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Colombia offers to release rebels in Betancourt swap

Colombia's government has offered to expedite the release of leftist rebels from its prisons if the guerrilla group immediately frees ailing French-Colombian hostage Ingrid Betancourt.

Bogota is prepared to drop several of the conditions it had placed on a long-sought prisoner swap, in a bid to jump-start the deal and secure freedom for Betancourt and other hostages in poor health, Colombian Peace Commissioner Luis Carlos Restrepo said.

"It's enough that Ingrid Betancourt be immediately released for us to consider the humanitarian deal is on, enabling us to conditionally suspend the sentences of members of the rebel group," Restrepo said late on Thursday.

Asked how many rebels would be freed, Restrepo said that Bogota was not placing a limit on the number and had "reduced to a minimum" its conditions for the swap.

"There is no limit as to the crime committed, or the type of sentence received," he said.

Earlier on Thursday, Colombia's omsbudsman renewed concerns over Betancourt's health, saying her rebel captors took her to medical facilities in southeastern Colombia late last month.

"The information that we have, at least until February, is that the state of her health is very delicate, and her physical and health conditions have been deteriorating," said Volmar Perez, an independent official in charge of relations between the government and the population.

The 46-year-old former presidential candidate kidnapped in February 2002 is suffering from hepatitis B and leishmania, a skin disease caused by insect bites, Perez said, citing sources he declined to identify.

"We did not give those rumors great credibility. Nothing has been corroborated," Restrepo said of the reports, adding that President Alvaro Uribe "remains concerned" for Betancourt's health.

She is among 39 high-profile hostages, including three American defense contractors, whom the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) want to exchange for 500 rebels held in prison, including two held in US prisons.

Direct talks to negotiate the prisoner swap have never gotten off the ground, although the rebels released six hostages to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez earlier this year.
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