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Colombian rebels deny support from Venezuela, Ecuador

Colombia's main rebel force denied claims that a laptop recovered in a raid that killed one of its top leaders proves it gets support from the leftist governments in Venezuela and Ecuador, reports said on Wednesday.

In a statement delivered to the Venezuelan government-funded channel Telesur, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) said the computer could not have survived the bombing of one of its camps in Ecuador that killed its spokesman Raul Reyes and 23 others.

In a separate statement, the rebels named the replacement for one of two recently slain leaders on their ruling seven-man junta.

Colombian officials did not immediately return telephones calls seeking comment.

The cross-border attack set off the worst Latin American diplomatic crisis in decades as Ecuador and Venezuela withdrew their ambassadors. After much heated rhetoric, the week long dispute was finally resolved in a meeting of Latin American heads of state.

The Colombian government says that during the raid it recovered three laptops belonging to Reyes.

Information on one of the computers allegedly showed that FARC was to receive US$300 million from the Venezuelan government, had sought to purchase uranium and gave money to the 2006 presidential campaign of Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa, Colombia alleges.

The statement released on Wednesday denied both claims, saying FARC does not receive money from any foreign government or group with the exception of an already known transfer of funds made by a Danish activist group.

Another release, dated March 8 and also delivered to Telesur, said the guerrilla known as Mauricio Jaramillo, also known as "The Doctor," would become part of FARC's ruling secretariat, replacing Ivan Rios, who was killed earlier this month.

Little is known of Jaramillo. His name only appears once on the FARC Web site. Colombian media have reported that Jaramillo is the personal physician to FARC maximum leader Manuel "Sureshot" Marulanda.
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