Colombia's main rebel group, the 20,000-strong Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), announced its rejection to any peace talks with the government on Tuesday.

The FARC will not be deceived by the trick of (President) Alvaro Uribe who attempts to disarm the paramilitary under the disguise of peace talks, the rebel group said in a statement carried on its own website.

The FARC demands that the government withdraw troops from the southern provinces of Cqueta and Putumayo so that the two sides can exchange hostages there.

It insisted that the two sides exchange prisoners-of-war before starting peace talks.

The FARC holds 63 hostages, including French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt and three Americans, while the government holds some 550 FARC guerrillas in jail.

The rebel group, which has been waging an armed insurgency against the Colombian government since 1964, aims to foment a social revolution and redistribute the country's wealth.

It was listed by the United States and the European Union as a terrorist organization.

Thousands were killed every year in Colombia's four-decade-old war involving the FARC and right-wing paramilitary militias, both of which fund their operations with cocaine smuggling.

Colombia's second-largest rebel group, the National Liberation Army (ELN), was holding the second round of peace negotiations with the Colombian government in Cuba.

European observers monitoring the talks were skeptical about an agreement but expected the talks to last through Colombia's presidential election in May.

The first round of talks between the two parties took place in Havana on Dec. 16-22.

Analysts said that an agreement between the ELN and the government could force the FARC to return to the negotiating table, helping end the long-time armed conflict in the country.

Source: Xinhua