Colombia's leftist FARC rebels Friday asked the US president to pardon one of their leaders serving a 60-year sentence in a US supermax prison to allow him to participate in peace talks underway in Havana. Rebels have repeatedly asked President Barack Obama to show leniency to Simon Trinidad, a FARC commander convicted of kidnapping three Americans in Colombia, to allow him to take up his role on the negotiating team.
"We are calling on the president of the United States, in using his power to pardon, to enable Simon Trinidad, FARC peace delegate, to be physically present at the talks in Havana," FARC commander Ricardo Tellez said. "The United States would make an immense contribution to peace in Colombia with this humanitarian gesture," he added, reading from a statement. Tellez made the call before Friday's negotiating session with the government began - after a scheduled break on Thursday - in talks that have raised hopes of an end to Latin America's longest-running conflict.