Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Colombia minister's arrest sought

A court in Ecuador has ordered the arrest of Colombia's ex-defence minister over an air raid against a rebel base in Ecuador last year.

The minister, Juan Manuel Santos, ordered the attack on a camp of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc), which killed 25 rebels.

Colombia has said the raid, which took place in March 2008, was necessary in the "fight against terrorism".

Ecuador and Colombia severed diplomatic ties over the incident.

The attack was condemned by the Organization of American States.

Those killed in the operation included senior Farc commander Raul Reyes and an Ecuadoran national.

According to Ecuadorean media, Mr Santos is wanted for murder and violating Ecuadorian internal security.

He recently resigned as Colombia's defence minister.

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