Colombia, rebels trade allegations over hostages

VILLAVICENCIO, Colombia, (Reuters) - Colombia's government and Marxist guerrilla leaders blamed each other Monday for long delays that could scupper a deal to release three hostages held for years by the rebels in jungle camps.

A Venezuela-led mission to pick up two women hostages and a child born to one of them in captivity has been delayed since last Thursday with fears rising that it will collapse.

Colombia's conservative government accused the rebels of lying and dragging their feet.

"We have plenty of reasons not to trust the FARC," Colombian President Alvaro Uribe told reporters in the central city of Villavicencio, where Venezuelan helicopters waited to be dispatched for the handover. He called the rebel army "cynical terrorists."

Guerrilla leaders blamed the army, saying it had stepped up its operations in the region, making it impossible to release the three captives.

"In these conditions it would put in grave risk the lives of these people to free them," the rebels said in a letter sent to Venezuela's leftist President Hugo Chavez, who negotiated the deal for the release of the three hostages.

Uribe denied the claim that his army had launched new operations.

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, earlier this month said it would deliver the three hostages to Chavez but the delays have now put the operation in doubt.

The three hostages are Consuelo Gonzalez, Clara Rojas and her son Emmanuel, who was fathered by a rebel fighter and is thought to be four years old.

Rojas was kidnapped during her 2002 vice presidential campaign and Gonzalez, a former lawmaker, was taken in 2001.

Colombian President Alvaro Uribe assured observers from other Latin American countries and France that his conservative government backed the mission and would do what it could to guarantee its security.

Chavez read out a letter from the FARC, which said it was committed to handing over the hostages.

"As soon as we can find a place that offers us security, we will be in touch to reactivate the mechanisms that will make possible the safe return of Clara, Emmanuel and Consuelo," it said.

Chavez, a fierce critic of the United States, had earlier speculated that radio interference by U.S. forces deployed in Colombia to back its war against the FARC and drug traffickers could be to blame.

Colombia is wary of Chavez and his goal of uniting South America under socialism but it agreed to let him fly helicopters marked with the Red Cross symbol deep into its territory to collect the hostages. (Additional reporting by Hugh Bronstein in Bogota; Editing by Kieran Murray)