Raul Reyes, second-in-command of the leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), was located and killed by the Colombian military following a phone call from Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, Colombian radio station RCN reported Wednesday. ( dpa )
Reyes was killed Saturday by Colombian forces, along with some 20 other rebels, in a cross-border raid on Ecuadorian soil that has unleased tensions between Colombia and neighbouring Ecuador and Venezeula, prompting the break-up of diplomatic relations and troop movements in the region.
According to RCN, a military source who asked not to be named said a call on February 27 from Chavez to Reyes on a satellite phone allowed Colombian intelligence to track down the rebel leader.
Chavez reportedly talked to Reyes about the release that day of four hostages held by FARC for at least five years.
"It is a bit ironic that it was a call from President Chavez that allowed us to kill Reyes," the military source was quoted as saying.
The same source said FARC's top leader, Manuel Marulanda Velez, is in Venezuelan territory, close to the Colombian border.
"(Intelligence services) have established that he is ill and has taken refuge in a Venezuelan estate, across the border with the (Colombian) province of Norte de Santander," the source said.