Ecuador threatens diplomatic efforts against Colombia if rebel camp death confirmed
GABRIELA MOLINA, Associated Press Writer
March 22, 2008 8:26 PM
QUITO, Ecuador (AP) - President Rafael Correa on Saturday threatened to seek international condemnation against Colombia if DNA tests confirm that Colombia's military killed an Ecuadorean citizen during its raid on a rebel camp in Ecuador's jungle.
Ecuador and Venezuela sent troops to their borders with Colombia after the March 1 cross-border raid. Tensions were largely defused at a regional summit days later.
Relatives of missing Ecuadorean Franklin Aizalia say to have seen news photos that indicate a body that Colombia removed from the camp is that of their son. They will travel to Colombia on Monday in a bid to confirm the body's identity.
Correa urged the Organization of American States to ''act forcefully'' if tests confirm that Colombia killed an Ecuadorean citizen, saying he did not want a precedent set in the region.
If the body proves to be Aizalia, rather than a Colombian, Correa vowed ''to start an extremely strong diplomatic fight, because we will not leave this killing unpunished.''
Correa has not renewed diplomatic ties severed with neighboring Colombia after the raid on a jungle camp of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC - an act he denounced as an attack on his country's sovereignty.
''How can we renew relations if they keep trying to link us to the FARC to justify their aggression?'' he said.
Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, a close U.S. ally, says documents seized at the camp from the computer of slain rebel leader Raul Reyes show that the FARC gave money to Correa's 2006 presidential campaign. He also says Correa's ally, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, planned to give the rebels US$300 million.
Correa on Saturday said he has requested those documents, which he said lack ''technical and legal'' validity, from Uribe's government through Argentina's embassy in Colombia.
Aizalia, a locksmith, has been reported missing for more than three weeks. His family's lawyer said that, for unknown reasons, he had been in the FARC camp for more than a week before the raid.
A body, initially identified as that of rebel Guillermo Enrique Torres, alias Julian Conrado, was brought back to Colombia's capital, Bogota, with Reyes' body. At least 25 were killed in the raid, including four Mexican university students.
AP-WS-03-22-08 2306EDT
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