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Brown could continue as PM for weeks under proposals to prevent a run on the
pound in the event of a hung parliament.

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Foreign ministers from the Group of Eight leading industrial nations will call
on the international community to take “appropriate and strong steps”
to show its resolve over Iran’s nuclear activities.

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MPs will get 18-day window to form government under emergency plan drawn up by Whitehall

The likelihood of a hung parliament has prompted Whitehall to draw up contingency plans that would give Gordon Brown extra time to form a viable administration if there is no clear winner at the general election.

Under the proposals, which have been drawn up to prevent a constitutional crisis and a run on the pound, parliament may not reconvene for nearly three weeks to allow the prime minister to form a working government with the minority parties. Normally, MPs would sit again in six days.

Senior Whitehall sources stressed tonight that Brown could remain prime minister and try to create a working majority even if the Tories were to win most seats.

It has also been agreed that for the first time the civil service will be able to facilitate talks between Labour or the Tories and the minority parties on forming a coalition.

The civil service will not be allowed to provide policy advice, but will be able to draw up papers on potential policy overlap between the parties.

The Queen may also have to play a role in the event of a hung parliament; under existing rules, she could urge the political parties not hold a second poll if it is not deemed to be in the national economic interest, or there is little sign that it will produce a different result.

A run of polls have suggested Britain is heading for a hung parliament, and the civil service, Buckingham Palace and political parties are anxious to codify the rules and conventions surrounding a hung parliament to prevent confusion.

The head of the civil service, Sir Gus O’Donnell, updated a manual today which sets out how the key players are expected to act if no party can instantly form a government.

In one of a number of precautionary steps, it has been agreed that parliament should not meet to decide if a government can be formed for as long as 18 days after polling day.

The extension to the period is to give the political parties extra leeway to create a government commanding the support of the Commons.

After the 18 days the Tories could then table an immediate motion of no confidence.

The manual is designed to protect the Queen from being asked prematurely to invite someone to form a government, or to prevent a constitutional impasse causing a panic in the financial markets at a time when the UK’s triple-A credit rating is under threat .

O’Donnell is due to meet with other senior civil servants in New Zealand shortly to discuss how they have handled hung parliaments.

It also emerged todaythat it is possible that the chancellor, Alistair Darling, could even remain in his post – in charge of policy on sterling – pending the formation of the government, even in the event that he has lost his parliamentary seat.

That scenario would arise because Brown would remain as prime minister, and therefore responsible for all ministerial appointments, until it were clear that he was unable to secure a majority for his Queen’s speech.

Senior Whitehall sources were keen to stress that it would be Brown’s duty to remain in place until it were clear that a successor exists who was capable of securing a majority for their own speech.

The Queen will not intervene in any discussions between the political parties, the sources made clear, although she can expect to be kept informed of developments.

It is for the political parties to agree on a prime minister who can win support for the speech.

Although conventions remain unclear, it will be open for the Queen to reject a call for a dissolution of parliament if it is not in the national interest. But this was unlikely, the sources said.

It is likely she will take into account the length of time since the previous election and how unlikely it is that no agreement can be reached in the Commons on the identity of a new prime minister.

The prime minister will not be expected to make policy announcements during this caretaker period, but instead focus on trying to form a government.

In the discussions on the formation of a minority government or coalition, civil service sources said it will also be the duty of the civil service to facilitate the talks by providing a venue.

Civil service staff would remain outside the room during inter-party talks, but may be asked to draw up any formal agreement between them. The cabinet would not meet after the election unless a Queen’s speech had been voted through.

O’Donnell has said he doubted that financial markets would be destabilised by a hung parliament.

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Blizzards across Northern Ireland and Scotland black out 48,000 homes, with rail, road and flights also affected

Up to 48,000 homes were without power this morning across parts of the UK after gales, snow and heavy rain brought down power lines.

Severe storms have hit Scotland and Northern Ireland, damaging power lines and causing widespread transport disruption. In the worst-hit part of Northern Ireland about 300 people – including children on a school bus – had to be rescued from vehicles trapped in snow overnight on the Glenshane Pass near Londonderry.

The Met Office has issued severe weather warnings in parts of Scotland and England, warning of severe blizzards in northern Scotland.

It has issued its most severe “take action” warning in the Highlands. The Met Office website says: “High risk of major damage to infrastructure and the environment. Casualties are possible.”

