Bogota  - Colombia's indigenous people are set to ward off a potentially catastrophic volcano eruption by establishing a "spiritual connection" with the volcano, a news report said.

A group of 20 wise men will prevent the Cerro Machin volcano, located in the central Andean state Tolima, from erupting by "establishing a spiritual connection," Feliciano Valencia, one of their leaders, was quoted as saying by the Colombian El Pais newspaper on Wednesday.

Bogota - Colombia's army chief General Mario Montoya on Tuesday resigned over the scandal around the alleged murder of 23 civilians by the military.

Last week, President Alvaro Uribe suspended 27 soldiers, including three generals, on suspicion of human rights crimes.

Bogota - After eight years in captivity, the former Colombian parliamentarian Oscar Tulio Lizcano managed to flee his captors, the left-wing FARC rebels, with the help of his guard, the country's top defence official said Sunday.

Defence Minister Juan Manuel Santos said Lizcano and a FARC member with the alias of Isaza fled three days ago in the jungles of western Colombia and encountered a military unit, which brought them to safety.

Bogota - Five low-grade bombs exploded in Colombian capital Bogota on Thursday injuring at least 11 people, police said.

Bogota - The nongovernmental organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in its annual report Thursday that the government of Colombian President Alvaro Uribe is blocking the probes of politicians with ties to extreme-right paramilitaries.

The 140-page report, under the headline "Breaking the Grip? Obstacles to Justice for Paramilitary Mafias in Colombia," evaluated progress made and criticized "the influence" of the paramilitaries.