BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombian President Andres Pastrana condemned
                  Marxist rebels on Thursday for their attack on a provincial capital, where scores of
                  people were killed when the government fought back. But he also reached out to
                  them again in an effort to keep his drive for peace alive.

                  "I can't understand why the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia)
                  is sowing sorrow and death," said Pastrana. "They're using the civilian population as a
                  shield in this fratricidal war."

                  Pastrana angrily accused the rebels of human rights violations but also
                  reiterated his calls for a negotiated end to Colombia's three-decade-old civil
                  conflict.

                  "The government remains ready, along with the Colombian people, to make
                  peace," Pastrana said. "The important thing is to negotiate.... I only hope that
                  we can make peace in peace."

                  Pastrana toured the ruins of Mitu, the capital of southeast Vaupes province,
                  which was overrun Sunday by more than 1,000 FARC rebels.

                  Government forces retook control of Mitu on Wednesday after three days
                  of fighting during which at least 51 people were killed.

                  Army and Red Cross officials had estimated that up to 150 people died in
                  the battle for Mitu, including about 110 police and soldiers, 15 civilians and
                  25 guerrillas. But the death toll was rolled back Thursday after numerous
                  survivors, including 23 police officers, emerged from hiding places.

                  The nation's leading newspaper, El Tiempo, in its fiercest criticism yet of
                  Pastrana's peace efforts, said it sees no end to the bloodshed.

                  "Peace is not close," the newspaper declared in an editorial. "Not because
                  talks cannot be held or agreements signed, but because the guerrillas are
                  demonstrating in a concrete way that as an organization they are much more
                  powerful than in the past and more decided than ever before to seize
                  power."

                  Pastrana took office in August amid pledges to pursue a negotiated
                  settlement of Colombia's civil conflict, which has taken more than 35,000
                  lives in the past decade alone.

                  The attack in Mitu followed last month's fiery bombing of a major oil pipeline
                  by Cuban-inspired National Liberation Army (ELN) rebels in which about
                  70 people were killed in Machuca, a small gold-mining town in northwest
                  Antioquia province.

                  Pastrana visited that town as well on Thursday, as part of a grim tour that
                  highlighted the high cost of the rebel war.

                  The FARC and ELN, who field a combined force of about 20,000 fighters,
                  have accepted Pastrana's offer to open peace talks. But both have said they
                  will not lay down their arms as part of any eventual peace deal. In addition,
                  FARC rebel leaders warned this week that they are likely to step up military
                  operations, even if peace talks begin soon.

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