Fidel Castro in Farc hostage plea but not for a lay down on its weapons

His comments follow the rescue of Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt and 14 others on Wednesday.

He said he had energetically criticised the "cruel methods of kidnapping and holding prisoners in the jungle".

But at the same time, Mr Castro added the rebel movement should not lay down its weapons.

He said that, during the past 50 years, those rebel groups that had yielded "did not survive to see the peace".

"I have openly and energetically criticised the objectively cruel methods of kidnapping and holding prisoners in the jungle," he wrote in an internet article posted on Sunday.

"If I may dare to suggest something to the Farc guerrillas, it is that they simply, by whatever means at their disposal, declare that they have unconditionally freed all the hostages and prisoners still under their control."

Fidel Castro's revolution in Cuba served as an inspiration to the Farc when it formed in the 1960s.