Rebel offer: candidate for prisoners

SAN VICENTE DEL CAGUAN, Colombia -- A presidential candidate who accused guerrilla leaders of drug trafficking was being held hostage by the rebel group in southern Colombia's war zone, apparently to trade for rebel prisoners, the interior minister said Monday.

The government said it received a communique claiming Ingrid Betancourt would be held until captured guerrillas are freed by the government, Interior Minister Armando Estrada Villa said. He told RCN radio that officials were trying to authenticate the statement, which carried the name of Joaquin Gomez, a spokesman for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.

Betancourt and her campaign manager, Clara Rojas, were kidnapped at a roadblock as they were driving toward San Vicente del Caguan, a rebel town occupied by government troops Saturday, campaign officials confirmed Sunday.

The statement said the guerrillas, known as the FARC, had added Betancourt to a list of hostages to be presented to the next Colombian government in hopes the government would release hundreds of rebel prisoners, Estrada Villa said. The FARC has said it won't negotiate with President Andres Pastrana after he canceled peace talks last week and will wait until Pastrana's term ends in August.

NATO to form new council with Russia

BERLIN -- After months of internal discussion and dispute, NATO has offered Russia a new form of relationship that will see a Russian ambassador sitting between Portugal and Spain at meetings to discuss and decide significant issues of mutual concern, the New York Times reported Monday.

NATO will retain the right to make its own decisions and to meet with only its 19 full members in attendance. Russia, which remains outside the alliance, set up to deter the Soviet Union after World War II, will not have a veto over any NATO political or military policies, the newspaper reported.

The new NATO-Russia Council -- "NATO at 20," as officials like to call it -- will be a parallel body to NATO's North Atlantic Council, where the alliance makes decisions, and will not replace it.

Venezuelan general calls for Chavez's resignation

CARACAS, Venezuela -- A Venezuelan air force general demanded President Hugo Chavez's resignation late Monday, becoming the fourth military officer in less than a month to push for the leader's ouster.

Gen. Roman Gomez Ruiz urged Chavez to step down, citing military unhappiness with alleged government corruption and the president's management of the armed forces.

"President Chavez, for the good of the country and for love of the armed forces, resign peacefully and take responsibility for your failure," Gomez Ruiz said at a news conference late Monday night.

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