• Company
  • Products online
  • News terminal

Products online

  • News terminal
  • Caspian Oil & Gas Trends
  • Monthly Azerbaijan Business Monitoring
  • Weekly Azerbaijan Business Monitoring
  • Caspian, Turkey Building & Logistics Monitoring
  • Azerbaijan Energy Projects Review
  • Azerbaijan Banking Analytics
  • Iran Energy Economy Review
  • Central Asia Economic Outlook
  • Weekly Tenders Report
  • Azerbaijan Industry Agriculture Review
  • Azerbaijan Monthly IСT Monitoring
  • Regional Finance
ORDER TRIAL VERSION

Company

  • About company
  • Trend Information Service
  • Vacancies

Communications

  • Reference
  • Achievements

For clients

  • How to subscribe
  • Instant paid access
  • Support service

Trend in social networks

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Youtube
  • Telegram
  • RSS
  • IOS
  • Android

Info Services

  • Trend Politics
  • Trend Society
  • Trend Economy
  • Trend Energy
  • Trend ICT
  • Trend Tourism
  • Trend Culture

Contacts

  • Bakhtiyar Vahabzade Str., 14, Baku, Azerbaijan, AZ1141.
  • sales@trend.az
  • + 994 12 437-12-68
  • RU
  • AZ
  • EN
  • TR
  • FA
AzerNews.Az Today.Az
  • Login
  • Sign up
Trend.Az
  • Latest
  • Azerbaijan
    • Politics
    • Business
    • Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
    • Society
    • Other News
  • Business
    • Oil&Gas
    • ICT
    • Finance
    • Economy
    • Tenders
    • Tourism
  • Iran
    • Nuclear Program
    • Politics
    • Business
    • Society
  • Central Asia
    • Kyrgyzstan
    • Kazakhstan
    • Turkmenistan
    • Tajikistan
    • Uzbekistan
  • South Caucasus
    • Armenia
    • Georgia
  • World
    • Turkey
    • Europe
    • US
    • Russia
    • Israel
    • China
    • Arab World
    • Other News
  • Latest
  • Azerbaijan
    • Politics
    • Business
    • Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
    • Society
    • Other News
  • Business
    • Oil&Gas
    • ICT
    • Finance
    • Economy
    • Tenders
    • Tourism
  • Iran
    • Nuclear Program
    • Politics
    • Business
    • Society
  • Central Asia
    • Kyrgyzstan
    • Kazakhstan
    • Turkmenistan
    • Tajikistan
    • Uzbekistan
  • South Caucasus
    • Armenia
    • Georgia
  • World
    • Turkey
    • Europe
    • US
    • Russia
    • Israel
    • China
    • Arab World
    • Other News
  • Trend Photo
  • Login
  • Sign up
  • Home
  • World
  • Other News

Former FARC hostage and Colombian senator seeks meeting with Bush

24 March 2008 05:14 (UTC+04:00)
  • 0
  • 0

Luis Eladio Perez, a former Colombian senator and one-time hostage of the leftist rebel group FARC, is seeking a meeting with US President George W Bush to get his backing for the latest effort to swap hostages for rebels in Colombian prisons. ( dpa )

Perez has already discussed his new exchange plan with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, and also met with French President Nicolas Sarkozy in Paris. The deal would include the release of former Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, the highest profile FARC hostage, who has dual French-Colombian citizenship.

The former senator's wife, Angela de Perez, said Sunday that the meeting with Bush - being sought through diplomatic channels - was needed because the United States had an important role to play in the possible execution of any exchange.

The new plan involves the release of 39 hostages for some 500 members of FARC, which stands for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. The exchange would be made in French territories overseas such as Martinique or French Guiana, according to Argentinian newspaper Clarin.

Colombia and FARC have agreed to an exchange in principle, but disagreements over how and where to make the swap have doomed the plan a number of times in the past year.

The deal would involve France removing FARC from its list of terrorist organizations, while Washington would have to free two rebels imprisoned in the US: Ricardo Palmera - alias Simon Trinidad - and Anayibe Rojas, known as Sonia. The two would be granted asylum in France under the proposal.

FARC would in turn release three US contractors - Keith Stansell, Thomas Howes and Mark Gonsalves - who were kidnapped in February 2003.

It is estimated that FARC holds at least 700 hostages.

Former legislator Consuelo Gonzales - herself a one-time captive released in January - said Sunday that she was hopeful Perez's plan would be successful.

"It would be the best news of the year, of the century, because it would permit the freeing of 39 people who live ... in the most terrible humanitarian situation," Gonzalez told radio station Caracol.

Perez was taken captive in 2001 and released in February along with three other legislators. He is also likely to travel to Venezuela to present his plan to President Hugo Chavez, who has had a mediating role in the conflict in the past.

But Jose Obdulio Gaviria, a top advisor to Uribe, said the plan has some serious flaws that doomed it from the beginning, in particular that of removing FARC from the list of terrorist groups.

Gaviria painted the decades-long battle with the leftist rebel group FARC as one of "civilization against barbarism."

Camilo Gomez, a peace envoy under former president Andres Pastrana, said their remained "holes" in the plan, and warned against promoting direct contacts between France and FARC that would not take into account the Colombian government's position.

Follow Trend on Telegram. Only most interesting and important news

Category news
Number of fatalities from flu complications rises to 74 in Greece
Other News 04:58
North Carolina orders new US House election amid ballot fraud evidence
US 04:15
Greece signs concession for new Crete airport
Europe 01:25
German car makers may lose 'billions' if Trump slaps EU with auto tariffs
Other News 00:13
WHO issues recommendations on influenza vaccine composition
Other News 21 February 22:25
U.S., North Korea to seek understanding on denuclearization at summit
US 21 February 21:49
Latest
Washington to host top Turkish military leaders for talks at Pentagon this week
US 06:23
U.S. to leave 200 American peacekeepers in Syria after pullout: White House
US 05:39
Number of fatalities from flu complications rises to 74 in Greece
Other News 04:58
North Carolina orders new US House election amid ballot fraud evidence
US 04:15
Erdogan, Trump discuss Syria troop withdrawal, economic relations in phone call
Turkey 03:35
China, U.S. kick off new round of high-level trade talks in Washington
China 02:52
Netanyahu, Putin to meet in Moscow on February 27
Israel 02:10
Greece signs concession for new Crete airport
Europe 01:25
Blast hits minibus carrying oil workers in eastern Syria; 20 killed
Arab World 00:49
Most popular
Humanity needs Turkic culture and justice – Turkish presidential advisor (Exclusive)
Humanity needs Turkic culture and justice – Turkish presidential advisor (Exclusive)
Bulgarian energy minister: Southern Gas Corridor to strengthen energy security of whole EU
First meeting of High Level Working Group on Caspian Sea held in Baku
Azerbaijan, EU hold another round of talks
Commentary
Iran-Pakistan challenging amity

Iran-Pakistan challenging amity

Domestic incident cannot harm Azerbaijani-Chechen friendship - expert
Attempts of some forces to break up Chechens, Azerbaijanis doomed to fail
Withdrawal of US troops from Iraq: cacophony of opinions
Azernews Newspaper
Trend.Az
  • About
  • Our Team
  • Products online
  • Trend Information Service
  • News terminal
  • News archive
Contacts
14, Bakhtiyar Vahabzade, Baku, Azerbaijan, AZ1141
+(994 12) 497-31-72
news@trend.az
+(994 12) 497-30-89
© 2019 Trend News Agency
Terms of use