From: "Stasi" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [Peoples War] Colombia: 3 Reports - Xinhua XINHUA - Peoples Republic of China 1) Six Killed in Clashes Between Colombian Govt Forces, Guerrillas 2) Colombian Government Seeks Resumption of Peace Talks With FARC 3) Colombian Guerrilla Group Asked to Free Dying Boy's Father 1) Six Killed in Clashes Between Colombian Govt Forces, Guerrillas =============================================== BOGOTA, December 8 (Xinhua) -- One soldier and five guerrillas were killed when Colombian government forces and the leftist rebels clashed in the central province of Meta on Saturday. The commander of the army's 7th Brigade, Gen. Hernando Alonso Ortiz, told reporters that the clashes occurred when a group of gunmen were trying to kidnap some civilians after robbing them of their vehicles at a false military post near the town of Acacias. Ortiz said the abduction attempt was finally thwarted due to the rapid reaction from the troops. The commander said these gunmen belonged to the country's largest guerrilla group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, which is operating around the area. Enditem 2) Colombian Government Seeks Resumption of Peace Talks With FARC ================================================== BOGOTA, December 8 (Xinhua) -- Colombia's chief peace commissioner Camilo Gomez on Saturday headed to the demilitarized zone in the south of the country to resume peace talks with the leftist rebel group Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the local radio Caracol reported. Caracol quoted official sources as saying that Gomez was traveling to the 42,000-square-kilometer neutral zone, which President Andres Pastrana ceded to the guerrilla group three years ago, to meet representatives of the FARC's top leader Manuel Marulanda. On October 17, FARC unilaterally suspended peace talks with the Colombian government, saying it would resume talks on condition that the government made its stand clear whether or not the guerrilla group is a "terrorist organization." Pastrana has reiterated his determination to seek a negotiated solution to the 37-year guerrilla war, which has claimed 40,000 lives in the past decade alone. Enditem 3) Colombian Guerrilla Group Asked to Free Dying Boy's Father ============================================ BOGOTA, December 8 (Xinhua) -- The mother of a Colombian boy on Saturday reiterated her petition to the country's largest guerrilla group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) to free her dying son's father. Francia Edith, mother of the boy, said she hoped the FARC's leaders could release Andres's father, a police officer, who has been in rebel captivity for nearly two years, at Christmas as a " humanitarian gesture" in order to satisfy the dying minor's hope to see his father for the last time. Doctors say the boy's farther, Jose Norberto Perez, is the only possible kidney donator to save the life of his 12-year-old son Andres, who could die within days. However, the rebels insisted on their demand to swap Perez for guerrilla member Ignacio Gonzales Perdomo, who is also allegedly ill. Andres's mother has regretted the guerrilla's hard-line position, saying "it would be the least thing that you can do for the life of a human being." In June, FARC released 363 police and military officials in exchange for 11 rebels. They are currently holding about 50. FARC and the government have been engaged in on-off peace talks since October 1999 aimed at ending 37 years of civil war. Enditem
