Former FARC rebel arrives in France in asylum deal (Roundup)

Dec 10, 2008, 11:35 GMT

Bogota/Paris - Wilson Bueno Largo, a former member of Colombia's Marxist FARC rebels, arrived in Paris on Wednesday in a deal giving him political asylum, French media reported.

Largo, also known as Isaza, gained hero status and a 400,000-dollar reward for freeing a kidnapped Colombian lawmaker, Oscar Tulio Lizcano, 62, whom he dragged to freedom in October.

The 28-year-old Largo was accompanied to Paris by former FARC hostage Ingrid Betancourt and his girlfriend, Lilia Isabel, who deserted from the rebels three months earlier.

Late last year, French President Nicolas Sarkozy offered to extend political asylum to repentant FARC rebels. He repeated the offer after Betancourt, a former Colombian presidential candidate, was freed by the military in July after eight years as a FARC hostage.

Betancourt said Largo's asylum in France would be a message to other rebels still holding hostages.

Before leaving Colombia, Largo said the government had kept its promise not only to spare everyone who dropped their weapons, but also to aid them.

Colombia prosecutors previously dropped all charges against Bueno concerning Lizcanco's abduction eight years ago. Sarkozy had offered asylum to former Colombian rebels if they swore off armed combat and did not face charges in their home country.

Betancourt ended a one-week tour of Latin America in which she tried to gather support for the remaining 3,000 kidnap victims in Colombia. FARC is believed to still hold about 700 hostages.