Colombian families highlight the plight of their kidnapped relatives

On Tuesday, the guerrillas said they had suspended plans to free a Briton and four Israelis because of army operations in the Sierra Nevada region.

But Mr Uribe said the rebels could not play games with the government.

A Spaniard and German were released two weeks ago and observers hoped the rest would be set free before Christmas.

Guerrillas from the National Liberation Army, ELN, sent communiques to the Israeli and British governments warning that the Colombian army was endangering the lives of their citizens.

But Mr Uribe, known for his hardline stance, refused to bow to demands that he withdraw the soldiers.

The little game of kidnapping is now over Alvaro Uribe

"We won't leave the Sierra Nevada, day or night, until we root out the last of the terrorists," he said.

"They kidnap people and later play with it. And they play with judicial procedures and they play with the international community and they play with the government," the president told reporters.

"The little game of kidnapping is now over."

Exchange demand

The BBC's Jeremy McDermott in Medellin says Mr Uribe's declaration leave the plight of the five foreigners in limbo.

The Colombian army has been searching for the hostages in mountains of northern Colombia in an effort to free them.

Hopes were raised that all the hostages would soon be released following negotiations helped by the Roman Catholic Church.

Colombia has the world's highest kidnap rate, with more than 3,000 people abducted each year - most of them Colombians.

Relatives of kidnap victims staged a sit-in at a Bogota cathedral, only ending the protest when President Uribe agreed to meet them.

Some 25 people, including the mother of the former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, had barricaded themselves in the church on Tuesday.