Colombia's main leftist insurgency has claimed 11 provincial lawmakers it held hostage were killed in the crossfire during a military attempt to rescue them.
The deputies were killed on June 18 during an attack by an "unidentified military group" on the camp where they were being held, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) said in a statement. It said the area of the attack has been the scene of joint operations by the military and right-wing paramilitary fighters.
The commander of the armed forces, General Freddy Padilla insisted that no military rescue operation had been ordered. Interior Minister Carlos Holguin said that while it was "unlikely" paramilitary fighters conducted the attack, "it cannot be ruled out."
The FARC said one of the 12 provincial lawmakers it held since April 2002 was not in the camp at the time of the attack that killed the other deputies.
The lawmakers were among 56 high-profile hostages held by the FARC, among them three US nationals and French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt.
Reacting to the report, the French government, which is pushing for the release of Betancourt, urged the Colombian government not to use force to free the hostages.
"The use of force to free hostages must be absolutely forbidden," said a French foreign ministry spokesman. The mother and sisters of Betancourt said they asked authorities in France, Spain and Switzerland to intervene in a bid to prevent "military rescue operations that would threaten the lives of the hostages." The insurgents blamed Colombian President Alvaro Uribe for the deaths, criticising what they termed his "intransigence to reach a humanitarian exchange and his strategy of military rescue."
Uribe earlier this month released 150 jailed FARC members, including one of the insurgency's leaders, Rodrigo Granda, hoping for a reciprocal release of some hostages.
The 17,000-strong FARC insists the government must set up an enclave clear of military activity as a safe zone to negotiate a prisoner swap.
Uribe has rejected the proposal, remembering previous presidents' efforts to negotiate the rebels' demobilisation in a guerrilla-run enclave, which the FARC used to train, re-arm and traffic narcotics.
The rebels expressed "deep regret" over the hostages' deaths and said they would return the bodies to the families as soon as possible. Former prisoners of the FARC have said that the guerrillas are instructed to kill their hostages if the military tries to free them.
In May 2003, eight soldiers and two former officials died in a failed rescue attempt. Uribe on Thursday held an emergency meeting with his cabinet, as well as top military and police officials to discuss the latest developments.