Colombia in Massive Search for Kidnapped General

The Colombian army has mounted a massive search for a general captured by FARC guerrillas, a kidnapping that has derailed peace talks just as they marked their two-year anniversary Wednesday.

Some 1,500 troops, 10 helicopters and planes, as well as boats and land vehicles have been deployed in the jungle-covered region of Choco to search for General Ruben Alzate, the highest-ranking military officer to be captured by the leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia in five decades of conflict.

Alzate, 55, went missing Sunday with Corporal Jorge Rodriguez and army adviser Gloria Urrego as they traveled by boat to visit a civilian energy project in Choco, where the general heads a task force responsible for fighting the rebels and drug gangs rife in the region.

The kidnapping caused President Juan Manuel Santos to suspend peace talks with the FARC in Havana, the most promising effort yet to end Colombia's 50-year-old conflict.

Defense Minister Juan Carlos Pinzon has cancelled a meeting with U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in New York to travel to Quibdo, the capital of Choco department, to personally coordinate the search for the three hostages.

"Operations in Choco will continue for as long as necessary," Pinzon said after a flyover of the remote, densely forested zone Tuesday evening.

Santos, who has staked his presidency on the peace talks, has said they will not resume until the captives are released.

The local government and Catholic Church in Quibdo have set up three empty chairs in the city center in tribute to the three hostages.

And in the capital Bogota, various groups and political parties have called a rally for Wednesday to show support for the peace talks and call for a bilateral ceasefire.

Santos has so far rejected FARC demands for a ceasefire, saying it would strengthen the rebels' hand.

On Tuesday, FARC negotiators in Cuba -- who at first denied knowledge of the general's kidnapping -- said they were ready to seek "a quick, sensible solution" to resolve the impasse and get the talks back on track.

The FARC fighters who claimed responsibility for capturing Alzate, the Ivan Rios unit, said they would respect their commanders' orders on what to do with their hostages.

Speculation flew in the Colombian media that a deal for the general's release was imminent.

"It's a deep crisis but not one that's intrinsic to the peace process. It can easily be overcome in a matter of days," political analyst Ariel Avila told AFP.

Founded in 1964 in the aftermath of a peasant uprising, the FARC is the largest of the guerrilla groups active in Colombia, with about 8,000 fighters.

The conflict, which has at various times drawn in drug traffickers and right-wing paramilitaries, has killed more than 220,000 people and caused more than five million to flee their homes.

Santos, who won re-election in June in a vote widely seen as a referendum on the peace process, has also announced plans to enter talks with the second-largest guerrilla group, the National Liberation Army (ELN).

The negotiations with the FARC have so far reached deals on three broad issues: land reform, political participation for ex-rebels, and fighting the drug trade that has helped fuel the conflict.

Remaining items on the agenda are reparations for victims, disarmament, and the mechanism by which the final deal will be put into force.