By Hugh Bronstein
BOGOTA, July 10 (Reuters) - Colombian rebels accused of murdering 11 kidnapped lawmakers admitted on Tuesday they did not take proper care of the prisoners, a statement that could help open talks aimed at freeing other hostages.
By admitting some fault in last month's killings, which outraged Colombia and sparked nationwide protests, analysts said the guerrillas may be preparing the ground for negotiations toward freeing other captives, like French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt.
The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, claims the lawmakers died in crossfire when an unidentified military group attacked their jungle prison. The government says no troops were in the area at the time and accuses the rebels of murdering the hostages.
"We failed in our mission to care for them and bring them to a hostage swap," a statement issued by the FARC said. "We will keep investigating which force attacked the camp until we clarify this tragedy, which only brought mourning to the homes of the lawmakers."
Hundreds of thousands of Colombians took to the streets last week protesting the deaths and the FARC's use of kidnapping in its four-decade-old war against the state.
"The FARC is admitting that they let the situation get out of control," said Pablo Casas, an analyst at Bogota think tank Security & Democracy.
"Nobody doubts that the lawmakers were executed rather than being killed in crossfire," he said. "The FARC is feeling the heat from last week's protests and getting into damage control mode, which may help prepare the ground for negotiating the freedom of other hostages."
The rebels captured Betancourt during her 2002 presidential campaign. They are also holding three American defense contractors taken during a 2003 anti-drug mission.
The government and the FARC say they want to exchange these and other hostages for guerrillas held in government jails, but they disagree over conditions for starting negotiations.
Colombia was stunned in 2002 when the guerrillas kidnapped the 11 lawmakers from a government building in the western city of Cali by masquerading as soldiers and escorting them onto a bus, saying there was a bomb in the building.
The FARC said in Tuesday's statement that they will turn the corpses over to a neutral party, such as the Red Cross.