It is warning some areas of Scotland could see 30cm of snow, with deep drifts, while higher parts of Cumbria, the northern Pennines and north Wales could see up to 10cm of snow with strong winds causing snow drifts.

Temperatures are expected to remain close to 0C throughout the day.

Most of Britain will continue to have a cold, wet and unsettled week, say forecasters, although there may be a few sunny spells on Thursday. Further snow may hit Scotland over the Easter holiday and overnight frosts remain possible elsewhere.

Northern Ireland Electricity said between 45,000 and 48,000 customers, mainly in the west and the north, were cut off overnight after widespread damage to its network.

Widespread damage was reported by the company, which called in hundreds of extra staff to help emergency teams restore supplies. It stood down all crews at midnight as poor visibility, high winds and worsening weather prevented further repairs until morning.

A spokesman said engineers and workers would be out helping restore supplies as soon as possible. “Our crews are getting back out in the field again, we have 450 staff in the field.”

He blamed the disruption on “unprecedented” weather.

Some flights due to leave or land at Belfast international airport were diverted or cancelled, with ferry sailings also affected.

The bad weather continued with a vengeance in Scotland, where 22,000 homes lost supplies yesterday. All but a few were back on last night. Temperatures over Monday night dropped as low as -5C at Cairnwell, near Braemar. The plunging temperatures left 10 lorries stranded on the M90 and the ski centre at Aviemore was buried under 77cm (30in) of snow.

Train services on the East Coast main line were suspended north of Berwick after two landslips last night. Network Rail said it was working to reopen the line today, diverting some services via Newcastle and Carlisle and using replacement buses.

The AA said motorists should follow police advice and prepare for potentially hazardous long journeys with warm clothes, a fully charged phone and food and drink.

Gavin Hill-Smith, an AA spokesman, said the Easter getaway could start on Thursday as most schools will finish midweek. He expected a 20% rise in AA patrols to cope with the conditions.

The Highways Agency said 60% of roadworks on motorways and major roads in England would be completed or suspended by early tomorrow to help cut traffic jams over the holiday.

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Rail operator serves papers on union – but insists ‘constructive talks’ are continuing between the two sides

Network Rail said tonight it was taking legal action against the RMT union in a bid to stop a signallers’ strike due to begin next Tuesday, but added that “constructive talks” between the two sides were continuing.

The threat to services after Easter comes from two separate disputes, one with signal staff, who plan industrial action in morning and evening rush hours, and the second with maintenance workers, who are threatening a separate four-day stoppage from Tuesday 6 April.

Meetings between the two sides were held today at Acas, the conciliation service, but Network Rail is challenging the legality of the strike ballot among signal staff. Bob Crow, the RMT leader, accused the network operators of “sabotaging” the talks.

Train operators are drawing up emergency timetables, and have warned that only one in five trains will run if the most serious industrial action by rail workers since 1994 goes ahead.

Network Rail said it had “a responsibility to all our passengers and freight users, and to the country as a whole, to do everything we can to avert a strike. Talks continue and our aim is a negotiated settlement, but we must explore all avenues at our disposal, and that includes legal ones.

“We can confirm that papers have been served on the RMT this afternoon. This calls into question the validity of its ballot among our signallers, highlighting scores of discrepancies and inaccuracies.

“We will appear before a high court judge tomorrow afternoon.”

The RMT’s 12,000 Network Rail maintenance members voted by 77% in favour of strikes, while its 6,000 signallers backed industrial action by 54%. The Transport Salaried Staffs Association is also planning industrial action over the company’s plans to cut 1500 maintenance jobs and change signallers’ working practices.

Crow said: “We spent two days in constructive talks, making some serious progress, and Network Rail has chosen to sabotage that process by using anti-trade union laws to drag us to court. We ran a perfectly above-board ballot of our members, and we have every intention of defending our position.”

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American Israel Public Affairs Committee circulates letter urging White House to ‘reinforce’ relationship with Israel

America’s main pro-Israel lobby group is mobilising members of Congress to pressure the White House over its bitter public confrontation with Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister.

The move, by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac), appears aimed at exploiting differences in the Obama administration as it decides how to use the crisis around settlement building in Jerusalem to press Israel towards concessions to kickstart peace negotiations.

Aipac has persuaded more than three-quarters of the members of the US House of Representatives to sign a letter calling for an end to public criticism of Israel and urging the US to “reinforce” its relationship with the Jewish state.

