Colombia's Farc rebels say betrayal by two of their own fighters led to the dramatic release of Ingrid Betancourt and 14 other hostages last week.

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In its first communique since the release, Farc said the pair betrayed their revolutionary principles.

It added it was ready to negotiate the freeing of other hostages.

The two Farc members were seized by Colombian soldiers and will face trial: Antonio Aguilar, known as Cesar, and Alexander Fanfan, known as Enrique Gafas.

Colombia says they had been tricked into thinking that they - and their hostages - were being taken by helicopter to see the Farc leader, but in fact the craft was piloted by intelligence agents.

The Farc statement says that the incident was "the direct consequence of the despicable conduct of Cesar and Enrique, who betrayed their revolutionary ideals and the trust we had put in them".

Both men are now facing extradition to the United States.

As well as the French-Colombian national Ingrid Betancourt, three US defence contractors were among the 15 hostages freed.

(BBC)

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