800 cyanide-coated bullets seized from rebels

Troops seized 800 bullets soaked in liquid cyanide after clashes with leftist rebels in northeast Colombia, an army general said.

"This is a new strategy by these narco-terrorists who are trying to cause the certain death of whoever comes into contact with this substance," said General Luis Antonio Coronado, the commander of the Army's 1st Brigade.

The poisoned bullets were found on Tuesday near the remote municipality of La Salina, 260kms northeast of Bogota after clashes in which two guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, were killed, Coronado told local radio.

Troops also confiscated an arsenal of guns, hand grenades and radio sets. The rebels are fighting against government troops and right-wing paramilitary forces in a 40-year-old civil war that kills an estimated 3,500 people annually.

Colombian officials have in the past accused the FARC of targeting troops with cyanide-tipped bullets, which are banned under international treaties, although it is unclear if any soldiers have died from them. Exposure to cyanide kills a person by preventing oxygen from reaching cells, according to the US-based Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

In September 2001, four members of the Colombian National Police died in what was alleged to be a poison gas attack blamed on the FARC. Survivors of the attack said the officers suffocated after the FARC tossed bombs that released clouds of dark grey smoke into a police compound. A US Defence Department investigation found traces of cyanide in one of the corpses.

The rebels have not responded to accusations that they use cyanide or other poisonous substances.

Separately, the government's peace commissioner began a tour of a 368sqkm safe haven in northwest Colombia granted earlier this month to 10 outlawed right-wing warlords and 400 of their bodyguards as part of efforts to breathe new life into peace talks.

The paramilitary commanders can be armed and move freely within the zone around Sante Fe de Ralito, a small town that will host the talks 440kms from Bogota, without fear of arrest or of extradition to the United States on drug-trafficking charges.

In the nearby city of Monteria, Peace Commissioner Luis Carlos Restrepo said he needed to put the necessary security conditions in place before negotiations could begin.

No date has been fixed for the start of the talks, which the government says will last six months and culminate in the demobilisation of some 5,000 paramilitary fighters by year's end.