The Colombian government Tuesday rejected an Ecuadorian tribunal's ruling to arrest its former defense minister and current presidential candidate Juan Manuel Santos, saying Quito has no such jurisdiction.
"The Colombian government does not recognize the jurisdiction of Ecuadorian Sucumbios' judge," Interior and Justice Minister Fabio Valencia said, adding Ecuadorian law is not supported by international law.
Santos is accused in Ecuador of having ordered a bombing raid in 2008 against a camp of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) established in Ecuadorian territory. He was Colombia's defense minister at the time.
A judge from the Ecuadorian province of Sucumbios, which borders Colombia, on Monday ordered Santos to be notified by the Ecuadorian embassy in Colombia about the imprisonment order against him. The warrant for Santos' arrest had been suspended for some time but reactivated recently.
Colombian President Alvaro Uribe vowed to protect Santos in a recent speech at the Sixth Latin America and Caribbean-European Union summit in Spain.
After the raid, Quito broke off ties with Bogota on the grounds that the attack violated Ecuador's territorial sovereignty.
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