Last-ditch diplomatic effort launched to save Colombia peace process

SAN VICENTE DEL CAGUAN, Colombia (AP) -- Ambassadors from 10 countries flew to guerrilla territory on Monday in a last-ditch effort to salvage Colombia's peace process hours before troops were to retake a rebel safe haven.

The diplomats also met for nearly five hours Sunday with President Andres Pastrana and other top officials, seeking solutions to the most serious impasse in three years of peace talks with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.

Pastrana has given the FARC until 9:30 p.m. on Monday to either come up with a viable offer for restarting peace talks or vacate the safe haven, a zone twice the size of New Jersey. That could lead to a surge in fighting in the country's 38-year conflict.

Before leaving Bogota for San Vicente del Caguan, a rebel-controlled ranching town in the southern plains, the envoys expressed hope of brokering a last-minute agreement to avert wider war.

After landing in San Vicente del Caguan, they were expected to head to the nearby village of Los Pozos.