Husband says Colombia raid scuttled release of Betancourt

By Monica Vargas

SANTIAGO (Reuters) - Colombian leftist rebels holding French citizen Ingrid Betancourt hostage would have released her if Colombia's government had not carried out a cross-border raid targeting a rebel camp in Ecuador, her husband said on Monday.

The March 1 military attack killed a senior rebel of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia or FARC and set off a crisis that prompted Ecuador and Venezuela to deploy troops to their borders with Colombia before the spat ended.

Betancourt, a dual French-Colombian citizen and former presidential candidate in Colombia, is one of the highest profile hostages among hundreds the FARC has held for years in jungle camps. Guerrillas say they want to exchange about 40 captives for jailed rebel fighters.

The slain FARC commander, Raul Reyes, had been one of the key contacts for countries such as France, which had been working behind the scenes to secure a deal to free Betancourt and other hostages, who include three American contract workers.

"If they hadn't killed him, she could have been freed," Juan Carlos Lecompte told reporters in Santiago, a day before meeting with Chilean President Michelle Bachelet.

"Because on March 14 or 15, they would have freed 12 more hostages and my wife would have been among them," he added, without giving a source for the information.

Days after the attack, Ecuador's President Rafael Correa said his government had been close to securing a deal with FARC to free 12 hostages, including Betancourt who has been in captivity for six years.

Lecompte said he hoped Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez would resume his role as mediator to free hostages. Chavez, a leftist who rejects the U.S. listing of the FARC as a terrorist group, has helped negotiate the release of six hostages this year.