Over fifty people have been killed in heavy fighting between leftist guerrillas and right-wing paramilitaries in Colombia's northern Bolivar region.
According to the Colombian army, 30 members of the paramilitaries were killed, compared with 20 FARC fighters.
Fighting in the region has been raging since August 2nd.
Leftist rebels and right-wing defense squads have been clashing in San Lucas, a mountainous region north of Bogota, for three years.
Earlier today, FARC rejected mediation by the United Nations in its 37-year civil war with the government, now under the control of hard-line independent Mr Alvaro Uribe.
Mr Uribe, who was sworn in on Wednesday in a hail of anti-establishment violence that left 21 dead and more than 70 wounded, had asked UN Secretary General Mr Kofi Annan to take an ongoing role for the world body as a mediator in the internal conflict that has caused more than 200,000 deaths since 1975.
AFP
