-Caveat Lector- Friday January 12 7:25 PM ET Colombian Rebels, Paramilitary Battle in Ecuador By Amy Taxin QUITO, Ecuador (Reuters) - Colombian rebels and right-wing paramilitary forces battled outside a small town in Ecuador's Amazon jungle, the first clash between the two in Ecuadorean territory, the country's defense ministry sources said on Friday. The incident heightens fears that Colombia's 40-year-old conflict is spilling across the border. It also left two Colombians dead, but Ecuador's military did not say which side they were on. The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and paramilitary fighters clashed at 2:15 p.m. on Thursday, the military high command said in a statement. Ecuadorean troops were not involved in the clash, according to the military high command, which declined to provide details beyond a two-paragraph statement. Neither Ecuadorean government officials, nor Colombia's embassy in Quito would comment on the statement. The fighting occurred one day after Ecuadorean officers discovered an abandoned guerrilla camp about five miles over the border from Colombia, with a hut, trenches, military uniforms and backpacks, that several local officials said belonged to the FARC, Colombia's biggest rebel group. Ecuador's armed forces also discovered and destroyed a FARC-owned factory that was manufacturing military uniforms and equipment, an Ecuadorean military source told Reuters. Fears Over Colombia's U.S.-Backed Plan There are widespread fears that Colombia's U.S.-backed plan to combat drug trafficking may push rebels and paramilitary groups, believed to finance their activities through the narcotics trade, across the roughly 370-mile-long border. Some local officials have accused Ecuador's government of pushing the country into Colombia's internal conflict -- which involves security forces, rebels, paramilitary groups and drug traffickers -- by allowing U.S. drug surveillance planes to use a coastal air force base in the city of Manta. Colombia's other neighbors, Venezuela, Peru and Panama have all expressed concern about spillover from ``Plan Colombia,'' an effort to battle drug trafficking and violence. The plan is supported by $1.3 billion in U.S. aid. According to political analyst Patricio Falconi, the close economic ties between Ecuadoreans living along the border and Colombian guerrilla members who travel through the region make events of this kind inevitable. ``Plan Colombia is not the cause of this problem. Plan Colombia is more like a medicine, applied to a problem that has existed for a long time. The medicine could be good, regular, bad or worse than the sickness, but the problem existed before,'' he told Reuters. In October, Ecuador's government accused the FARC, which controls a Switzerland-sized territory in southern Colombia, of kidnapping 10 foreign oil workers from Ecuador's Amazon jungle region. The FARC denied responsibility. Copyright © 2001 Yahoo! Inc., and Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. Questions or Comments Privacy Policy - Terms of Service <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html">Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/">ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
