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Uribe says FARC hiding murders

Colombian President Alvaro Uribe on Thursday accused rebels of trying to cover up the murders of 11 kidnapped lawmakers by delaying the return of the bodies for weeks.

"Those criminals murdered the lawmakers and their delay in returning the bodies seeks to hide the murder and sustain their lie," he said in Medellin.

Eleven provincial lawmakers held hostage by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) were killed on June 18.

FARC said the 11 died from gunshots as soldiers tried to liberate them during a military operation Uribe says never happened.

The distinction is important because relatives of the hostages in FARC hands demanded that the military not try to free them.

"They murdered them on June 18, wrote a statement on the 23rd, and published it only on the 28th," Uribe said.

"Today is July 12 and those criminals have still not returned the bodies, because those criminals know that the more they delay in returning the bodies, the more difficult it is to perform forensic testing," he said.

FARC asked the International Committee of the Red Cross to retrieve the bodies, and blamed the delay on a strong military presence in the area. However, FARC has not set a date or place to hand over the bodies.

On Thursday, armed forces commander Fredy Padilla said his men were willing to help the Red Cross recover the bodies.

The 11 deaths reduced to 45 the group of high-profile hostages held by FARC, which wants to swap them for some 500 captured rebels in prisons.

Uribe last month released some 150 rebels, hoping FARC would reciprocate by giving up dozens of prominent hostages.

Millions of Colombians brought the country to a near standstill on July 5 in protests, demanding that armed groups release thousands of hostages they are holding.
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