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By TOBY MUSE
BOGOTA, Colombia - Troops killed a senior commander of Colombia's largest rebel army in an air-and-ground raid, as the U.S.-backed military dealt a stunning setback to the nation's leftist insurgency.
Raul Reyes was the public face of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia as its spokesman and considered a possible successor to the group's No. 1 spot. He died in combat Saturday across the border in neighboring Ecuador, said Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos.
"This is the strongest blow dealt to the terrorist group to date," Santos told a news conference.
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Santos said the military tracked Reyes' location through information from an informer. The air force then bombed a camp where Reyes was thought to be just after midnight Saturday. As the ground troops moved in, they came under attack from another camp located just over the border in Ecuador. When the military overran the camp, they found Reyes' body, he said.
A total of 17 rebels and one soldier died in the operation, which involved Colombia's army, police and air force, the defense minister said. Among the rebel dead was another senior FARC member Guillermo Enrique Torres, a revolutionary songwriter known as "Julian Conrado."
Colombian neighbors Ecuador and Venezuela protested the incursion into foreign territory.
Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa said Colombian President Alvaro Uribe had informed him of the raid, but later announced that he was misled after Ecuadorean officials inspected a bombed rebel camp.
"The (Colombian) president either was poorly informed or brazenly lied to the president of Ecuador," said Correa, who called home the ambassador to Colombia for consultation and promised a diplomatic note of protest.
Correa said the strike used advanced technology and killed the rebels while they slept in a temporary camp in Ecuador. "The bodies were in pajamas."
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who is negotiating for the release of FARC-held hostages, warned that any such an incursion into Venezuela would lead to war.
"Don't think about doing that of here because it would very serious, it would be cause for war," Chavez said at a televised meeting with his Cabinet.
On Sunday, Colombia denied that it had violated Ecuador's sovereignty and said it acted in self-defenese.
"The terrorists, among them Raul Reyes, have had the custom of killing in Colombia and taking refuge in the territory of neighboring countries. Many times Colombia has suffered from this situation that we must avoid to protect our citizens," said a statement from the Foreign Ministry.
The death of Reyes, whose real name was Luis Edgar Devia Silva, is the latest in a series of rebel setbacks at the hands of Uribe's government, which has vowed to use U.S. aid to defeat the FARC.
It also was one of the most severe blows to the group since its 1964 inception.
But Lazaro Riveros, a government negotiator who dealt with Reyes during talks that ended in 2002, cautioned that the FARC will replace Reyes immediately and "will keep moving forward in line with their principles and their structures."
In recent years, Colombian forces have captured or killed top regional commanders with noms de guerre "El Negro Acacio", who oversaw much of the group's coca operations; "Martin Sombra" who is alleged to have guarded hostages, including three U.S. contractors; and "Martin Caballero." In January, FARC leader Ricardo Palmera, better known as Simon Trinidad, was sentenced to 60 years in prison in the United States. But none of these men had the status and rank of Reyes.
Reyes has frequently been mentioned as a potential successor to the guerrillas' aging maximum leader, Manuel "Sureshot" Marulanda.
"This could hit morale (in the FARC) because the myth of the invulnerability of the bosses is over," said Colombia's top security analyst, Alfredo Rangel.
There was no immediate reaction from the FARC.
The Colombian and U.S. governments accuse the FARC of being one of the largest cocaine cartels in South America, a claim rejected by the group which says it only taxes coca growers and buyers.
It was not immediately clear how Reyes' death would affect efforts to negotiate the release of rebel-held hostages, including French-Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt and three U.S. defense contractors. But Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro read a statement calling Reyes' death "a hard blow to the humanitarian agreement process."
In France, those linked to Betancourt expressed fear the raid could endanger the hostages.
"The international community has its eyes locked on" the FARC, said Herve Marro, spokesman for the support committee for Betancourt, by telephone. "It's in their interest that not the least hair ... of a hostage be touched." French President Nicolas Sarkozy reiterated his call that Betancourt be freed "without delay."
Reyes was part of the political wing of the FARC and often took charge of important negotiations, a legacy of his earlier time in the trade union movement. He was considered to be part of a more intransigent faction of the FARC, favoring a hardline in talks with the government.
In 2000, he traveled to Europe to make the FARC's case to governments there, exchanging his fatigues for a business suit to visit officials in Stockholm, Oslo, Rome and Madrid.
But Colombia's prosecutor's office said Reyes was wanted in connection with more than 120 different criminal processes, including sixty charges of murder and four for kidnapping.
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Associated Press writer Chris Toothaker contributed to this report from Caracas, Venezuela.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Raúl Reyes

Raúl Reyes, senior guerrilla commander and international spokesman of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), has been killed by Colombian security forces in the southern province of Putumayo, the government said Saturday. 

Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos confirmed his death in a press conference. He said that 16 other FARC rebels and one Colombian soldier were killed in the skirmish, which took place in a rebel stronghold near the border with Ecuador.

"It is the hardest blow to FARC in all of its history", Santos said. Colombian security analyst Alfredo Rangel added, "This could hit morale of the FARC because the myth of the invulnerability of the bosses is over."

The military was able to locate the rebels by intercepting one of their satellite communications, he said. After launching an air strike on the rebel base, the Colombian military came under fire from the guerrilas. The military fired back, killing Reyes while in Ecuadorian territory. The bodies of the dead were then taken to Colombia.

"Once the camp was bombarded, Colombian forces were ordered in to secure the area and neutralize the enemy. The police was also asked to keep it secure until Ecuadoran authorities arrived," Santos said.

Colombian president Alvaro Uribe, who was monitoring the operation, contacted Ecuadorian president Rafael Correa to inform him of the incident. "It appears the FARC entered Ecuadorean territory," Correa said. "The incident must be clarified a bit." Correa said he will send troops to the area for an investigation.

According to the Associated Press, Reyes, whose real name was Luis Edgar Devia Silva, was considered a contender for becoming leader of FARC. Their current leader, Manuel Marulanda, is believed to be in poor health.

Also killed in the fighting was Guillermo Enrique Torres, known by the alias of "Julián Conrado". He was a senior member of FARC who composed and performed revolutionary songs. 

FARC is considered a terrorist organization by Colombia, the United States, and the European Union. The group has been accused of drug trafficking, extortion, and kidnapping, among other illegal activities. The U.S. Department of State had offered a US$5 million bounty for information leading to the arrest of Reyes, as well as the other 6 members of the FARC's highest governing body.