MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Renewed tension: Bogota confirms body belongs to Ecuadorian

Colombian Defence minister Juan Manuel Santos confirmed Sunday that one of the bodies recovered by Colombian troops when the March first raid on Ecuadorian territory was effectively of an Ecuadorian.

On Saturday Ecuadorian president Rafael Correa said it would be "most serious" if it was proved that the body currently in Bogota belonged to an Ecuadorian citizen. "This means an Ecuadorian citizen was killed in Ecuadorian soil by foreign troops. This is totally unacceptable. This murder will not remain in impunity", he warned. The body was taken to Bogota by the Colombian Army together with that of the number 2 in command of the Colombian rebel group, FARC, Raul Reyes, who were killed during the Colombian raid on the rebel camp in Ecuadorian soil last March first. "I'm telling President Correa and the Ecuadorian authorities to look in the right place and not allow to be abused by a gang of delinquents", said Santos on confirming the nationality of the second body during an interview with Colombia's main broadcasting system, Caracol. "Don't let them come to us trying to point out as murders or massacres what are legitimate acts of war, legitimate acts of defense of a democracy", insisted Santos. On Saturday, possibly anticipating the Sunday disclosure, Colombia attempted to ease rising tensions with Ecuador by saying the March first military raid was carried out against a rebel camp used to launch terrorist strikes. "The government (of Colombia) reminds the world that the camp of Raul Reyes was used by terrorists to act against the security of the Colombian people," the statement said. Ecuador cut diplomatic ties with Colombia after the military operation, and warned that tensions will rise if it turns out that an Ecuadorian man was among those killed. President Correa last week ordered an investigation after family members of an Ecuadorian locksmith said he was killed in the raid. Colombian planes bombed the camp belonging to the FARC just inside Ecuadorian territory, killing over 20 people including Reyes. He was the first member of the FARC secretariat to be killed in the decades-old war. The raid bolstered Colombian President Alvaro Uribe's popularity at home to a record 82% although most Latin American countries joined Ecuador in condemning the attack. Fears of war in the Andean region were raised this month when Ecuador and Venezuela ordered troops to their borders with Colombia after the raid. But tempers cooled at a regional summit that led to handshakes among the three countries' leaders.