Colombia rebel bomb hits local Nestle milk plant

BOGOTA, Jan 18 (Reuters) Colombian guerrillas exploded a car bomb at a milk storage plant run by a local Nestle S A subsidiary, injuring one man and severely damaging the facility, police said today.

Rebels waited for the last delivery trucks to enter the plant in southern Caqueta province last night before driving in a jeep carrying explosives, National Police Col.

William Orrego said. One man was injured as workers fled.

''It wiped out about 55 to 60 per cent of the plant,'' Orrego said, blaming the bomb on Colombia's largest rebel group, the FARC.

Mario Miranda, a Colombia spokesman for the world's largest food group, said the severe damage caused to the plant forced the company to suspend collection of milk from local producers in its area. The plant collected 45,000 liters (11,890 gallons) daily.

The FARC or Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia began as a group of peasants fighting inequalities, but after 40 years they have little popular support. US and Colombian officials brand the group terrorists financed by drug trafficking and kidnapping.

With the help of US funding, Colombian President Alvaro Uribe has cracked down on violence from the four-decade conflict and pushed the FARC back into the jungles and mountains. But the rebels are still fighting in remote areas.

REUTERS LL BST0035