No US bail for Farc leader

Trinidad: Most senior Farc leader caught in 40 years of conflict

A US judge has ordered a Colombian left-wing guerrilla leader to be held in custody until he is tried for drug-trafficking and abduction.

The judge said there a risk Simon Trinidad - real name Ricardo Palmera - would flee if granted bail.

He is the most senior rebel leader to be extradited from Colombia.

His extradition followed the failure of Marxist fighters of the Farc movement to meet a deadline set by the Colombian government to free about 60 hostages.

Among those held by the group are former Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, three US citizens and dozens of Colombian army officers and political figures.

A US plane collected Simon Trinidad last Friday after heavily armed troops took him to an airfield outside the capital Bogota.

US abductions

He was convicted by a Colombian court of kidnapping and rebellion in May and sentenced to 35 years in jail.

Colombian President Alvaro Uribe had said he would halt the extradition if the guerrillas released 63 political hostages they held by 30 December.

The rebels refused, saying the hostages would only be liberated in exchange for hundreds of guerrillas held in prison.

A US federal court in Washington has charged the rebel leader with trafficking five kilos (11 pounds) or more of cocaine and involvement in kidnapping Americans.

Three US government contractors were captured by the Farc in February 2003 when their aircraft crashed during a mission to find illegal drug crops.