Ecuador military officers resign

A group of military officers in Ecuador who took part in January's short-lived uprising have resigned from the armed forces.

The officer who led the rebellion, Colonel Lucio Gutierrez, said he and his colleagues were offering to step down, in his words, as a contribution to peace for all Ecuadoreans.

Last month, the congress approved an amnesty for the officers and a number of indigenous leaders involved in the uprising in an attempt to reach national reconciliation.

But the officers were still facing disciplinary action.

Another dozen or so officers have pledged to fight the charges. During the uprising, the soldiers stormed parliament and other government buildings in Quito, forcing the president, Jamil Mahuad, to resign.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service