COLOMBIAN GEN SANCHEZ WALKS PAST AMID BODIES OF REBELS DEAD IN COMBAT, 2000-04-06 (photo)

Colombian General Euclides Sanchez walks past a line of bodies of leftist rebels April 5, at the army base of Sogamoso, some 120 kms. northeast of Bogota. At least 18 Marxist rebels of the National Liberation Army (ELN) died in a clash with an army patrol in mountains in central Colombia on April 4 the army said. Troops attacked the National Liberation Army (ELN) unit during a routine search and destroy operation in the Andes mountains in Boyaca province. The year-old negotiations however, are going ahead without any prior cease fire deal in the three-decade-old war that has cost more than 35,000 lives in just the past 10 years. JMG