Ecuador Rebuffs US Charges

Quito, May 3 (Prensa Latina) Ecuador rejected statements by Dell Dailey, Coordinator for Counterterrorism of the US State Department, on an alleged government link with Colombia's guerrilla.

The local Foreign Ministry considers the statement meddlesome in Ecuadorian domestic affairs and an aggresive attempt to adjust national security policy to foreign dictates.

Dailey alleged that the March 1 death of rebel leader Raul Reyes in Ecuador shows poor border protection from intrusions of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and is evidence of Ecuadors connection with the FARC, adds the release.

The document responds by saying that rather than proving a link with the government of President Rafael Correa, intrusion by FARC irregular groups in Ecuador show Colombian incompetence to keep the conflict within national borders.

Ecuador also denied Daileys accusations of 14 FARC camps operating in Ecuador, and said there are many more existing in Colombia.

The Foreign Ministry reaffirmed Ecuadorian independence and sovereignty against foreign pressure and its capacity to refute intrusion by foreign regular or irregular troops in its soil.

The government of Ecuador will always rely on ethical principles regardless of what foreign officials may say, concludes the release.