01 March 2008 - 15H49
Number two FARC leader killed by Colombian army
The number two leader of Colombia's FARC rebels, Raul Reyes, has been killed by the country's army, radio Caracol said Saturday quoting officials. (Report: N.Rushworth)
BOGOTA, March 1 (Reuters) - A top commander of the
Colombian rebel group FARC, Raul Reyes, was killed in combat in
southern province near the frontier with Ecuador, the Colombian
government confirmed on Saturday.
Reyes was one of the seven members of the secretariat of
the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, Latin
America's oldest surviving left-wing insurgency, which U.S. and
European officials label a terrorist group.
The death of one of its top commanders would be the most
serious blow to the FARC under the government of President
Alvaro Uribe, who has received billions of dollars in U.S. aid
to fight the rebels and cocaine traffickers.
Violence from Colombia's conflict has ebbed under Uribe,
who has sent troops to retake areas under the control of armed
groups. But the FARC is still potent in remote areas, where it
is holding scores of hostages including three U.S. contract
workers and French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt.
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