Colombian Rebel Leader Raul Reyes Killed by Army, Minister Says

-- Colombia's military has killed a top rebel leader and 16 of his comrades in a predawn air strike against his jungle camp in neighboring Ecuador, Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos said.

The death of the commander known by his alias Raul Reyes was ``the biggest blow against the FARC in its history,'' said Santos, referring to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. Reyes was 59.

His death is likely to intensify a struggle for power within the half-century-old peasant movement to overthrow the government, said former Colombian President Ernesto Samper.

``Without a doubt this strikes at the very heart of the FARC,'' Samper told Caracol Radio. ``He was the most visible representative of the moderate wing of the FARC, so it's possible this may embolden the hardliners who want to deepen the war.''

Santos, speaking on television today, said 16 other rebels, including Reyes' female partner, were killed when Colombian planes fired upon the camp in Ecuador from within Colombian airspace.

Following the strike, troops crossed into Ecuador to confirm the deaths and prevent Reyes' body from being shuttled away by surviving rebels, Santos said.

Anti-Capitalist Missives

He said President Alvaro Uribe spoke to Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa after the operation concluded.

Correa, who has criticized cross-border incursions by Colombia's military in the past, confirmed that combat took place on Ecuadorean soil. He interrupted a political meeting in Ecuador to state ``the situation needs to be clarified,'' according to RCN TV in Colombia.

Reyes, who was wanted for extradition by the United States on drug-trafficking charges, was a Marxist union leader at a Nestle dairy plant in Caqueta province before going underground and joining the FARC decades ago.

He was the FARC's most visible spokesman, regularly delivering anti-capitalist missives on the group's Web site, and one of the most influential voices of the 7-member Secretariat.

Samper said Reyes' death may ``put in danger the lives'' of 40 rebel-held hostages, including three Americans and former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt.

The FARC is holding the hostages as ``political prisoners'' in its decades-long war against Colombia's democracy.