BOGOTA, Colombia (Reuters) -- A love-struck female guerrilla deserted
                  rebel ranks to lead two soldiers, who had been held prisoner for eight
                  months, to safety through the jungles of northwest Colombia this weekend.

                  Conscript Roque Montilva and professional soldier Jose Francisco Arteaga
                  were among 12 security force members seized near the town of Pavarando
                  last August during a nationwide offensive by the Revolutionary Armed
                  Forces of Colombia (FARC).

                  But during the hostage ordeal, a 16-year-old FARC rebel, identified only as
                  "Diana," was smitten by her once deadly rival Montilva and the pair began to
                  exchange love letters.

                  Guerrilla chieftains at the secret camp deep in the jungles of the trouble-torn
                  banana-growing region of Uraba discovered the affair and ordered Diana to
                  dig a 50-yard (metre) trench as punishment. After that she, Montilva and
                  Arteaga hatched their plan to escape.

                  The three arrived at a military barracks in Uraba late Saturday after walking,
                  at times barefoot, for six days through dense jungle, swimming across
                  storm-swollen rivers and scavenging for forest fruits in order to survive.

                  Throughout their daring escape ordeal, they feared they would be
                  recaptured, beaten and possibly killed by other FARC rebels who scoured
                  the jungle for them, constantly firing shots into the air.

                  "These three went through a real odyssey to regain their freedom," said
                  Defence Minister Rodrigo Lloreda as he sat alongside the three during a
                  news conference at military headquarters in Bogota Sunday.

                  "Diana wrote to me and asked me if I was prepared to escape with her. I
                  said 'yes' and with my companion Arteaga we planned the escape," Montilva
                  said, as he hugged his guerrilla girlfriend.

                  Diana told reporters she would now like to settle down and marry Montilva.

                  The FARC, Latin America's oldest and largest rebel army, is currently
                  holding prisoner more than 350 soldiers and policemen, who were seized in
                  combats over the last 18 months.

                  FARC chieftains have refused to release them until the government agrees to
                  free some 450 Marxist guerrilla fighters being held in prisons across the
                  country.

                  The government has so far resisted rebel demands saying it would be illegal
                  to release insurgents jailed for a range of crimes that include massacres,
                  kidnaps and "terrorism."

                  Montilva and Arteaga are thought to be the first soldiers to escape from their
                  guerrilla captors. Most are being held deep in the jungle in some of the most
                  remote corners of Colombia.

                     Copyright 1999 Reuters.