Ten kidnapped footballers are found shot dead

At least 10 members of an amateur Colombian soccer team were found dead yesterday – two weeks after they were kidnapped on the Venezuelan side of the border with Colombia.

Ramon Carrizalez, the Venezuelan Vice-President, said the bodies – all with bullet wounds – were found in various parts of the western state of Tachira. One of the 12 players survived and another was still missing. Kidnappings and armed disputes are rife on both sides of the frontier, where Colombian guerrilla groups, paramilitaries and criminal gangs operate.

Mr Carrizalez said the deaths of the players, who were reportedly local tradesmen seized while in Venezuela for a game, were related to Colombia's internal conflict, but gave no further details.