Colombia’s President Alvaro Uribe will not meet opposition Senator
Piedad Cordoba to discuss the pending liberation of FARC hostages,
commissioner for peace Frank Pearl said Wednesday.
Although Uribe authorized Cordoba to be present together with the Catholic Church and the Red Cross when the rebels release hostages, he refuses to meet with the Senator to discuss details of the liberation of 24 kidnapped soldiers, Pearl said in front of the Second Committee of the House of the Representatives.
Cordoba said at the same meeting she is working on the liberation of a third soldier held captive by the FARC. Four months ago, the rebel group announced to unilateral release Pablo Emilio Moncayo and Jose Calvo Sanchez. Some unofficial sources say the third hostage to be released will be Libio Jose Martinez.
Cordoba reiterated the need to meet with Uribe to reach an agreement to allow the liberation of the hostages. While the Senator sees the possibility of new releases within a humanitarian agreement, Colombia’s government refuses a drop-by-drop release and demands the unilateral liberation of all hostages at once.
