Chavez sends tanks to Colombian border

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has ordered tank battalions to the Colombian border and mobilized warplanes after Colombian troops struck inside Ecuador in an attack on rebels

He also ordered the shutting of Venezuela's embassy in Colombia and the withdrawal of all diplomatic staff in the dispute, warning Colombia's actions could spark a war in South America.

'Mr Defense Minister, move me 10 battalions to the frontier with Colombia immediately, tank battalions,' Chavez said on his weekly TV show. 'The air force should mobilize. We do not want war.'

Colombia's military said yesterday that troops had killed Raul Reyes, a leader of FARC rebels, during an attack on a jungle camp in Ecuador in a severe blow to Latin America's oldest guerrilla insurgency. The operation included air strikes and fighting with rebels across the frontier.