The open letter, which has been circulating among members of Congress for the last week, says that while it is recognised that there will be differences between the two countries, they should be kept behind closed doors. “Our view is that such differences are best resolved quietly, in trust and confidence,” it says.

The public differences, and revelations of Obama’s private snubs of Netanyahu at the White House last week, have proved embarrassing to the Israeli leader at home, where he has been accused of undermining Israel’s most important relationship.

Signatories to Aipac’s letter include Steny Hoyer, the Democrat majority leader, and Eric Cantor, the Republican whip. The wording is similar to an email Aipac sent out during Netanyahu’s visit, describing Obama’s criticisms of the Israeli government as “a matter of serious concern” and calling on the US administration “to take immediate steps to defuse the tension with the Jewish state”.

But while Aipac has for years influenced US policy on Israel, by targeting members of Congress who criticise the Jewish state, it may no longer have the same impact.

Robert Malley, a former special assistant to President Bill Clinton for Arab-Israeli affairs, said the administration’s decision to take a once routine disagreement over settlement construction in East Jerusalem and turn it in to a confrontation is a reflection of the determination in the White House.

“This episode tells us more about the past and the future than the present. It’s a reflection of the accumulated frustration and mistrust of the Netanyahu government by the White House. For the future, they’re headed for a collision on the pace and nature of peace negotiations,” he said. “We’re seeing determination.”

A source, who is consulted by administration officials on Israel policy but did not wish to be named, said that having chosen to take Netanyahu on, Obama cannot afford to back away. “The administration’s credibility is at stake – in Israel and the Arab world. Netanyahu thought he had the better of it last year after he humiliated the president by rejecting his demand for a settlement freeze. If the administration does not follow through on this, or reaches some compromise that takes the heat off the Israelis, I suspect it will be almost impossible for us to get anything off the ground,” he said.

Netanyahu appears to have been caught off guard by Obama’s stand, perhaps because he was overconfident of being able to bypass the administration by relying on strong support for Israel in Congress. But while Aipac has been able to mobilise support for its letter, Congressional leaders have remained largely silent on the substance of the dispute.

That is, in part, because there is little enthusiasm for Jewish settlements. In addition, the White House has played an unusual card in suggesting that Netanyahu’s intransigence is endangering US interests in the Middle East, and the lives of US soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“So far, I’ve been surprised by how muted congressional reaction has been,” said Malley. “It may come, but if the administration manages to portray this as an issue of US national interest, it may be able to sustain a level of criticism.”

However, there are reports of divisions within the administration on how to proceed. The US special envoy to the Middle East, George Mitchell, and the national security adviser, James Jones, believe Israeli governments respond to pressure. Last year an Israeli diplomatic memorandum described Jones as having told European officials that the US administration would take a hard line with the government in Jerusalem. Some officials favour mapping out a blueprint for peace and pressing both sides to adopt it.

But other officials argue against forcing Netanyahu to make compromises that will bring down his rightwing coalition. There has been criticism from Dennis Ross, who served as Bill Clinton’s Middle East envoy. Now a Middle East strategist for the Obama administration, he is reported to be arguing for the White House to ease up on Netanyahu. However, Ross is regarded by some sceptics as too close to Israel. He has publicly argued that Jerusalem must remain undivided and is regarded with suspicion by the Palestinians, who saw him as effectively negotiating on Israel’s behalf, rather than as a neutral mediator.

Malley says that whatever the Obama administration does it is almost certain to lead to further confrontation with the Israeli government. “The next crisis is more or less inevitable, given the diverging views of the Israeli and US governments on the pace and direction of the emerging talks,” he said.

War of words

“We must not be trapped by an illogical and unreasonable demand.”

Binyamin Netanyahu, below, on Obama’s demand for an end to settlement construction in East Jerusalem.

“I think at one point the [Israeli] prime minister added that he did not see a distinction necessarily between building in Jerusalem and building in Tel Aviv. We disagree with that.”

White House spokesman on Netanyahu’s reaction to the demand for an end to settlement construction.

“We recognise that, despite the extraordinary closeness between our country and Israel, there will be differences over issues, both large and small. Our view is that such differences are best resolved quietly, in trust and confidence, as befits long-standing strategic allies.”

Letter signed by members of Congress pressing the administration to avoid such public disagreements.

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Media regulator demands that BSkyB make a 23.4% cut in price of Sky Sports 1 and 2 to rivals such as Virgin Media and BT

The media regulator Ofcom today ordered BSkyB to reduce the amount it charges rivals to offer Sky Sports by more than 20%.

