Peru breaks up arms-smuggling ring

The security forces in Peru say they have broken up an international arms-smuggling ring sending weapons from Jordan to left-wing rebels in Colombia.

President Alberto Fujimori, said it showed that the guerrillas posed a danger to Peru and that Colombia's civil conflict could spill over the border.

He said about ten-thousand assault rifles were flown from Amman and air-dropped in the remote Amazon jungle region intended for use by guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.

Six people have been arrested, some of them foreigners. Correspondents say the discovery comes at a sensitive time for Colombia's neighbours who fear that a major counter-narcotics offensive spearheaded by the United States could cause problems in their countries.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service