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Top Colombian guerrilla group leader released

Colombia released a top guerrilla leader from jail on Monday, the first of at least 150 rebels the government planned to free in the hope of gaining the release of 56 hostages held by the leftist fighters.

Colombian President Alvaro Uribe said he hoped Rodrigo Granda, who was the highest-ranking jailed member of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), would now serve as a peace broker and be given guarantees to do so.

Uribe said in a televised address that French President Nicolas Sarkozy, whose country has sought the release of Franco-Colombian hostage Ingrid Betancourt for five years, personally requested that Granda be freed.

"The government is giving him guarantees so that he may promote peace," Uribe said. "The government trusts that he will not be involved in kidnappings, in assassinations."

Sarkozy's office said the French president had "explicitly requested" that Uribe release Granda -- known as FARC's "foreign minister" -- and welcomed his Colombian counterpart's "very important and courageous decision."

Sarkozy "now hopes that this development will be heard by FARC" and that "they will respond," his office said in a statement early yesterday.

Betancourt, a politician, was taken hostage in February 2002 while she was running a long-shot campaign for Colombia's presidency.

Granda left prison on Monday accompanied by the government's High Peace Commissioner Luis Carlos Restrepo and headed to the offices of the Roman Catholic archbishop, who frequently mediates peace talks.

But Granda's attorney, Miguel Gonzalez, said his client was freed against his will and that "the chances of a humanitarian accord are today at a standstill."

The 17,000-strong FARC, which has fought the government since the 1960s, has derided Uribe's unilateral decision to free rebels as a "farce," saying the prisoners being released included deserters and civilians falsely accused of being part of the group.

Uribe, who announced last week he would begin freeing FARC members, said on Monday at least 150 more rebels would be released by tomorrow in the hope of getting back 56 hostages.

The hostages include three American contractors who were captured in 2003 after their plane crashed during an anti-drug mission.

The Colombian leader said he had decided to free rebels because he could not accept FARC's demand that he create a demilitarized zone where the two sides could negotiate a prisoner-hostage swap.

"I cannot accept a demilitarized zone but I also cannot stop seeking the release of my compatriots and the three kidnapped Americans," Uribe said.
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