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Colombia has set a deadline of 31 December for the Venezuelan leader, Hugo Chavez, to reach a deal with left-wing rebels on a prisoner swap.The move came after Mr Chavez said the Colombian president, Alvaro Uribe, had given him permission to talk to the Farc leader, Manuel Marulanda.Mr Chavez is in France for talks with French President Nicolas Sarkozy.Correspondents say it is unlikely that an agreement with the Farc can be reached by the end of December.Earlier on Monday, Mr Chavez said that although he was yet to receive any proof from the Farc, he was confident that their hostages were still alive.The rebels hold around 50 high-profile prisoners, among them French-Colombian former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt. Mr Sarkozy has made public pledges of help to secure her release.Swap plans
In an interview with Colombian TV on his arrival in Paris, Mr Chavez appeared to reveal details of a private conversation with Mr Uribe at a recent regional summit.He said he had been given permission to talk to the rebel leader and said that Mr Uribe himself had indicated a willingness to take part.Reaction from Bogota was swift, drawing a strongly-worded statement setting Mr Chavez a deadline of 31 December to achieve results.The Venezuelan president has said he wants to broker a prisoner swap deal, involving some of an estimated 500 Farc prisoners the rebels want freed.The likelihood of being able to meet that deadline is remote at best, says the BBC's Americas editor, Will Grant, who says it has taken several months to broker the first tentative talks.Whether the Colombian government's decision to impose such a timetable is borne out of frustration at the stuttering negotiations or at President Chavez himself is not clear, he adds.But the move confuses matters yet further.Just as he had arrived in Paris suddenly the complex task of negotiating with the Farc became even more difficult, our correspondent says.
As in the days of Noah....
