Chavez upbeat on hostages' fate

The fate of Ingrid Betancourt is closely followed in France

Colombian rebels will produce proof before the end of the year that their hostages are alive, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has insisted.

Mr Chavez, who is trying to mediate between the rebels and the Colombian government, was speaking after talks with French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

The hostages include Ingrid Betancourt, a French-Colombian politician.

Colombia on Monday set Mr Chavez a 31 deadline to reach a deal on a swap of hostages for rebel prisoners.

Ahead of his arrival in Paris, Mr Chavez had indicated that he hoped to bring evidence that the hostages were alive.

Instead, Mr Chavez said he had received a written assurance from the leader of the Farc rebels, Manuel Marulanda, that such evidence would be forthcoming "before the end of the year".

Mr Chavez repeated his conviction despite the lack of proof that Ms Betancourt, kidnapped in February 2002, was still alive.

"Ingrid is alive. I'm absolutely certain," Mr Chavez said.

"We will do everything humanly possible to achieve (her) release and not only hers, but the release of all the candidates. "

Conditions

Mr Sarkozy, who did not make any comment, has made securing the release of Ms Betancourt, a former Colombian presidential candidate, a foreign policy priority.

Ms Betancourt's family also held talks with Mr Sarkozy

She has French citizenship by virtue of a marriage, now dissolved, to a Frenchman.

The Farc guerrillas want some 500 rebels held in Colombian prisons to be freed in exchange for the high-profile captives, who also include members of the armed forces, other politicians, and three US defence contractors.

The guerrillas also want two rebels extradited and tried in the US to be included in any swap.

One of them, Simon Trinidad, whose real name is Ricardo Palmera, was due to be sentenced in Washington on Tuesday for involvement in the kidnapping of the three Americans.

Mr Chavez, who offered his services as mediators in August, met high-level Farc representatives in Caracas after weeks of on-off talks earlier this month.

In an interview with Colombian broadcaster RCN on his arrival in Paris, Mr Chavez appeared to reveal details of a private conversation with Mr Uribe at a recent regional summit.

He said he had been given permission to talk to the rebel leader and said that Mr Uribe himself had indicated a willingness to take part.

Frustration

Reaction from Bogota was swift, drawing a strongly-worded statement setting Mr Chavez a deadline of 31 December to achieve results.

The likelihood of being able to meet that deadline is remote at best, says the BBC Americas editor Will Grant, who adds that it has taken months to broker the first tentative talks.

Whether the Colombian government's decision to impose such a timetable is borne out of frustration at the stuttering negotiations or at President Chavez himself is not clear, he says.

Asked about Colombia's deadline, Mr Chavez said he would be asking Mr Uribe to show patience.

Colombian's peace commissioner had spent five years trying to achieve a humanitarian accord, Mr Chavez said, "while we in three months have advanced further than he was able to secure the hostages' release".