NEW PEACE DRIVE IN COLOMBIA

Talks Resume To End 35-year War, But Critics Accuse
Guerrillas Of 'gun Law' In Huge Area They Control

Colombian government representatives are to meet rebel leaders
tomorrow for peace talks aimed at ending 35 years of bloody conflict.

President Andres Pastrana withdrew troops and police from a huge swath
of territory last November, paving the way for negotiations with the
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc), South America's oldest
and most powerful leftwing guerrilla group.

Since then talks have proceeded at a snail's pace, and 100,000
Colombians have lived under Farc rule. When the troops pulled out, the
region was dubbed a "laboratory for peace". But Mr Pastrana's critics
say that the 25,750 sq km (9,900 sq mile) zone has become a Farc
training ground for war. The rebels land weapons shipments, recruit
fighters and terrorise the local inhabitants.

The peace process became deadlocked in July when Mr Pastrana insisted
that Farc allow international human rights monitors into the zone.

The president recently dropped his demands, and representatives from
the two sides are expected to meet tomorrow in the mountain village of
La Uribe, in the north of the demilitarised zone.

"We don't care about international commissions now. We just want the
talks to begin," said Nestor Ramirez, president of the peace committee
in San Vicente del Caguan, the largest town in the zone.

Before the troops' withdrawal, San Vicente was a lawless frontier
town, where family feuds and bar room brawls were settled with knives
and guns. Farc guerrillas ambushed police patrols and detonated
landmines in the streets.

"This was a very dangerous place," said Nelson Quintero, a taxi
driver. "There was a lot of death. Now everything is different. There
aren't even muggings."

Farc's "revolutionary justice" is swift and uncompromising. Drunks and
wife-beaters are jailed or set to work sweeping streets or building
roads.

Debtors face a stark choice, said the parish priest, Miguel Angel
Serna. "You pay, you leave or you die," he said. "It's the law of the
gun."

Raul Reyes, a member of Farc's seven-man ruling secretariat, denied
that the group was creating an independent state. "Farc doesn't rule
here, but we do help out sometimes," he said.

Under a tarpaulin shelter near the town, a rebel commander listened as
two cattle traders disputed a deal. Farc justice was in session.

Waiting with other defendants was Hernan Estrada, a builder summoned
by his creditors. "You have to come," he muttered. "If you don't, they
come and get you. Whatever they say, the only authority here is the
guerrillas."

Mr Pastrana insists that the constitution applies in San Vicente just
as in the capital Bogota. But his critics warn that his handing over
the zone to the rebels could lead to a permanent partition of country,
and that Farc's eventual aim is to control the entire country.

Others say that demilitarisation has merely formalised an existing
situation. "This region was abandoned by the state long ago - that's
why the guerrillas became so strong here," said Mr Ramirez.

Commanded by Manuel "Sureshot" Marulanda, Farc has been fighting
successive governments since 1964. The group claims a broadly leftwing
ideology, but increasingly funds its campaigns with the profits from
kidnappings and the narcotics trade.

Over the last 10 years Farc has tripled in size to around 15,000 armed
activists. Its presence stretches over more than half of rural Colombia.

Eager to prove themselves as a legitimate authority, the rebels build
roads and bridges and ban indiscriminate slash-and-burn farming and
over-fishing.

In San Vicente, Anibal Osorio, 79, pointed to the new road beside his
house - a Farc development project. "These people have been good to
us," he said. "Better than the government."

But many people fear that the rebels' presence will make the town a
target for rightwing paramilitaries. Militiamen, funded by drug
dealers and powerful landowners, have gathered around the
demilitarised zone, ready to attack if the talks fail.

Demilitarisation has exposed Farc to unprecedented contact with the
outside world. Since November, visitors to the zone have included US
politicians and the head of the New York stock exchange. "It's been a
good experience, because people can see we're not monsters," said one
18-year old rebel, Milena.

Demilitarisation is expected to last at least until the end of Mr
Pastrana's term of office in 2002. It was originally intended to last
for just 90 days.