BSkyB must reduce the wholesale price at which it sells Sky Sports 1 and Sky Sports 2 to rivals such as Virgin Media and BT by 23.4% from the current £13.88 to £10.63 per subscriber per month. On the basis that most subscribers buy packages including the sports channels, the reduction for a bundle is 10.5% from £19.15 to £17.14.

The new wholesale pricing is effective immediately, the regulator said, and BSkyB now has six weeks from today to make a “reference offer”, effectively a template contract, to other pay-TV providers. BSkyB, however, intends to apply to the Competition Appeal Tribunal for a stay on implementing the ruling.

Ofcom also said today that BSkyB is restricting the distribution of premium movie rights, with a knock-on effect for the subscription video-on-demand market, and is proposing to refer the issue to the Competition Commission.

The ruling will spark a high-profile legal challenge from BSkyB, likely to be accompanied by appeals from sports governing bodies, including the Football Association and the England and Wales Cricket Board, who believe that it will irreparably harm their businesses.

Rivals such as BT and Virgin Media have promised to cut the prices that their users pay for Sky Sports channels, but are also concerned that BSkyB may be able to exploit loopholes in the ruling such as shifting key sports content to channels not covered by the ruling.

Ofcom said that it would counter any move by BSkyB if it tried to shift content to channels not covered by the ruling “to any material extent”.

“Ofcom recognises that a potential response to the remedy from Sky could be to attempt to undermine it by shifting content onto channels not covered by the remedy,” it said. “If Sky was to do this to any material extent, Ofcom would review the remedy and would consider extending it to include the relevant channels.”

Ofcom has also said that BSkyB must offer wholesale high-definition versions of Sky Sports 1 and 2 to rivals but stopped at setting a price. “To help to promote future innovation Ofcom … requires them to be offered on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms”.

As part of the ruling BSkyB has been granted permission to launch Picnic, the service to bring pay-TV channels to Freeview, which it mothballed two years ago, subject to the satellite company agreeing to the sports channels deal.

The proposed Picnic service would see BSkyB’s three free-to-air channels on Freeview – Sky News, Sky3 and Sky Sports News – replaced with a pay service.

Within minutes of the announcement this morning BSkyB confirmed that it would lodge an appeal with the CAT over what it regards an “unprecendented and unwarranted intervention”.

“There should be no doubt that Ofcom’s actions represent an unprecedented and unwarranted intervention,” said a Sky spokesman. “This is a marketplace where customers are well served with high levels of choice and innovation. Consumers will not benefit if regulators blunt incentives to invest and take risks. We now look forward to a judicial process which will apply impartial analysis and clear legal standards.”

BT, one of the original “gang of four” that triggered the review with a submission to Ofcom in 2007 – along with Top Up TV, Virgin Media and now-defunct Setanta - said today’s ruling was “disappointing but a step in the right direction”.

“We aim to offer Sky Sports 1 and 2 at lower prices than those which have been available,” said Gavin Patterson, chief executive of BT Retail. “However, Ofcom should have gone much further than it did. They have dropped movie channels, which should have been included. They should have included all Sky Sports channels, not just two [and] the wholesale price for the two sports channels is higher than the regulator had previously suggested.”

Pubs and clubs should also have been offered some help over what they are forced to pay for Sky Sports channels, Patterson added.

Last week it emerged that six of the largest sports governing bodies - the Rugby Football Union, the England and Wales Cricket Board, the Professional Golfers’ Association, the Football Association, the Premier League and the Rugby Football League - had a written a letter to the Ofcom board warning of “serious consequences” for sport and “irreparable damage” at grass-roots level.

BSkyB says that it spent £944m in sport last year and claims its rights budget will be affected by Ofcom’s decision.

“We have designed the remedy to minimise the potential risk of any negative impact on the value of sports rights,” said Ofcom. “The wholesale revenue available to Sky to pay for sports rights should not be reduced, and should in fact increase as the market expands.”

Media analyst Enders has predicted that the market impact will be small in the first three to five years but could be “significant” after that. Sports bodies have argued that Sky’s rivals will not invest extra profits into competing for rights and will simply end out paying Sky less.

“The other broadcasters whose bidding behaviour has driven rights values in the past should not be materially affected,” said Ofcom. “And in the longer term the emergence of new retailers, with significant numbers of subscribers, should increase competition for rights, given the various benefits associated with direct control of those rights.”

