voa标准英语2008-Former Colombian Rebel Seeks French Asylum

A former member of Colombia's FARC rebel group is the first person to take advantage of a special French asylum¹ offer. The rebel arrived in Paris with former French-Colombian hostage Ingrid Betancourt.
　

Wilson Bueno (R), and former hostage French-Colombian Ingrid Betancourt (L) in El Dorado airport in Bogota, 09 Dec 2008

Former Colombian FARC guerilla Wilson Bueno arrived in Paris with his girlfriend - accompanied by famous former-hostage Ingrid Betancourt, who was released earlier this year after being held by FARC guerrillas for six years.

The French government is offering no details about where Bueno will be staying, out of concern for his privacy.

Bueno, who is better known by his code name Isaza, became a hero in Colombia after he deserted² from FARC in late October, taking a 62-year-old hostage with him.

France offered political asylum last year to Colombian rebels who desert with their hostages, and Bueno is the first to benefit from that offer. He also received a $400,000 reward from the Colombian government for risking his life to escape with the hostage.

But the International Federation³ of Human Rights, for one, is concerned about France's asylum offer.

Luis Guillermo Perez is secretary general of the monitoring group and a native of Colombia. He says his organization's position on asylum is that it should be given to victims first. In the case of Bueno, he says that under Colombian law, the government cannot pardon crimes that include kidnapping.

FARC rebels are thought to be holding more than 700 hostages, including 28 they consider political prisoners whom they want to exchange for FARC members jailed in Colombia and the United States.

1 asylum   

n.避难所，庇护所，避难

参考例句：

• The people ask for political asylum.人们请求政治避难。
• Having sought asylum in the West for many years,they were eventually granted it.他们最终获得了在西方寻求多年的避难权。

2 deserted   

adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的

参考例句：

• The deserted village was filled with a deathly silence.这个荒废的村庄死一般的寂静。
• The enemy chieftain was opposed and deserted by his followers.敌人头目众叛亲离。

3 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。