Colombia's troops hunt for kidnapped governor

BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombian troops on Tuesday searched for a local governor kidnapped by leftist FARC guerrillas in a nighttime raid that could test President Alvaro Uribe's security campaign.

The kidnapping of Luis Cuellar, the Caqueta state governor, underscores how Latin America's oldest guerrilla insurgency is still capable of high-profile operations despite years of being battered by a U.S.-backed military offensive.

Armed rebels, dressed in military uniforms, blasted through the door of Cuellar's house in southern Colombia late on Monday, killed a police guard and bundled the governor into a waiting vehicle, officials said.

Authorities said the FARC's Teofilo Forero unit was likely responsible for the kidnapping, a rare reminder of the darker days of Colombia's long conflict, when lawmakers and politicians were easy prey for rebel kidnap squads.

"Every military and police effort must be made to ensure a rescue, we cannot keep being held captive by the whim of terrorists, terrorists who bathe the country in blood and who trick us everyday," Uribe told reporters.

The FARC, or Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, once controlled large parts of Colombia. But urban bombings and kidnappings have eased as Uribe sent troops to take back areas from armed groups who finance their operations with cocaine trafficking.

HOSTAGES IN JUNGLE CAMPS

With around 9,000 fighters, the FARC is still a force in rural areas where state control is weak. But rebels have increasingly turned to ambushes and the use of landmines as they are driven back deep into the mountains and jungles.

"The campaign against the FARC is still incomplete and requires more work and time," said Rafael Nieto, a former Colombian deputy justice minister and now a consultant. "The FARC can show they are still capable of these operations."

The FARC is holding 24 police and soldiers hostage, some kidnapped more than a decade ago and kept in jungle camps where they are often chained up and forced to stay on the run to evade army patrols and aerial bombardments.

Cuellar will be the only politician now in FARC captivity, giving the rebels leverage in any talks with the government.

The kidnapping came just as the guerrilla group announced they plan to soon release two hostages in a handover organized by the Red Cross and the Catholic Church. But the latest kidnapping could scuttle those efforts for now.

Caqueta state is a remote region in southern Colombia where the rebels have traditionally maintained a strong presence.

The FARC has been weakened by the killing of several top commanders last year and a steady flow of desertions, as guerrillas come under pressure from military assaults.

In one of the FARC's major defeats, the military last year tricked guerrillas into handing over three American military contractors and a French-Colombian politician who had been the rebel group's most important hostages.

(Additional reporting by Luis Jaime Acosta; Editing by Paul Simao)