BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) -- The brother of a top Colombian guerilla
                  leader and an indigenous man allegedly working for the rebels are wanted in
                  the kidnapping and killings of three U.S. activists on an Indian reserve,
                  authorities confirmed Monday.

                  Arrest orders were issued Thursday against German Briceno, a regional
                  commander of the Colombia's oldest and largest guerrilla group, the leftist
                  Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, chief prosecutor
                  Alfonso Gomez said.

                  Authorities are also seeking Gustavo Bokota, a member of the
                  8,000-member U'wa community of eastern Colombia. The Americans were
                  seized on the U'wa reserve Jan. 25 before being shot to death a week later
                  just across the border in Venezuela.

                  Gomez provided no details on the investigation of the killings, which have
                  outraged Colombia and have undercut Washington's support for peace talks
                  that began in January between the government and the 15,000-member
                  rebel group.

                  However, a top investigator in the prosecutor's office said initial interviews
                  indicated Briceno masterminded the crime and Bokota helped arrange the
                  kidnapping. The official spoke with The Associated Press on condition of
                  anonymity.

                  The bullet-ridden bodies of Ingrid Washinawatok, 41, of Wisconsin,
                  Lahe'ena'e Gay, 39, of Hawaii, and Terence Freitas, 24, of Los Angeles,
                  were found March 4. They were killed while working to help set up schools
                  for the U'wa, a group that has fought to keep oil companies off its lands.

                  The warrant for Briceno was likely to increase suspicion of a cover-up by
                  the FARC, which this month blamed the slayings on a rogue squad leader
                  acting without approval. They said the rebel, "Gildardo," may face a firing
                  squad.

                  Colombia's army cast doubt on the FARC's story, offering intercepted radio
                  communications in which Briceno -- the group's ranking commander in the
                  region -- allegedly ordered the killings.

                  The wanted man's brother, Jorge Briceno, is the FARC's No. 2 in
                  command.

                  U'wa leaders on Monday confirmed that Bokota was a member of their
                  community, but said his whereabouts were unknown. "This is out of our
                  hands. If they capture him, fine. That's the business of the prosecutor's
                  office," U'wa leader Luis Eduardo Caballero told The Associated Press by
                  telephone.

                  The U'wa have sharply condemned the FARC for the killings. U'wa leaders
                  had invited the three Americans onto their 150,000-acre (61,000-hectare)
                  reserve, vouching for their safety in the region where kidnappings are
                  common.

                  U.S. Ambassador Curtis Kammen on Friday reiterated Washington's call for
                  the FARC to turn over all rebels responsible and to help in the inquiry. Until
                  then, said Kammen, Washington will be unable to resume contact with the
                  group in support of the peace process.

                    Copyright 1999 The Associated Press.