Colombian rebels prepare to release six hostages

Bogota, Colombia: A humanitarian mission organised by the International Red Cross left for Brazil on Friday to pick up two helicopters that plan to ferry six Colombian hostages to freedom.

Defence Minister Juan Manuel Santos confirmed that the hostages - three police officers, one soldier and two politicians - would be freed in three separate operations between starting today and lasting up to Wednesday.

"We have the best intentions," said Santos, who guaranteed the guerrillas time to leave the handover site before helicopters arrived to rescue for their captives. "Hopefully the hostages, who've suffered so much, will be received by their families as soon as possible."

These are the first unilateral releases in nearly a year by the leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, which for 45 years has sought the overthrow of successive Colombian governments and the imposition of a leftist regime.

While the liberations are considered a goodwill gesture intended to gain publicity, analysts say any peace talks with the Western Hemisphere's last rebel army remain far off.

The FARC, which relies on the cocaine trade as its main source of income, has refused to reject kidnapping as a political and fundraising tool. It is not known how many hostages it holds.

The rebel army has been weakened by President Alvaro Uribe's intense military effort, which includes $4 billion (Dh14.68 billion) from the US for sophisticated surveillance, communications intercepts and other tools.

Starting Monday and Wednesday, it will hand over the two politicians, former provincial governor Alan Jara and former provincial lawmaker Sigifredo Lopez, said Senator Piedad Cordoba, the opposition Colombian lawmaker leading the effort.

They are the last Colombian politicians believed to be held by the FARC.

Jara, 51, was kidnapped in July 2001, while Lopez, 45, was grabbed in April 2002 along with 11 other provincial lawmakers in a daring rebel raid on the Valle del Cauca state assembly in western Colombia.

Lopez was the only survivor of a confusing June 2007 incident in which 11 other lawmakers were killed, allegedly when their FARC captors believed they were about to be attacked by troops.

Neither Santos nor Cordoba revealed where Monday's pickup would occur.