Colombia says Ecuadorean killed in anti-rebel raid
(Recasts with identification of Ecuadorean killed in raid)
By Hugh Bronstein
BOGOTA, March 23 (Reuters) - Already tense relations between Colombia and Ecuador looked set to worsen on Sunday after Colombia said it had killed a citizen of the neighboring country in a March 1 attack on Ecuador's side of the border.
Ecuador's leftist president, Rafael Correa, has vowed that relations with Colombia would be downgraded if it turned out that one of the people killed in the diplomatically charged operation was a citizen of his country.
"He was Ecuadorean," Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos told reporters on Sunday, ending the speculation.
A statement from the ministry said the dead man appeared to be a member of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, who specialized in helping Marxist guerrillas cross into Ecuador to hide.
"I ask the Ecuadorean authorities to not let themselves be taken advantage of by criminals," Santos said.
Ecuador broke off diplomatic ties with Bogota over the raid that killed No. 2 FARC rebel leader Raul Reyes and more than 20 others. Colombia's conservative president, Alvaro Uribe, issued a statement on Sunday saying the raid was necessary to protect his country from "terrorist" attacks.
The diplomatic crisis, which briefly threatened war as Ecuador and Venezuela sent troops to their borders with Colombia, eased at a summit meeting where leaders of the three countries aired their differences and shook hands.
Then last week family members of an Ecuadorean man said he was among those killed in the raid. Correa ordered a probe, saying he would "not let this murder go unpunished."
Colombian planes bombed the FARC camp just inside Ecuadorean territory at the start of the month.
Reyes was the first member of FARC's secretariat to be killed in the decades-old war. The raid bolstered Uribe's popularity at home to a record 82 percent although most Latin American countries joined Ecuador in condemning the attack.
Uribe, the top U.S. ally in South America, has accused Ecuador and Venezuela of doing little to help combat the FARC.
The rebels hold hundreds of kidnap victims including three U.S. defense contractors taken in 2003 and French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt, snatched the year before.
Piedad Cordoba, a senator who helped broker the release of six hostages earlier this year, said the March 1 attack dashed hope of any more releases while Uribe is in power. Uribe's term ends in 2010 but some backers in Congress want to pass a measure allowing the president to run again. (Editing by Todd Eastham)
By Hugh Bronstein
BOGOTA, March 23 (Reuters) - Already tense relations between Colombia and Ecuador looked set to worsen on Sunday after Colombia said it had killed a citizen of the neighboring country in a March 1 attack on Ecuador's side of the border.
Ecuador's leftist president, Rafael Correa, has vowed that relations with Colombia would be downgraded if it turned out that one of the people killed in the diplomatically charged operation was a citizen of his country.
"He was Ecuadorean," Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos told reporters on Sunday, ending the speculation.
A statement from the ministry said the dead man appeared to be a member of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, who specialized in helping Marxist guerrillas cross into Ecuador to hide.
"I ask the Ecuadorean authorities to not let themselves be taken advantage of by criminals," Santos said.
Ecuador broke off diplomatic ties with Bogota over the raid that killed No. 2 FARC rebel leader Raul Reyes and more than 20 others. Colombia's conservative president, Alvaro Uribe, issued a statement on Sunday saying the raid was necessary to protect his country from "terrorist" attacks.
The diplomatic crisis, which briefly threatened war as Ecuador and Venezuela sent troops to their borders with Colombia, eased at a summit meeting where leaders of the three countries aired their differences and shook hands.
Then last week family members of an Ecuadorean man said he was among those killed in the raid. Correa ordered a probe, saying he would "not let this murder go unpunished."
Colombian planes bombed the FARC camp just inside Ecuadorean territory at the start of the month.
Reyes was the first member of FARC's secretariat to be killed in the decades-old war. The raid bolstered Uribe's popularity at home to a record 82 percent although most Latin American countries joined Ecuador in condemning the attack.
Uribe, the top U.S. ally in South America, has accused Ecuador and Venezuela of doing little to help combat the FARC.
The rebels hold hundreds of kidnap victims including three U.S. defense contractors taken in 2003 and French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt, snatched the year before.
Piedad Cordoba, a senator who helped broker the release of six hostages earlier this year, said the March 1 attack dashed hope of any more releases while Uribe is in power. Uribe's term ends in 2010 but some backers in Congress want to pass a measure allowing the president to run again. (Editing by Todd Eastham)
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