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• Wayne Rooney to have tests on ankle injury
• Bayern score twice late on to beat United 2-1

Wayne Rooney was last night undergoing medical tests to ascertain the seriousness of an injury that is threatening to end the most prolific season of his career.

The Premier League’s leading scorer and irresistible choice for footballer of the year had to be helped from the pitch with suspected ankle ligament damage on a traumatic night for Manchester United during which they threw away a one-goal lead to lose 2-1 in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final against Bayern Munich.

Rooney left the Allianz Arena on crutches, with his right foot in a protective boot, and will have a hospital scan today amid concerns that he could be facing a possible six-week lay-off, beginning with Saturday’s crucial league match with fellow title contenders Chelsea. His manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, said he did not think the injury was “terribly serious” and allayed fears that it could be the fourth time Rooney had broken a metatarsal in six years.

• Read Kevin McCarra’s match report
• Paul Hayward: Another blow for England
• Read Rob Smyth’s minute-by-minute report
• David Pleat: United left Rooney too isolated

But Ferguson also acknowledged that it may be bad news. “It’s too early now to know for sure,” he said. “He has hurt his ankle and we’ll have to wait and see. I can’t answer how long it will be. He is being treated by our medics and we will see what he’s like tomorrow.”

Rooney was injured in the build-up to Ivica Olic’s winning goal three and a half minutes into stoppage time on a night in which the England striker opened the scoring only for Bayern to turn the match upside down and leave an angry Ferguson castigating the way his team had “caused our own defeat”.

Mario Gómez, the Bayern substitute, accidentally trod on Rooney’s foot and the United player immediately pulled away, crumpling to the floor in obvious distress and twisting his ankle as he fell. He had to be helped off the pitch by three members of United’s backroom staff, unable to put any weight on his injured foot.

Ferguson was unwilling to answer any more questions but Rooney will almost certainly miss the Chelsea game as well as the second leg of the Bayern match next Wednesday. The bigger fear for United, though, is that it could be more like four to six weeks and the potential seriousness of the moment was summed up by the Bayern coach, Louis van Gaal. “He is their most important player,” he said.

“Just look at the statistics. Rooney is their top scorer with 34 goals. Dimitar Berbatov has 12 goals but until this weekend their second-highest scorer was the opposition, with 11 own goals. That’s how important Rooney is to them. But I wouldn’t wish an injury on anyone.”

Rooney had scored inside the opening two minutes but Ferguson would later complain that “we were giving the ball away from minute one” and he was incensed by the nature of Bayern’s goals.

The first stemmed from a needless handball by Gary Neville, allowing the France forward Franck Ribéry to score with a free-kick that deflected in off Rooney. Then, with virtually the last attack of the game, Olic dispossessed Patrice Evra inside the penalty area to wriggle free and put in the winner.

“The first goal was a bit of luck,” Ferguson said, “but the last goal … how can I describe it? The game was done. That was a terrible goal. There was a lot of confusion back there [in defence]. Patrice got the ball caught under his feet and was a bit unlucky but it wasn’t a good goal to concede, that’s for sure.

“But we kept giving it away all night and we caused our own defeat in the end. We can’t complain about the result. Give them [Bayern] credit because they pressed the ball everywhere but we are better than that in possession. It just was not good enough.

“We had chances to kill the tie [with the score at 1-0] but that would have been lucky for us because [Edwin] van der Sar time and again was making fantastic saves to keep us in the match. Bayern were the best team.”

Van Gaal, nonetheless, maintained that United should be still regarded as the favourites to reach the semi-finals. “I think United have a very good chance because of the away goal. I wanted to win 1-0 or get a 0-0. 2-1 isn’t the best result but we have always scored in our Champions League games this season and have a scored a lot away from home so we can have a lot of confidence.”

The away goal also gave Ferguson encouragement, but United’s manager was visibly angry on a night that ended with the tests on Rooney’s ankle being delayed by Uefa selecting him for their random drug-testing procedure. “Old Trafford is a different game,” Ferguson said. “We will be much better, no doubt about that. We won’t be giving away the ball as much as we did here. We have the away goal and that’s an advantage.”

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Consumer Focus cites ‘unfair’ changes to cash Isa rates and transfer delays in super-complaint to Office of Fair Trading

A consumer watchdog is submitting a “super-complaint” on behalf of savers to the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) today after an investigation found people with a cash Isa could be missing out on £3bn a year in interest.

