Regional Colombian leader assassinated

A member of the governing Liberal Party in Colombia has been shot dead in the town of Tame.

The man, Edgar Guzman, was in a local park when he was shot several times by an unidentified gunman.

He later died in hospital.

Mr Guzman was the president of the assembly in Arauca department, and his family said he had received numerous death threats from left-wing rebels.

Correspondents say Colombia's left-wing rebels have stepped up their campaign of violence in a bid to disrupt the next Sunday's presidential elections.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service