Government considers exchanging jailed rebels for hostages

BOGOTA, Colombia -- President Alvaro Uribe said Wednesday he was willing to exchange captured rebels for guerrilla hostages, marking an about-face in policy after the kidnapping of one of Latin America's leading Roman Catholic bishops.

Uribe said the government is "completely willing" to consider an exchange if the deal is negotiated by the United Nations. Previously, Uribe -- a hard-liner who took office in August -- refused to consider the possibility of a trade with the insurgents.

The Senate president, Luis Alfredo Ramos, said a cessation of hostilities would not be a prerequisite. In the past, Uribe has said he would demand a cease-fire before beginning any talks.

The policy turnaround became public two days after suspected rebels kidnapped Bishop Jorge Enrique Jimenez and the Rev. Desiderio Orjuela on a road north of Bogota. Jimenez is the president of the Latin American bishops conference, which determines Roman Catholic Church policy in the 22 nations of Latin America, home to nearly half the world's Catholics.

Violent group

The military has blamed the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, for the clerics' abductions. The violent leftist group holds dozens of kidnapped politicians, including former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt and a state governor, as well as soldiers, police and ordinary civilians. More than 3,000 people were taken hostage in Colombia last year alone.

Americans also have been kidnapped by FARC. The U.S. State Department considers FARC to be terrorists, and United States unsealed federal indictments Wednesday against FARC rebel leaders charging them with kidnapping Americans and trafficking in drugs.

The indictments concern the kidnapping of six Americans, one of them freed after the payment of $1 million. The other five were released without ransom.

The charges -- some of which could carry the death penalty -- are the latest in U.S. efforts to dismantle rival factions in the 38-year-old Colombian civil war and stem the South American nation's lucrative cocaine trade. Federal officials say the groups use cocaine sales and ransom demands to fund their war efforts to impose a leftist revolutionary state.

The rebels have been pressing the Colombian government for an exchange of the politicians for guerrillas being held in Colombian jails. But opponents of an exchange say it would encourage the rebels to carry out more kidnappings and reward their illegal acts.