Ecuador: FARC Raid Death Harms Relations

QUITO — Ecuador on Monday sought the aid of the Organization of American States in condemning the killing of an Ecuadorean citizen in a cross-border military raid on a Colombian guerrilla camp that has strained relations between the Andean neighbors.

Attorney General Alfredo Alvear announced earlier in the day that fingerprint tests confirmed that a body, brought from the jungle camp to Bogota along with slain rebel leader Raul Reyes, belonged to locksmith Franklin Aisalla.

"The issue has become more difficult," Defense Minister Wellington Sandoval told reporters following Aisalla's identification.

Later Monday, Ecuador's Foreign Ministry released a statement saying Aisalla's killing and the transportation of his body to Bogota constituted a human rights abuse in violation of international law and that the government would support his family in seeking reparations.

"Ecuador will appeal this action to the secretary general of the OAS with the goal of finding a definitive solution to the case," the statement said.

Colombian Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos said he hoped Aisalla's death would not harm relations — despite a weekend threat by Ecuador's leftist President Rafael Correa to launch a new "diplomatic struggle" against Colombia if Aisalla's identity was confirmed.

Santos told Bogota's Caracol radio that he did not understand "why a country like Ecuador would cause problems over the death of someone with links to the FARC," as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia is known.

"Anyone who is in a terrorist camp is taking a very high risk, because it's a legitimate military target," he said in the interview.

Correa broke off diplomatic relations with Colombia over the March 1 raid, which killed rebel commander Reyes and 24 others, including four visiting Mexican university students.

Ecuador and Venezuela mobilized troops to their borders, but pulled them back after a testy meeting of regional leaders in the Dominican Republic on March 7.

On Monday, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez warned Colombian officials to watch their words or risk a new diplomatic flare-up, accusing Santos of rekindling tensions with Ecuador.

On Sunday, Santos said an individual identified as Franklin Ponelia Molina was found to have been helping members of the FARC.

Franklin Aisalia's father, Guillermo, told reporters that "it's a lie," his son was never a FARC member.

Uribe says documents seized at the camp from Reyes' computer show that the FARC gave money to Correa's 2006 presidential campaign. Correa says the documents lack "technical and legal" validity.

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