Colombia hostage mission delayed

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and Venezuelan officials said the guerrillas had not yet given them the co-ordinates for the handover.

The rebels have promised to release the hostages as a humanitarian gesture to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

Mr Chavez has said he hopes they will be freed either on Sunday or Monday.

"They are still waiting for the details to complete the operation," he told Venezuelan state television late on Saturday afternoon.

Everything is ready, all we're waiting for are the co-ordinates
Ramon Rodriguez Chacin
Venezuelan official

The operation has also been delayed by the ICRC saying that the operation cannot be carried out after dark.

"The hostages will not be released today for a very simple reason. It gets dark at 1800," a diplomat in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, earlier told the AFP news agency.

The captives - two Colombian women and a young boy born to one of them in captivity - are among more than 40 high-profile detainees held by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc).

Several hundred hostages are being held by the group overall, some of whom are being held for political leverage but many also for ransom.

International observers

Two military helicopters carrying Red Cross insignia landed in the central Colombian town of Villavicencio on Friday.

On Saturday, an international commission of observers from seven countries, including the American director, Oliver Stone, arrived ready to accompany the aircraft when they pick up the hostages.

"Everything is ready, all we're waiting for are the co-ordinates," said Ramon Rodriguez Chacin, a former Venezuelan minister who is in charge of the operation.

However, correspondents say the Farc, perhaps fearing Colombian army operations to rescue the hostages or an ambush of the guerrilla column guarding them, have opted not to reveal the location until the last minute.

The Colombian government has said Venezuela has until 2359 GMT on Sunday to complete the rescue mission, although Mr Chavez has said he is not aware of any deadline.

The hostages due to be freed are Clara Rojas, an aide to ex-presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, with whom she was kidnapped in 2002, and Ms Rojas's son, Emmanuel, said to have been fathered by one of her captors.

The other captive is former congresswoman Consuelo Gonzalez de Perdomo, who was kidnapped in 2001.

Fifteen members of the hostages' families, who have not seen their loved ones for more than five years, are waiting in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas.

Negotiations

President Chavez's efforts to negotiate the exchange of the remaining 43 hostages for some 500 guerrillas imprisoned in Colombian jails have been rejected by the Colombian government.

He was involved in negotiations between the Farc and Colombia for months until he was told he had overstepped his mandate.

President Alvaro Uribe said the Venezuelan leader had been in direct contact with Colombia's army chief, despite being told explicitly not to do so.

In response, Mr Chavez said he would freeze Venezuela's bilateral ties with its neighbour and close trading partner.

The BBC's Jeremy McDermott in Medellin says sources in the Colombian government say it wants to regain the initiative with respect to the prisoner exchange and does not want Mr Chavez, who is perceived as being too friendly with the Farc, to hijack negotiations