Reuters

BOGOTA, Colombia, Jan. 3 -- A senior commander of Colombia's largest rebel insurgency was arrested in a hospital in neighboring Ecuador, the highest-ranking member of the guerrilla group to be captured in four decades of war.

Simon Trinidad, a commander of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known by its Spanish acronym, FARC, was arrested by Colombian and Ecuadoran authorities Friday while being treated in the capital city of Quito for a parasitic disease, the Colombian army said.

"It was a joint operation between the Colombian and Ecuadoran authorities. We had been tracking him for months and he arrived at a health center, apparently sick, and we captured him," a Colombian police commander said. Officials said he had leishmaniasis, a flesh-eating disease spread by sand flies found in Colombia's jungles.

Ecuadoran police gave a different account of the arrest, saying Trinidad, a balding former banker whose real name is Ricardo Palmera, was captured on a Quito street.

The capture of Trinidad, a former negotiator in failed talks with the government, was considered a boost for the U.S.-backed military, which has been criticized for failing to capture or kill senior rebel leaders in a war that claims the lives of thousands of people every year.

In Quito, Trinidad was led in handcuffs to a helicopter, surrounded by dozens of heavily armed Ecuadoran police. "Long live the FARC!" he shouted to onlookers. Officials said the helicopter was headed for the Colombian border, where Trinidad, 53, was to be handed over to authorities. Colombian authorities had offered an $820,000 reward for his capture.

Trinidad's arrest follows the army's recent success in killing mid-level commanders of the FARC and forcing the guerrillas to retreat into the jungle.

© 2004