The commander of Colombia's FARC rebel group, Pedro Antonio Marin alias Manuel Marulanda, may have died, according to unconfirmed reports Saturday, dpa reported.
The Semana magazine quoted Defence Minister Juan Manuel Santos as saying the government had been informed by a reliable source that the rebel leader known as "sureshot" had died of a heart attack at the age of 77 in late March.
Colombian officials were however trying to confirm the report that originated from one of its own sources, Santos said.
FARC is Latin America's largest rebel army, with former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt among its hostages. The commander has been wrongly reported to have died on numerous occasions previously.