France renews contact with FARC leaders

[Judi Lynn]

Friday June 20, 01:15 AM
France renews contact with FARC leaders

PARIS (Reuters) - France has renewed contact with the leaders of Colombian guerrillas holding Franco-Colombian hostage Ingrid Betancourt to try and secure her release after their main guerrilla contact was killed in March, presidency sources said on Thursday.

The left-wing Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) has turned to kidnapping, extortion and the cocaine trade to finance operations against the military and outlawed paramilitary groups.

"We have managed to renew dialogue with certain members of the FARC secretariat. We are pursuing contacts but discreetly," said one senior source at the French presidency, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The FARC has recently suffered a series of losses among its senior members, including the guerrilla group's founder Manuel Marulanda and his deputy Raul Reyes, who was named by French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner as France's main FARC contact.

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