Colombia rejects rebel demands

The Colombian Government has rejected proposals by the main left-wing rebel group to re-start the stalled peace process.

The government's peace commissioner said the demands by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, could not be taken seriously.

In a letter to President Andres Pastrana, the rebels had urged the government to publicly state its opinion on the United States description of it as a terrorist organisation.

The group also repeated its demand that the government halt military operations on the borders of their safe haven in southern Colombia as a condition for the resumption of peace talks.

They said any discussion of a possible ceasefire was impossible while a wave of massacres by right-wing paramilitaries continued.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service