France asks Colombia for caution regarding siege on the FARC

Caracas, Monday January 28 , 2008

France asks Colombia for caution regarding siege on the FARC

France Monday urged Colombia to refrain from taking any move that may "endanger" the lives of the hostages -including French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt-, following President Álvaro Uribe's decision to besiege the areas where the rebel Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC) is holding people as hostages.

"France has a widely known steady position: nothing should be done that may endanger the hostages' lives," the assistant spokesman of the French Minister of Foreign Affairs Frederic Desagneaux told reporters.

The spokesman would not say whether Uribe's order to locate and besiege such areas would endanger the hostages' lives, as their relatives fear, AFP reported.

Last Sunday, Yolanda Pulecio, Betancourt's mother, accused Uribe of risking the hostages with his order to besiege the areas where they may be held.

http://english.eluniversal.com/2008/01/28/en_chcol_art_france-asks-colombia_28A1335289.shtml
(Venezuelan opposition newspaper)