US indicts Colombian guerrilla leaders

Mr Briceno is the most senior rebel targeted by the US

Leaders of a Colombian rebel group branded as terrorists by the United States have been charged with kidnapping Americans and trafficking in drugs.

US Attorney General John Ashcroft said the indictments against members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) could ultimately carry the death penalty.

US authorities pledged to help track down the wanted guerrillas

Correspondents say the charges are the latest in a flurry of US efforts to hinder the rival factions in Colombia's civil war and stem the cocaine trade.

The BBC's correspondent in Colombia, Jeremy McDermott, says the charges against the members of FARC - which the US State Department lists as a foreign terrorist organisation - mark the first time the US has targeted such senior guerrilla commanders.

He says that could provoke a reaction against Americans in Colombia, who have been threatened by guerrillas before.

But the indicted men - two of whom are said to be Colombia's most feared rebel leaders - have not been arrested and may never be caught.

Named in the three indictments are:

• Jorge Briceno, alias El Mono Jojoy, a top FARC military commander and strategist
• Henry Castellanos, alias Romana, Mr Briceno's young deputy
• Tomas Molina, alias Negro Acacia, a FARC commander
• A guerrilla named only as El Loco - the Madman

Charges

Mr Briceno was charged with conspiring in 1997 to kidnap Americans Jerel Shaffer and Earl Goen from neighbouring Venezuela.

Mr Shaffer was beaten and held hostage in the Colombian jungle for nine months until a $1m ransom was paid while Mr Goen was released shortly after the kidnapping.

Today marks another significant milestone in the war against terrorism and drug trafficking in the America

US Attorney General John Ashcroft

Mr Molina and El Loco were also charged in connection with those abductions.

Mr Ashcroft said the accused could face the death penalty because of the ransom demand and because two Colombian people were murdered while Mr Shaffer was held hostage.

Mr Castellanos was accused of involvement in the 1998 kidnappings of four American tourists on a bird-watching trip. They were released after a month with no ransom paid.

Mr Briceno was also charged with conspiracy to distribute cocaine in the US.

Continuing operation

Mr Ashcroft declared: "Today marks another significant milestone in the war against terrorism and drug trafficking in the Americas."

FBI Director Robert Mueller said US authorities would work with their Colombian counterparts to pursue the accused men.

The indictments came a week after the US Justice Department announced it had disrupted a drugs-for-weapons plot involving the United Self-Defence Forces of Colombia (AUC) who are paramilitary rivals of FARC.

Earlier this year, a federal grand jury returned indictments against FARC itself and six of its members in a 1999 conspiracy to kidnap and kill three Americans who all died.