Colombian leftist guerrillas abduct presidential hopeful

SAN VICENTE DEL CAGUAN, Colombia -- Leftist guerrillas held a presidential candidate hostage Sunday after abducting her at a roadblock as she was driving into a volatile area of southern Colombia where government troops are trying to oust the rebels.

Sen. Ingrid Betancourt, an outspoken critic of the rebels, was being held along with her campaign manager, Clara Rojas, by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.

Betancourt's campaign spokeswoman, Diana Rodriguez, said the senator's entourage ran into the rebel roadblock Saturday afternoon as they tried to reach San Vicente del Caguan, the main town inside a rebel zone the government began attacking last week.

President Andres Pastrana had ceded the zone to the FARC in 1998 as an incentive to end Colombia's war. He called off peace talks and ordered the army to retake the zone after guerrillas hijacked an airplane and kidnapped another senator on Wednesday.

French ties

Three men traveling in the same car, including two Colombians and a French photographer on assignment for Marie Claire magazine, were detained for several hours Saturday and released.

French President Jacques Chirac telephoned Pastrana on Sunday to express his "deep concern" over Betancourt's kidnapping. Chirac also spoke by telephone with U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan to ask him to try winning her release.

Betancourt is well known in France, where she spent her college years. She married a French diplomat from whom she is now divorced and published a best-selling memoir last year in French.

The FARC has not confirmed or denied it has Betancourt. There has been little word from rebel leaders since Pastrana called off negotiations with the 16,000-strong rebel army.

Betancourt's abduction outside the zone underscored how tenuous government control is in southern Colombia as thousands of troops creep slowly into a rebel stronghold of jungle and pasture. Officials say they warned Betancourt not to attempt the trip.

Airstrikes pounded hundreds of rebel targets on the first night of the campaign and troops reached San Vicente del Caguan on Saturday. But thousands of FARC fighters melted into the nearby countryside, popping out from time to time to set roadblocks.

Troops say they're moving slowly to avoid ambushes and minefields.

Towns captured

On Sunday, the army captured Vista Hermosa and Mesetas in the eastern half of the rebel zone after marching for more than 24 hours.

"They're here! They're here!" residents shouted in Vista Hermosa as 20 heavily armed soldiers began patrolling the streets on a busy market day.

One soldier stood with his assault rifle in front of a yellow billboard with the likeness of Cuban revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara.

Later, army chief Gen. Jorge Mora flew by helicopter into the sweltering town. He assured a crowd of 2,000 residents they would be safe now, saying, "you are Colombians and you never ceased to be."

Critics had called the rebel safe haven a quasi-independent guerrilla republic. Many residents now worry they could be seen as traitors for having coexisted so long with the FARC.

Little troop movement was seen in San Vicente del Caguan, the largest of the former rebel-held towns with 22,000 people. Residents welcomed police after a three-year absence.

"Having the police back is something we've been waiting for. The government never should have left here," said Carlos Tabares, owner of a farming supply store.

News of Betancourt's kidnapping overshadowed the low-intensity ground offensive against the FARC.

Betancourt's mother went on television with an impassioned plea for the rebels to free her daughter, an activist who is near the bottom of presidential polls as the candidate of the "Oxygen-Green" party.

Leading presidential candidates pleaded for Betancourt's release, as did Interior Minister Armando Estrada.

But the government also suggested Betancourt had been "irresponsible" for traveling into the war zone from the southern city of Florencia. In addition to the warning, the military had turned down her requests for ground and air transport to San Vicente.

The crusading, 40-year-old senator, who has railed against corrupt politicians as well as the guerrillas, is known for her brashness.

She was one of four presidential candidates who traveled into guerrilla territory in February to cajole rebel and government peace negotiators to make progress toward ending the 38-year war. At a round-table with senior guerrilla commanders, she lambasted the FARC for getting involved in the cocaine trade to finance its war.

Her entourage was stopped near the town of Montanitas, about 18 miles east of Florencia, according to Adair Lamprea, a campaign staff member who was one of the three men freed by the rebels. The group was outside the former safe haven at the time and still at least a two-hour drive from San Vicente del Caguan.

The other two men were identified as French photographer Alain Keller and Colombian cameraman Mauricio Mesa, who was working for the campaign.

In a telephone interview with The Associated Press, Lamprea said rebels put two trucks packed with explosives along the highway and had been stopping cars before the senator pulled up. He said the rebels waited for instructions from senior commanders before making off with Betancourt and Rojas.

As she boarded the rebel truck, Lamprea said, "Betancourt appeared strong, just like she always is, but nervous."