The Colombian president Andres Pastrana is today visiting the town of Mitu in the east of Colombia that has been the scene of fierce fighting between government forces and rebels since Sunday.

Troops have now retaken the town, the centre of which has been completely destroyed according to eyewitnesses.But while government troops entered Mitu, close to the border with Brazil, elsewhere in Colombia the army was pulling out of its bases in order to comply with the preconditions established for peace talks between the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia FARC.