By Hugh Bronstein BOGOTA, Sept 22 (Reuters) - A Colombian guerrilla wanted for hundreds of kidnappings and for putting to death two of his high-profile victims was killed by state security forces, the government said on Monday, the latest blow against the rebels. Even Colombians used to decades of violence were shocked in 2003 when the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, killed Antioquia Gov. Guillermo Gaviria and former Defense Minister Gilberto Echeverry. Both had been kidnapped by the insurgents and were shot as an army rescue mission approached. The guerrilla commander who ordered the deaths -- Jesus Agudelo, known as "The Paisa" -- was killed in a Sunday air force bombing raid near the border of Antioquia and Choco provinces in western Colombia, the government said. "This is a victory in practical terms because it shows that the government's infiltration of the FARC in this part of the country has been very effective," said Cesar Restrepo, an analyst at Bogota think tank Security and Democracy. "It is also symbolic because the executions of Gaviria and Echeverry were a real black mark," he said. The 44-year-old FARC, which still holds up to 700 hostages, has been pressed onto the defensive by a security push backed by billions of dollars in U.S. military aid. Two members of the FARC's seven-man secretariat were killed earlier this year -- one in a raid carried out in Ecuador and the other betrayed and dismembered by his own bodyguards looking to collect a reward from the government. Agudelo was accused of more than 400 kidnappings but best known for the Gaviria and Echeverry cases. "He not only ordered that they be kidnapped, he ordered that they be executed," said Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos. "He was a high-value target for us, considering his cruelty and the damage he had done to the civilian population and to the army." The government says the FARC is suffering from severe command and control problems due to stepped up monitoring of rebel communications that is used to track down its leaders. But the guerrillas still control wide rural areas that they use to produce the cocaine that funds the insurgency. (Editing by Mohammad Zargham)
Police officers in wheelchairs arrive in Sibate as they prepare to roll their way towards the country's capital Bogota September 18, 2008. Fifteen police officers, who lost their limbs fighting against ...
