Bogota have dogged the process. |
| The Venezuelan leader read out what he said was a letter from the Farc on TV. | The Venezuelan leader read out what he said was a letter from the Farc on TV. |
| Military operations "impede us for now from turning over" the three hostages, the Farc were quoted as saying. | |
| Promising that the operation would continue, Mr Chavez said the Farc required a "real ceasefire" before it would let the hostages go. | |
| The operation had to be postponed on Sunday when Venezuelan officials said the Farc had not provided the co-ordinates for the handover and that there was not enough time to complete the mission. | |
| Colombian officials say they blame the rebels for the delays. | |
| Women and child | |
| Those due to be freed are Clara Rojas, an aide to ex-presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, with whom she was kidnapped in 2002, and Ms Rojas's son, Emmanuel, said to have been fathered by one of her captors. | |
| Several hundred hostages overall are being held by the Farc | |
| The other captive is former congresswoman Consuelo Gonzalez de Perdomo, who was kidnapped in 2001. | |
| Fifteen members of the hostages' families, who have not seen their loved ones for more than five years, have been waiting in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas. | |
| Mr Chavez has been trying to negotiate an exchange of other hostages for guerrillas imprisoned in Colombian jails but he has been accused by the Colombian authorities of overstepping his mandate as a mediator. | |
| In response, he has threatened to freeze ties with the neighbouring state, which is a close trading partner. | |
| It is believed that the Colombian government wants to regain the initiative with respect to the prisoner exchange and does not want Mr Chavez, perceived as being too friendly with the Farc, to hijack negotiations. |