Blast at Colombia army base kills one, wounds five

BOGOTA, Colombia, Oct 29 (Reuters) A blast outside a Colombian army base last night killed one man and wounded another five people, including three soldiers, in southeastern Meta province, authorities said.

Officials said it was unclear whether it was a bomb packed into the taxi or a home-made mortar in a gas cylinder, an explosive used before by the country's largest rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia or FARC.

The explosion outside the 7th Brigade army base in Villavicencio town, 70 km from Bogota, killed a taxi driver and wounded the soldiers and two civilians in a nearby bus, Army General Guillermo Quinones told local radio.

''The taxi was completed destroyed and the bus was also badly damaged,'' he said without giving details.

The blast came after the FARC said they were willing to enter into talks with President Alvaro Uribe over the release of hostages held by the rebels for years, including three US contract workers kidnapped nearly four years ago.

Uribe, who has received millions of dollars of US aid to fight the rebels and the country's drug trade, has led a crackdown on the FARC that has driven the rebels back and reduced violence from Colombia's four-decade conflict.

After his re-election in May, Uribe softened his tone on talks with the FARC over exchanging rebels in prison for hostages hold in secret camps. But after a car-bomb hit a Bogota military college last week, Uribe scotched any talks and ordered troops to find and rescue the hostages.

REUTERS SP VV1020