Colombia's largest rebel group to start political movement

A statement reported to be from Colombia's largest guerrilla group says theyare to launch a political movement in the new year.

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, is reported to have said that the left-wing political front, to be called the Bolivar Movement for a New Colombia, will include a number of rebel movements and protest groups.

But the statement says the political grouping will be secondary to their military actions against the army and paramilitary groups, which will continue.

Four-thousand government troops have meanwhile been sent into a southern jungle area to try to rescue eighteen soldiers being held captive by the FARC for the last ten days.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service