BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) --Colombian security forces captured an urban rebel
commander and 19 guerrillas, authorities said Saturday.

Police arrested Jose Parmenides Castro -- an alleged commander of the
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC -- early Saturday in the capital,
Bogota, said Carolina Sanchez, a spokeswoman for the attorney general's office.

Authorities described Castro as the leader of the FARC's 51st Front active in
Cundinamarca province. He is wanted for kidnapping and extortion, Sanchez said.

Soldiers captured the group of FARC combatants late Friday in Bucaramanga, 186
miles (300 kilometers) northeast of Bogota. Many of them were making their way
from the mountains to join FARC militia groups in the cities, army spokesman Luis
Hernandez said.

Rebel attacks have left large parts of this South American nation without electricity,
water or telephone service. In the latest attacks, FARC rebels Saturday downed an
electrical pylon in Arauca province and a phone tower in Meta province, the army
said.

The government broke off three-year peace talks with the FARC -- the nation's
largest rebel army -- last month and launched a military offensive into its former safe
haven in southern Colombia. There has been little evidence of military success.

The rebels have bombed about 70 electrical towers since they began attacking
Colombia's infrastructure. There have been power outages in at least six provinces.

 Copyright 2002 The Associated Press.