Consumer Focus, the independent UK watchdog, says savers are being unfairly treated by banks and building societies that offer attractive headline rates on cash Isas, the tax-free savings products, only to drop them to derisory amounts a short time later.

It is also concerned that people are facing unfair obstacles in switching Isa accounts from one provider to another, with the process often taking weeks rather than days.

Super-complaints can be issued only by a small number of consumer bodies and must, by law, be investigated by the OFT within 90 days of being issued. They can be brought to the OFT only where the body believes the market is significantly harming consumer interests.

Mike O’Connor, chief executive of Consumer Focus, said: “Cash Isas are designed to encourage long-term saving but many people find their rates slashed to next to nothing after a relatively short time.

“Providers are using consumer inertia and confusion to drop Isa rates faster than on other accounts.”

The average savings rate on a cash Isa is 2.09%, according to data provider Moneyfacts, compared to 5.15% two years ago. Of the 10 cash Isas with the best savings rates, only two currently come without short-term bonus rates.

Savers can get a better deal by moving their money as a bonus rate expires but in a Consumer Focus survey a third of people said switching their cash Isas took longer than five weeks.

Only one in 10 transferred in less than two weeks. This is despite Revenue & Customs guidelines that say the transfer should be carried out within 30 days.

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Colombian guerillas hand over 32-year-old soldier Pablo Emilio Moncayo, abducted in 1997

Colombian guerrillas last night released a soldier kept hostage for 12 years, ending an epic ordeal which became a symbol of the plight of other captives.

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as Farc, handed over Pablo Emilio Moncayo to the Red Cross at a remote site in the department of Caquetá in Colombia’s southern jungle.

The 32-year-old sergeant, who was a teenager when abducted in 1997, was flown in a helicopter to the town of Florencia where his family, government officials and well-wishers were waiting.

He grinned as he stepped out of the helicopter in military fatigues and extended a hand, urging his family to slow down as they rushed towards him. He embraced his father, mother and sisters, who carried white flowers.

“My heart is going a thousand an hour,” Gustavo Moncayo said earlier as he awaited a reunion with a son he had long seen only on grainy Farc videos. After a high profile campaign in which the father trekked Colombia in chains, lobbied officials and met the pope it now felt “as if time had stood still”, he said.

Heavy rain delayed yesterday’s mission – an intricate affair involving Brazilian army aircraft, the Red Cross, a priest and Piedad Córdoba, a leftist senator who helped broker several otherhostage releases– but as clouds darkened the liberation was confirmed.

“After more than 12 years in captivity, Sgt Pablo Emilo Moncayo was handed over this afternoon,” the Red Cross said in a statement. The Caracas-based Telesur television network, which had a camera at the handover site, showed images of Moncayo smiling with Cordoba.

It was 4,483 days since guerrillas overran his mountain army base at the height of Colombia’s four-decade old conflict and kept him as a bargaining chip, along with dozens of other hostages, to pressure the government. Most of the other soldiers captured in the attack were freed in 2001 but one, Libio José Martínez, a 33-year-old sergeant, remains a hostage.

Last Sunday the Farc freed another soldier, Josué Daniel Calvo, who was captured last year. The leftist rebels are still holding 22 police and soldiers, who are kept for political leverage, as well as an unknown number of civilians kept for ransom.

Hostages endure harsh conditions: chained, bitten by bugs, prone to tropical diseases and forced on arduous marches from one jungle camp to another to dodge army patrols.

The Farc, once a mighty force which hoped to topple the state, has been battered and marginalised by a US-backed Colombian offensive spearheaded by President Álvaro Uribe.

Pushed deep into the jungle, senior commanders have been killed or captured and morale among recruits is said to be low. Cocaine trafficking keeps the guerrillas in business but fuels hostility from the US and EU, which classify the Farc as a terrorist organisation.

Analysts said releasing hostages was a tactic to win attention and relevance in the run-up to May’s election, when Colombia will choose a new president. Simultaneously the Farc has escalated violence with a series of deadly attacks on security forces.

The releases have reopened debate about a wider deal in which the government would exchange jailed guerrillas for more hostages.

Uribe, a conservative hardliner, said he was open to an exchange but laid conditions rejected by the Farc.

“A humanitarian exchange dialogue probably remains far off, not least because Colombia is in the midst of a presidential campaign,” said the Centre for International Policy, a think-tank which monitors Colombia.

The government accused Telesur, which scooped other networks by reporting from the handover site, of making “propaganda for a terrorist group”. There was no i

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