Colombia rebels reject peace talks
The two main rebel groups in Colombia have issued a rare joint statement ruling out peace negotiations with President Alvaro Uribe.
The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the National Liberation Army (ELN) accused Mr Uribe of being an enemy of peace, whose militaristic policies only created misery.
The statement follows a recent meeting between leaders of the two guerrilla groups in the Colombian mountains.
The BBC's Jeremy McDermott in Colombia says that a union of the two rebel groups, who have waged war on the state for nearly 40 years, would make them more dangerous than ever.
He says the rebels have been forced on the back foot recently by Mr Uribe's tough policy against insurgency, backed by more than $3bn in aid from the United States.
Nationwide reach
Rebel sources told the Reuters news agency that the leaders of FARC and the ELN "had agreed to unite militarily against Uribe's government. From now on they will carry out joint military operations".
But the joint statement did not speak of an alliance as such.
The statement signed by the leadership of both groups and posted on the internet said: "So long as the illegitimate government of Alvaro Uribe Velez persists in its fascist and militaristic policies, we will not move forward on any process of political rapprochement or national dialogue."
Our correspondent says the two rebels groups, who both profess Marxist-Leninism, have never really got on, although in the 1980s there was an abortive attempt to work together.
He says they could actually complement each other strategically.
The 5,000-strong ELN has long concentrated more on political work whilst the FARC, with around 17,000 combatants, has built up an awesome military machine and together no part of Colombia would be out of their reach.
FARC was blamed for a bomb explosion on a boat in the central town of Puerto Rico, 125 miles (200 km) southeast of Bogota on Sunday that killed at least seven people, including a baby.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3180649.stm
The two main rebel groups in Colombia have issued a rare joint statement ruling out peace negotiations with President Alvaro Uribe.
The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the National Liberation Army (ELN) accused Mr Uribe of being an enemy of peace, whose militaristic policies only created misery.
The statement follows a recent meeting between leaders of the two guerrilla groups in the Colombian mountains.
The BBC's Jeremy McDermott in Colombia says that a union of the two rebel groups, who have waged war on the state for nearly 40 years, would make them more dangerous than ever.
He says the rebels have been forced on the back foot recently by Mr Uribe's tough policy against insurgency, backed by more than $3bn in aid from the United States.
Nationwide reach
Rebel sources told the Reuters news agency that the leaders of FARC and the ELN "had agreed to unite militarily against Uribe's government. From now on they will carry out joint military operations".
But the joint statement did not speak of an alliance as such.
The statement signed by the leadership of both groups and posted on the internet said: "So long as the illegitimate government of Alvaro Uribe Velez persists in its fascist and militaristic policies, we will not move forward on any process of political rapprochement or national dialogue."
Our correspondent says the two rebels groups, who both profess Marxist-Leninism, have never really got on, although in the 1980s there was an abortive attempt to work together.
He says they could actually complement each other strategically.
The 5,000-strong ELN has long concentrated more on political work whilst the FARC, with around 17,000 combatants, has built up an awesome military machine and together no part of Colombia would be out of their reach.
FARC was blamed for a bomb explosion on a boat in the central town of Puerto Rico, 125 miles (200 km) southeast of Bogota on Sunday that killed at least seven people, including a baby.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3180649.stm
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