Concern mounts for FARC hostage

France says the weekend assassination by Colombia of a senior rebel leader may have ruined chances for the release of hundreds of hostages held by the rebels, including a former Colombian presidential candidate and three American contractors.

The French Foreign Ministry said today it had been communicating with rebel leader Raul Reyes, working toward a hostage release, before he was killed Saturday in a strike by Colombian security forces.

“We had contacts with Raul Reyes, and I can tell you that the Colombians were aware of it,” French Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Pascale Andreani said at a news briefing, according to an Associated Press dispatch.

Colombia’s strike killed Mr. Reyes, the chief spokesman, and 20 other members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.

Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa said yesterday that the attack also scuttled his government’s efforts to negotiate the freedom of 12 hostages held by the Colombian rebels.

“I’m sorry to tell you that the conversations were pretty advanced to free 12 hostages,” Mr. Correa said in a televised address. “All of this was frustrated by the war-mongering, authoritarian hands” of the Colombian government.

Ingrid Betancourt, a former Colombian presidential candidate, was seized by FARC in February 2002.

Three Americans under contract with the U.S. State Department Mark Goncalves, Kein Stambler and Thomas Howes were kidnapped by the rebels in February 2003.