By TIM JOHNSON
             Herald Staff Writer

             BOGOTA, Colombia -- President Andres Pastrana on Tuesday deplored the ``more
             than 140 deaths'' left by a paramilitary killing spree and urged the right-wing gunmen
             to join broad negotiations to end fighting.

             ``What Colombians want are actions of peace, not actions of war,'' Pastrana said.

             Pastrana's office issued a statement saying authorities would hunt paramilitary
             leaders in a campaign of ``implacable persecution.''

             Shock waves rippled through political circles, meanwhile, over remarks by a rebel
             chief suggesting that leftist insurgents might kidnap politicians as a bargaining chip.

             Jorge Briceño, military chief of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia
             (FARC), said legislators fail to grasp how much FARC leaders want a hostage swap
             that would free some 450 jailed rebels in exchange for the 326 police and soldiers
             the FARC holds as prisoners of war. Such a swap could only be approved by
             Congress.

             ``If this swap law can't be done, then some members of the political class will have
             to join the [kidnapped] soldiers.  . . . That's the only way,'' Briceño said.

             When reporters pointed out that legal hurdles may block such a swap, Briceño spat
             back: ``We don't give a damn about the constitution and the laws. We live outside of
             them.''

             Briceño's remarks dismayed legislators.

             ``These threats don't contribute to the climate needed to make headway on the
             subjects [of peace],'' said Amilkar Acosta, a prominent congressman.

             Pastrana dismissed Briceño's statements, saying he is not an authorized spokesman
             for the insurgency.

             Sounding solemn after adjourning an emergency meeting with Cabinet members and
             top military leaders, Pastrana voiced distress at a spate of paramilitary massacres
             that began Jan. 7.

             ``If there is something that pains Colombians, and especially their president, it is to
             see what has happened in recent days, more than 140 deaths,'' he said, calling on the
             militias ``to cease these activities.''

             ``We want all the players in this drama to be at the negotiating table, even if the
             tables are separate,'' Pastrana said.

             Paramilitary leaders seek peace talks with the government on an equal status with
             two leftist insurgencies: the FARC and the smaller National Liberation Army (ELN).
             A peace process with the FARC kicked off last week. Separate talks with ELN
             leaders are to begin in mid-February.

             Television reports said the high command of Colombia's 146,000-member armed
             forces met to discuss how to refute FARC allegations that army officers were
             involved in paramilitary killings.

             On Monday, a FARC leader, Joaquin Gomez, said paramilitary fighters arrived in El
             Tigre, in southern Putumayo state, aboard army vehicles last weekend. He said
             militias under the command of an army lieutenant disemboweled and beheaded many
             of the 26 people killed in the town.
 

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