Anger in Andes at rebel boss kidnap

A bizarre kidnapping led by bounty hunters and cross-border smugglers has sent shockwaves through the Andes and raised serious questions about the methods of US-backed forces waging a "war on drugs" in the region.

A bizarre kidnapping led by bounty hunters and cross-border smugglers has sent shockwaves through the Andes and raised serious questions about the methods of US-backed forces waging a "war on drugs" in the region.

Colombia's secret mission into neighbouring Venezuela to snatch Rodrigo Granda - the "foreign minister" of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) - showed a new aggressive approach by the Bogota regime, the closest US ally in South America.

But Venezuela called the kidnapping "a crime that could have international implications," and withdrew their ambassador from Bogota.

The Colombians, trying to limit diplomatic damage, initially denied all knowledge of the operation. They later changed their line to say they arrested the rebel leader on their own soil. But Colombian military sources were subsequently forced to admit they paid a bounty to an operative who kidnapped Granda and they received US help to do so.

Venezuelan investigators allege that Granda was snatched near a café in the centre of the capital, Caracas, on 13 December and smuggled into neighbouring Colombia, where he was arrested in the border city of Cucuta. He is facing charges of terrorism and rebellion, as well as possible extradition to the US.

Fellow FARC leader Simon Trinidad was flown north to be handed over to US authorities last month on charges of drug trafficking and abduction in the crackdown on drug cartels.