French President Nicolas Sarkozy has once again called on Colombia's main rebel group to free former Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, who has been held since 2002.

Colombia has offered to suspend the sentences of jailed FARC members if the rebels free their hostages, including former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt.

East Timor's president has criticized Australian-led forces for failing to capture the rebels who shot him outside his home in Dili last month. For the first time, Jose Ramos-Horta has described how he walked into an ambush and watched as a gunman lifted his rifle to shoot him. Mr. Ramos-Horta says that international peacekeepers were too slow in their attempts to catch his attackers.

The Comoran government is demanding France hand over a rebel leader for trial, but France says it is considering granting him asylum.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has urged Colombia's main rebel group to free French-Colombian hostage Ingrid Betancourt, saying he will personally go to Colombia to receive her.

The United Nations Security Council held a rare Sunday evening session to discuss rebel efforts in Chad to overthrow the government. But as VOA's Margaret Besheer reports from U.N. headquarters in New York, the emergency meeting ended without any formal action.

A leader of Niger's Tuareg rebels is threatening an offensive against uranium mining operations in the country.

Chadian rebels and military sources report fierce fighting today less than 100 kilometers from the capital, N'djamena. Meanwhile, the European Union has delayed the deployment of peacekeeping troops to Chad.

Government forces and rebels in Chad have been clashing northeast of the capital N'Djamena, prompting the former colonial power France to send in reinforcements to help the army. Rebels say they want to overthrow President Idriss Deby if he does not accept a power-sharing deal. VOA's Nico Colombant reports from our West Africa bureau in Dakar.

Government officials in the Democratic Republic of Congo have confirmed that they will sign peace agreement with rebel leaders in the next 24 hours.

A rebel leader in the Central African Republic says about 1,000 rebels from a rival group have occupied a town near the border with Sudan. The men are reported to be part of a splinter organization within the Union of Democratic Forces Coalition, which controls the region and recently signed a peace accord with the government.

An African Union helicopter was fired upon by unidentified assailants while flying over Darfur, a statement by the AU ceasefire commission said Sunday.