After two-days of intensive talks with U.N. envoy James LeMoyne, the Marxist guerrillas said they sent Pastrana a 14-point blueprint they hoped would persuade him not to order the army into a demilitarized enclave.

``We are waiting for a decision by the president on the future of the process of dialogue and negotiation,'' said a statement released by weary-looking rebel commanders in the dusty hamlet of Los Pozos in their southern safe haven.

Colombian rebel commanders (seated) Antonio Lozada (L), Joaquin Gomez (C) and Raul Reyes, give a press conference after a peace meeting in Los Pozos, January 12, 2002. The rebel commanders said they will send Colombian President Andres Pastrana a 14 point proposal to save the peace process and that they will await his response. (Eliana Aponte/Reuters)

There was no immediate response from Pastrana, who on Thursday gave LeMoyne until 9:30 p.m. EST to strike a deal with the 17,000-strong Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia -- known by the Spanish initials FARC.

Pastrana had said that if he was not satisfied the rebels were committed to the peace talks which have dragged on for three years with little result then he would give them 48 hours to get out of their enclave before sending troops after them.

The rebel proposal seemed to address the president's main complaint -- that the FARC must drop its insistence on relaxing security controls around the Switzerland-sized territory he granted them at the start of talks in late-1998.

In an attempt to deal with the issue, which had paralyzed talks for three months, the FARC proposed referring disputes over roadblocks on the borders of their enclave to a special commission.

They rebels also said that discussion of a cease-fire should begin straight away -- as Pastrana has insisted.

Other rebel gripes, such as their objections to military overflights and a government ban on foreigners entering their territory, were dropped or toned down.

An exhausted LeMoyne said he hoped that Colombia's 38-year-old war, which has claimed 40,000 lives in the past decade alone, would not escalate.

``I believe both the government and the FARC want peace. It hasn't been easy. It's still not easy, but I'm still hopeful,'' he said, after the long two days of talks in tropical heat.

The American former New York Times correspondent, who covered wars in Latin America in the 1980s, called on both sides to avoid provocative statements or actions.

LeMoyne, who spent Friday night at a FARC base, was in regular contact with Pastrana throughout the day.

ORDINARY RESIDENTS FEAR FOR THEIR LIVES

The 120,000 mainly poor Colombians who have lived under FARC rule in this swathe of cattle country and jungle have been anxiously awaiting the outcome of the last-ditch attempts to save talks. Fearing for their lives, many local residents said they would flee the region if negotiations collapsed.

Thousands of troops and tanks have been massing near the enclave in preparation for a long-planned strike on the rebel stronghold. The army says FARC has used the enclave as a massive prison for kidnapping victims and as a base for a cocaine-trafficking business.

Near Los Pozos, where the FARC has been hosting the peace talks, residents said they feared brutal retaliation from the army and outlawed right-wing paramilitary fighters -- who might accuse residents of being rebel sympathizers -- if talks collapse.

``If the army gets here, so will the paramilitaries. They will wipe out entire families, even grandmothers,'' said Joana, 25, as she listened to the news on a portable radio. Like other local residents, she did not want her last name used.

Joana, like others, said if talks failed she would abandon the enclave for fear of her life and those of her three children as the 38-year-old guerrilla war threatens to escalate.

The government has promised to guarantee the safety of the civilian inhabitants of the demilitarized zone regardless of what happens. Ordinary people complain that they were not consulted when the FARC was ceded their territory and that they are not being consulted now that it might be taken away.

CAR BOMB INJURES 16 AS REBELS TALK

As LeMoyne and the FARC commanders were meeting, a car bomb exploded next to an army base in the town of Granada, about 30 miles north of the rebel enclave, injuring 16 people, one seriously, a doctor at the local hospital told Reuters.

It was not clear who planted the bomb, which went off close to a base where government troops were concentrating in preparation for the possible push into the FARC-held haven.

Pastrana, who steps down in August, has dedicated his term in office to striking a deal with the FARC. But he has come under pressure to get tough with the rebels after failing to win significant rebel concessions.

If the army retakes the FARC-held land, the rebels are expected to surrender their handful of scruffy towns and disappear into thick jungle to wage irregular war.

Most FARC members always have been based outside the zone.

Copyright © 2002 Reuters Limited

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