Colombia says another top rebel leader killed

By Hugh Bronstein

BOGOTA (Reuters) - A top commander of Colombia's biggest rebel group was killed by his own bodyguard in the second major blow to the left-wing insurgency's leadership in less than a week, the government said on Friday.

Ivan Rios, the youngest person on the seven-member secretariat of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, was shot dead in the country's northwestern coffee-producing region this week.

The army initially said Rios, considered key to the FARC's future, had been killed in one of several recent battles with troops in the area.

Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos later told reporters Rios was assassinated by one of his own fighters. The chief bodyguard to Rios took credit for the killing, chopped off the right hand of his late boss and turned it over as proof, Santos said.

Colombia has increased the rewards it pays to those who help capture or kill guerrillas. Rios had a $2.6 million price on his head.

Last weekend, Colombian forces sparked a regional diplomatic crisis by raiding into Ecuador to kill the No. 2 FARC leader, Raul Reyes.

After days of tension, during which Ecuador and leftist ally Venezuela sent extra troops to their Colombian borders, regional leaders meeting at a summit in the Dominican Republic agreed to end the dispute on Friday.

FARC GOLDEN BOY