OAS chief rejects failure in Colombian hostage release

SANTIAGO, Jan. 2 (Xinhua) -- The Organization of American States' (OAS) secretary general Jose Miguel Insulza denied on Wednesday that operation to secure the release of three hostages held by a Colombian rebel group had failed.

"I am not sure it can be considered failed. Colombia's Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC) is a very hermetic and very unpredictable organization, " Insulza said.

It is possible "they suddenly hand over information about the hostages," he added.

Noting the importance of the Venezuela-led mission to pick up the hostages on the Colombian soil, Insulza said he had "been worried all end of the year."

On the polemic between Venezuela and Colombia on the mission, dubbed "Emmanuel Operation", Insulza said that is the way the FARC "gets what it wants: publicity and dividing the governments as if one of them were guilty."

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez insisted that military operation in the country had been the main cause of the delay of the rescue mission.

Meanwhile, Colombian President Alvaro Uribe accused the FARC of lying on the where about of the child Emmanuel, born to hostage Clara Rojas in captivity. According to Uribe, the boy was currently in Bogota with a false identity.

In a Dec. 9 statement, the FARC offered to hand over to Venezuela former Colombian vice presidential candidate Clara Rojas, her son Emmanuel and former legislator Consuelo Gonzalez.

Venezuelan helicopters carrying international envoys arrived Friday in the central Colombian city Villavicencio, where they waited for notification from the rebels on the exact site of the handover in the vast Colombian jungle.

However, the guerrillas repeatedly postponed the process, citing security problems caused by intensified government military operation. In response, Uribe said Monday he has ordered the military to take unilateral ceasefire to facilitate the hostage release.