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Mission to pick up hostages in Colombia delayed

  • Story Highlights
  • NEW: Rebels fail to give coordinates pinpointing the location of the freed hostages
  • NEW: Chavez: Hostages may be retrieved on Sunday, or Monday at the latest
  • FARC rebels have been holding the three hostages for several years
  • Leftist FARC says hostage-taking is a legitimate military tactic
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VILLAVICENCIO, Colombia (CNN) -- A tense waiting game is under way in Colombia, where the rescue of three hostages -- to be freed by Colombian leftist rebels -- failed to take place Saturday.

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Crew members of the Venezuelan Mi-172 helicopters prepare for their mission to pick up three hostages.

But officials said hopes remain high for their release Sunday.

Two Venezuelan helicopters and their crews waited in Villavicencio on Saturday for the rebels to give coordinates pinpointing where the freed hostages could be picked up.

The information did not come before the Villavicencio airport closed.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez organized the operation to free the hostages after reaching a deal with their captors -- the leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, the Spanish acronym by which the rebel group is known.

Chavez told Venezuelan television Saturday evening that he was hoping for the hostages to be collected Sunday, or Monday at the latest, so they could be with their families by the end of the year.

Bolstering hopes for a Sunday release was the arrival Saturday evening of a team of international delegates formed by Chavez and charged with overseeing the hostages' release. They include Latin American diplomats and politicians as well as U.S. movie director Oliver Stone.

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"I represent many progressives in America that would like to bring a change in the way we do business with the FARC and the government of Venezuela," Stone said, according to The Associated Press.

The Colombian government has set a tentative deadline of 7 p.m. Sunday for the mission to be complete.

However, Chavez said Saturday evening that there was no hard and fast deadline and that the 7 p.m. Sunday deadline was a figurative one that could be changed if need be.

The helicopters -- which carry the symbol of the International Committee of the Red Cross -- left Venezuela for Colombia on Friday. Once they retrieve the hostages, they will either take them back to Villavicencio or one of several Venezuelan airports, depending on the pickup site. Video Watch a report detailing the mission »

"We hope that all goes according to plan," said Luis Carlos Restrepo, the Colombian peace negotiator. "We have been in constant communication with the Venezuelan government."

He said Colombian authorities have "given all necessary guarantees" to ensure the mission's success, an apparent reference to Colombia's pledge not to pursue the rebels during the scheduled hostage handover.

About 100 Colombian Indians -- people who live in the jungle -- are on standby in a jungle town in the event of a problem with the helicopters, said Jorge Diaz, who is in charge of Colombian civil defense in the region around Villavicencio.

The Indians could travel deep into the jungle on foot should the operation encounter unexpected difficulty, such as a mechanical problem with one of the helicopters, he said.

The hostages to be freed include Clara Rojas, who was kidnapped in 2002 while she managed the campaign of Sen. Ingrid Betancourt, a candidate for the Colombian presidency.

They also include Rojas' son, Emmanuel, who was born in captivity, and Consuelo Gonzalez, a former Colombian congresswoman.

Betancourt herself is perhaps the best-known captive in a country plagued by kidnapping. The FARC holds her and dozens of other hostages, including three defense contractors from the United States who were seized after their plane crashed in 2003.

The FARC has justified hostage-taking as a legitimate military tactic in a long-running and complex civil war that also has involved right-wing paramilitaries, government forces and drug traffickers. The fighting has waned but not stopped in recent years.

News of the planned release has stirred hope that the FARC could free others in captivity. Chavez said this week that he hopes the three hostages will be the first of several to be released.

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Gonzales' daughter told reporters in Caracas earlier this week that she views her mother's impending freedom as a sign of things to come.

"This sign that the FARC is giving us is very, very, very important because it opens the door for other hostages who are not returning now but who will return home one day," Patricia Perdomo said. E-mail to a friend E-mail to a friend

CNN's Karl Penhaul and journalist Eriana Rivera contributed to this report.

Copyright 2007 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.

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