Colombian rebels insist preconditions be met before talks

Colombia's largest rebel group refuses to budge on its demand for a New York City-size demilitarized zone as a precondition for talks on exchanging some of its hostages for guerrilla prisoners, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said on Tuesday.

The Colombian government has repeatedly rejected demands by the rebels for troops to clear an 800km2 area in southwestern Colombia for talks aimed at securing the release of 45 high-profile hostages, including three Americans.

During a brief televised appearance with peace mediator and Colombian Senator Piedad Cordoba, Chavez read segments of a letter from Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, commander Manuel Marulanda and insisted that a meeting with the octogenarian rebel is vital for talks to move forward.

Reading the letter from Marulanda, Chavez said: "The clearing out of troops from the municipalities of Florida and Pradera is indispensable so that officials from the government and FARC can agree on terms and procedures that lead to the liberation of the hostages."

Chavez has asked Colombian President Alvaro Uribe permission to travel into FARC-dominated territory to meet the Marulanda. But Colombia's US-allied government has dismissed such a meeting as inappropriate.

The rebels are holding several hundred hostages. Among the most prominent are three US defense contractors and former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, a French-Colombian citizen.

Cordoba said she would travel to Washington in the coming weeks to meet with Ricardo Palmera and Anayibe Rojas Valderama, two senior FARC members who are currently in US custody.