The American-based oil company Occidental has cancelled plans to drill on land in northern Colombia regarded as sacred by an Indian tribe.

The U'wa Indians threatened mass suicide if exploration went ahead, and they and their supporters had been waging an international campaign for three years to stop the company.

Occidental ended months of speculation by announcing it was giving up its rights to the area in the Samore region, covering two-thousand square kilometres.

The Colombian government is thought to have offered Occidental alternative sites nearby: the U'wa tribe said no celebrations were planned until they found out whether this land was outside traditional Indian territory.