20 November 2004	Saturday	07 Shawwal 1425

BOGOTA: Colombia's former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt spent her 1,000th day in captivity on Friday after being abducted by leftist rebels with no hope in sight for release.

An exchange with the government has been delayed and an attempt at rescue by the military could be a death sentence. Betan court and her vice presidential running mate were kidnapped by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) on February 23, 2002.

Following the breakdown of peace talks at the time and the government's decision to rout out FARC from a region that had been a safe haven, the two women ventured into guerrilla territory despite warnings of the risks involved.

Although both FARC, which are holding scores of hostages, and the government of President Alvaro Uribe have expressed a willingness to reach agreement on an exchange of hostage victims for FARC prisoners of war held in Colombian prisons, talks are stalled.

The latest stumbling block is the FARC demand that two municipalities to be assigned as a neutral zone for the signing of a "humanitarian accord". Uribe however insists he will not remove government troops from a single centimetre of Colombian soil and will only accept a meeting with guerrillas in a diplomatic compound in Bogota.

"We don't understand why they are making a problem out of this when the important thing is the conversations which can happen on any table with four seats. The place is the least important thing," Pulecio said.

Uribe has offered to free 50 guerrilla fighters sentenced for rebellion in exchange for the release of 60 hostage victims including Betancourt and three US contractors.

FARC have said they will sign an accord if the government pulls troops out indefinitely from an area measuring 30,700 square kilometres in southern Colombia, at the heart of the massive US-backed counterinsurgency operation known as the "Patriot Plan".

Betancourt's family have expressed strong opposition to a military attempt to rescue her, following cases in which FARC have executed hostages in cold blood as government troops were closing in on them.

Betancourt's case has earned international attention. There was even a botched attempt by France, through then-French foreign minister Dominique de Villepin - a personal friend of hers - to send in an armed commando from Brazil to rescue her. -dpa