The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) said a French medical mission failed to reach and treat ill hostages held by FARC due to the recent killing of the FARC's international spokesman, who had been facilitating their contact, Anncol news agency said Tuesday.
A senior FARC commander, alias "Ivan Marquez," said Monday the death of the spokesman "Rauel Reyes" was the reason why the French government lost contact with the FARC as "Raul Reyes" had acted as a link between them.
"Raul Reyes," a top FARC rebel whose real name was Luis Edgar Devia, was killed on March 1 when Colombian troops unilaterally launched a cross-border attack against a FARC camp in Ecuador.
The FARC is the largest guerrilla group in Latin America and is holding 39 hostages whom it demands to exchange for FARC members imprisoned by the Colombian government.
Many of the hostages are reportedly ill and face difficult living conditions in the jungle.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy sent a medical mission to attend to Colombian-French citizen Ingrid Betancourt, among other hostages, but it failed as it was unable to meet with FARC representatives and returned to Europe last week.
Source:Xinhua
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