Hostages plea for Colombia talks

Rebels in Colombia have released a video showing 12 legislators who were kidnapped five years ago calling on the country's president to negotiate with the guerrillas.

The footage - released on Friday after being shown to the hostages' families - is the first public proof that the group are still alive in over year.

The 12 hostages sent personal messages to their wives and children and urged Alvaro Uribe, the Colombian president, to enter into talks with their captors, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc), in order to end the forty year conflict.

"President, you are the only one who can make this happen, the whole country will support you," Juan Carlos Narvaez, one of the politicians captured in a 2002 raid on a legislative building in southern province of Valle del Cauca, said on the video.

Hostage issue

The 12 hostages are among hundreds of soldiers, politicians and civilians held for as long as nine years in rebel camps in jungle areas.

The captives also include three US contract workers captured four years ago.

Uribe, has gained popularity for his hard-line campaign that has driven rebels back into the jungles and dramatically reduced violence from the four-decade conflict.
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