Colombia’s leader thanked Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez for the capture of a suspected guerrilla commander wanted in Colombia, lauding the “growing collaboration” between the countries.

The first dirty-war kidnap victim to be identified by DNA tests returned to Argentina from Spain to tell a court that a former government intelligence agent not only stole her from her parents, but sexually abused her.

The presidents of Colombia and Venezuela agreed to restore diplomatic relations severed nearly three weeks ago by Caracas, smoothing over a dispute over allegations Colombian rebels have camps in Venezuela.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Colombia’s Alvaro Uribe agreed to allow a representative of Colombia’s largest guerrilla group to travel to Caracas for talks aimed at freeing dozens of rebel-held hostages, including politician Ingrid Betancourt and three US defence contractors.

Banana company Chiquita Brands International is to pay a $25m (€18.9m) fine after admitting it paid terrorists for protection in a volatile farming region of Colombia.

The US is imposing a ban on arms sales to Venezuela because of what it claims is a lack of support by President Hugo Chavez’s leftist government for counterterrorism efforts, the US state department said tonight.

A leader of Colombia’s smaller rebel group has been released from prison today in hopes that he will be able to persuade his fellow guerrillas to hold peace talks.

The Colombian army said today it seized €32.1m worth of cocaine belonging to leftist guerrillas that was hidden in a cove on the outskirts of a city near Venezuela’s border.

MACEDONIANS voted yesterday for a successor to president Boris Trajkovski, killed in a plane crash in February, with the incumbent prime minister tipped to win despite his poor economic record.

Five backpackers have begun their final trek to freedom in the jungle-covered mountains of northern Colombia after three months in captivity, a member of a humanitarian mission said today.

A humanitarian commission boarded a helicopter and flew deep into a snow-capped Colombian mountain range today in hopes of picking up two foreign backpackers whom their rebel captors have pledged to release.

A humanitarian commission today took a firsthand look at impoverished villages in northern Colombia, meeting a key demand of a rebel group holding seven foreign backpackers.

A massive search for seven foreign backpackers being held captive by leftist rebels in northern Colombia will continue, Colombian President Alvaro Uribe vowed today.

Catholic Church mediators who travelled to the jungles of northern Colombia to try to negotiate the release of seven foreign tourists said they were heading home after receiving no word from rebels behind the mass abduction.

Colombian guerrilla leaders holding seven tourists hostage said today they wanted to exchange the seven foreign backpackers for imprisoned rebels, but they did not make it a requisite for freeing the tourists.

A senior Roman Catholic Church leader met with imprisoned leaders of Colombia’s second-largest rebel group as part of stepped up efforts to secure the release of seven foreign hostages.

A car bomb blast in a Colombian town’s shopping centre killed at least 20 people and injured 20 others today, police said.

A British reporter and a US photographer on assignment for the Los Angeles Times have been kidnapped by Colombian rebels.

A British newspaper reporter and an American photographer have been kidnapped by Colombian rebels, the first foreign journalists to be abducted in recent memory in the country’s long war.

A six-month-old baby girl was found alive and well among dead bodies on a Colombian battlefield.

At least 52 people have been killed in scattered fighting in Colombia, authorities say.

Another batch of British troops is today joining the multi-national security force in Afghanistan.

Colombia’s second largest guerrilla army has accused the armed forces of endangering the peace process by stepping up military actions during a rebel truce.

Fighters from Colombia's largest rebel group have killed three policemen and kidnapped at least 11 civilians over the weekend.

A British man has reportedly shot dead during clashes between Colombian troops and the country’s second largest guerilla group.

Macedonia’s National Liberation Army decommissioned "carloads" of weapons today, despite the fact that the NATO force overseeing the disarming of the rebels has already collected its target of 3,300 weapons.

Nato is insisting that efforts to collect weapons from ethnic Albanian militants are right on schedule despite delays by Macedonia’s Parliament.

Nato has resumed collecting weapons from ethnic Albanian rebels.

Macedonia’s parliament has voted in favour of a peace agreement with the ethnic Albanian National Liberation Army, clearing the way for NATO to resume collecting weapons from the rebels.

The speaker of Macedonia’s Parliament today urged Ministers to end the debate over the NATO-designed peace accord and move quickly to vote.

NATO is to start collecting 3,300 weapons from ethnic Albanian militants in Macedonia.

Two people have reportedly died in an explosion that flattened a Macedonian-owned hotel this morning in an area controlled by the ethnic Albanian National Liberation Army.

A disagreement over weapons in Macedonia has delayed NATO’s mission to help disarm the ethnic Albanian National Liberation Army.

Ethnic Albanian rebels and Government forces have clashed in Macedonia, straining a ceasefire before a visit by a top Nato general.

Ethnic Albanian rebels and Government forces clashed into the early hours today, straining a ceasefire ahead of a visit by Nato’s commander to assess whether it is safe to send thousands of British led troops into Macedonia.

Fighting broke out between rebels and government forces in Macedonia as British troops and equipment today continued to arrive to join the massive Nato weapons collection operation.

Macedonia's ethnic Albanian guerrilla leader has declared that his fighters will hand over their weapons to NATO soldiers.

Nato soldiers streamed into Macedonia today ahead of a key visit by a senior alliance general who will help determine whether the country is stable enough to start an effort to collect rebel weapons.

NATO has authorised the deployment of troops to collect and destroy weapons held by the ethnic Albanian National Liberation Army in Macedonia.

Macedonia's minority ethnic Albanians and majority Slavs are expected to sign a peace accord later today aimed at ending a six-month insurgency in the north of the country.

A fresh outbreak of fighting in northern Macedonia has thrown doubt on whether the country's minority ethnic Albanians and majority Slavs will sign a peace accord as planned tomorrow.

Macedonia’s rival parties pledged to sign a peace deal next week after talks took on a new sense of urgency following the killing of 10 soldiers in the six-month insurgency’s bloodiest battle yet.

Ethnic Albanian rebels have killed 10 Macedonian soldiers in an ambush this morning about 10 miles west of the capital, Skopje.

Macedonian police have shot and killed five suspected ethnic Albanian rebels during a raid on a house in the country's capital, Skopje.