CUBA WARNS COLOMBIA OF POSSIBLE GUERRILLA ATTACKS

The Cuban government has taken the unusual step of warning Colombia about a possible attack by the leftist Ejercito Liberacion Nacional (ELN) guerrilla organization, Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa) reported.

"The government has received a communication from the Cuban ambassador to Colombia about a suspected planned attack by the ELN," Colombian Defense Minister Diego Molano said.

The newspaper El Tiempo reported the warning earlier. According to the report, the ELN is said to be planning an attack in capital city Bogota in the coming days. The Colombian government, the United States and the European Union (EU) classify the ELN as a terrorist organization.

It carries out attacks and takes hostages mainly in eastern Colombia. After a bomb attack that killed 22 people at a police academy in Bogota two years ago, the government broke off peace talks with the guerrilla organization.

ELN, which translates to National Liberation Army (NLA) in English, is a Colombian rebel group with about 2,000 fighters. Members of its leadership have repeatedly stayed in Havana. Until now, Cuba's communist leadership has always been sympathetic to the Colombian rebels.

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