Colombia's Uribe says FARC reaches out on hostages

By Patrick Markey

BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombian President Alvaro Uribe on Thursday offered not to extradite a FARC guerrilla in exchange for the release of hostages after a rebel contact reached out to authorities about a deal.

Details about the FARC contact with the DAS intelligence agency were vague, but the communication may signal an advance in efforts to free rebel hostages, who include French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt and three American contractors.

Attempts to negotiate with the FARC over hostages held for as long as a decade in jungle camps are deadlocked. But the rebels have been weakened recently by the deaths of three top commanders and by desertions fueled by government rewards.

"The DAS director told me she received a call from the FARC, where one FARC individual said: 'If the president agrees ... not to extradite this person from the FARC, then they will seek the immediate release of the hostages," Uribe said without giving names or details.

"I accept that. Tell them that yes we will agree not to extradite that person, but they have to free the hostages."

It was unclear whether the FARC member mentioned by Uribe had already been captured.

Two top FARC commanders have been extradited to the United States under Uribe's government and the FARC is demanding they be included in any deal to swap hostages for jailed rebels.

Latin America's longest-running insurgency, the FARC have been weakened after Uribe's U.S.-backed security campaign dispatched troops to retake areas once under rebel control and drive them back into remote jungles and mountains.

In an attempt to prompt desertions, Uribe has already offered cash bounties, reduced sentences and even residency overseas in countries such as France to guerrillas who surrender with kidnap victims they are guarding.

After the death in March of the FARC's top commander and founder, Manuel Marulanda, the Marxist rebel group has been led by Alfonso Cano, a political commander who is seen as more open to possible negotiations with the government.

The new leadership could now be under more pressure after leftist Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, once an open supporter of more political recognition for the rebels, urged them this week to free all their hostages.

But Cano could face resistance from the more hardline military wing of the FARC and those tensions could prompt splinter groups to hand themselves in as the FARC struggles to stay united, experts say.

A peasant army founded in 1964, the FARC once controlled swaths of Colombia with 17,000 fighters, bombed cities and kidnapped at will. Its military power has been sharply reduced -- it now has about 9,000 fighters -- though it remains a threat with the help from funds from the cocaine trade.

FARC commanders insist Uribe must demilitarize an area the size of New York City to hold hostage talks. He refuses, saying that would allow the rebels to regroup. But he has offered a smaller safe haven under international observation.

(Editing by Eric Beech)