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Colombia has rejected an order from an Ecuadorean judge to
arrest Colombia's military chief over a bombing raid carried out on
Ecuador's side of the border last year, which led to a break-off of
diplomatic ties.
The March 2008 bombardment killed a key Colombian guerrilla leader
and set off a diplomatic firestorm in which the leftist government
of Ecuador broke ties with Bogota.
Colombia and Ecuador have made headway toward re-establishing ties
in recent weeks, but the arrest order issued against Colombian
military commander Freddy Padilla threatens to bog down
reconciliation talks.
Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, Washington's top ally in
left-leaning South America, suggested that a bilateral meeting that
had been scheduled for Friday be put off until the issue is
settled.
"The Colombian government does not recognise the jurisdiction of
Ecuadorean justice to investigate and judge Colombian officials or
former officials," said a statement issued on Colombia's
presidential website.
An Ecuadorean court had recently
requested the extradition of former Colombian Defence Minister Juan
Manuel Santos in connection with the bombing raid. Raul Reyes,
No 2 commander of Colombia's biggest rebel army, was killed in the
attack.
"Colombia reiterates that it is necessary to find a solution to
this problem in order to advance in the normalisation of diplomatic
relations," the statement said.
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