Colombian rebels hand over guns

The paramilitaries chanted slogans as they surrendered their guns

Colombia's top paramilitary commander, Salvatore Mancuso, has handed in his weapons, along with more than 1,000 of his fighters.

The move, welcomed by the government, represents the largest demobilisation so far by the right-wing AUC group.

The group have pledged to disarm all their 20,000 fighters by the end of next year as part of a peace process.

In a dramatic statement Mr Mancuso, wanted by the US for drug-trafficking, asked the world for forgiveness.

"With my soul flooded in humility, I ask the pardon of the people of Colombia, the pardon of the nations of the world, among them the United States of America, if by my action or inaction I have offended them," Mr Mancuso said.

"I beg the pardon of every mother and of those whom we have caused pain," he told those attending the ceremony on a farm northeast of Bogota.

'An historic moment'

Some 1,400 fighters from the AUC's Catatumbo bloc handed over pistols, machine guns and rifles to government representatives.

The bloc, which has been battling Marxist rebels in the cocaine-producing region of northeast Colombia for half a decade, is the largest AUC faction to give up its arms.

Under the peace plan, all the paramilitary fighters will give up their arms by the end of 2005.

The government's peace commissioner Luis Carlos Restrepo said the handing over of weapons represented an historic moment.

"This is now recorded in the memory of Colombians as the largest collective demobilisation that has been seen to date in our country," he said.

Colombian President Alvaro Uribe says the peace process will help end armed conflict in Colombia but critics say it means paramilitaries will go unpunished for serious crimes.

Arrest warrants for paramilitary commanders have been suspended during peace talks.