FARC leaders ready to surrender and free hostages?

Sidney Morning Herald:

IN ANNOUNCEMENTS that have sent shockwaves through the region, Colombia has said that the leader of Latin America's longest-running insurgency is dead, and that some of its leaders are ready to free the high-profile hostage Ingrid Betancourt.

The President, Alvaro Uribe, said he had heard from some leaders of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) who were ready to surrender and free hostages.

#In a potential breakthrough, just after Colombia confirmed the death of Manuel Marulanda, Mr Uribe said "the Government has received calls from the FARC in which some of the leaders announced their decision to leave the FARC and hand over Ingrid Betancourt if their freedom is guaranteed.

"The Government's answer is 'yes, they are guaranteed freedom' [if they hand over hostages]", Mr Uribe said.

In a speech carried live on national television on Saturday, he said FARC leaders who free the captives could be turned over to authorities from "France, so that they enjoy that freedom there".

Mr Uribe also touted the Government's offer to reward rebels up to a total of $US100 million ($104 million) when they turn themselves in alongside one or more hostages.

Aside from Ms Betancourt, the French-Colombian politician who was seized in 2002 while campaigning for the Colombian presidency, FARC guerillas are holding three US nationals and dozens of Colombian police and military staff. They want to swap the hostages for about 500 imprisoned comrades, including three in US jails.

Earlier on Saturday the army announced the death of Marulanda - an important development in its fight against the leftist insurgency. The Defence Ministry said the cause of death was still to be confirmed.

...

It looks like the FARC crumbling is having a cascading effect. the communist narco terrorist organization appears to be imploding. It feels like we are seeing the Berlin Wall of terrorism fall in South American and Iraq. If this report is accurate it is definitely good news for Colombia.

It is also good news for the Bush administration's war on terror. With the fall of FARC in Colombia and al Qaeda in Iraq it will put even greater pressure on the remaining sponsors of terrorism.