Colombia denies violation of Ecuador's sovereignty,boosts secrurity

Also on Sunday, Colombia's Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it had not violated Ecuador's sovereignty and had instead acted in what it called "legitimate self-defense".

The ministry said it would respond formally to Ecuador's diplomatic note of protest about the incident in a later joint statement with the Defense Ministry.

Colombia has stepped up security measures against possible FARC retaliation following the killing of Reyes, who had been viewed as a possible successor to 77-year-old head Manuel Marulanda.

Colombian Interior Minister Carlos Holguin said he doubted FARC had the capacity to revenge the death of Reyes, whose real name was Luis Edgar Devia Silva.

"I believe this is the end of the end," he told reporters.

Concern over hostage negotiations

Reyes' death came just three days after FARC unilaterally released four former Colombian legislators it had held hostage for six years, in the second such move this year. On January 10, the group released two other Colombians – Clara Rojas and Consuelo Gonzalez.

FARC is seeking to reach a deal with the Colombian government on swapping some 40 high-value captives, including Ingrid Betancourt, a French-Colombian citizen kidnapped in 2002 while campaigning for the presidency, with 500 imprisoned FARC members, including some extradited to the United States.

FARC said in a statement that the killing of Reyes, who had been involved in hostage talks, should not affect its moves to free more captives, according to the Venezuelan government.

Reacting to Reyes' death, French President Nicolas Sarkozy urged all sides to take the "humanitarian considerations" into account and maintain the "positive dynamic" achieved by the recent hostage releases.

He also repeated his call for Betancourt's release.

(Xinhua News Agency March 3, 2008)