Brazil "important candidate" for expanded Security Council: Powell
US Secretary of State Colin Powell said Tuesday that Brazil will be an "important candidate" for new permanent members of the United Nations Security Council should the council be expanded.

"My vision is the reform will occur and Brazil, with its strategic position, is an important candidate," Powell told Brazilian businessmen in Sao Paulo.

Powell praised the country's efforts in the peace process of Haiti, which may gain credits for Brazil's bid for Security Council permanent membership.

On the inspection of the uranium-enrichment plant in Brazil, Powell said the United States is certain that the country does not think of a proliferation of nuclear arms, but he recommended Brazil to allow the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to make inspections.

Powell applauded Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and congratulated the Brazilian people for the municipal elections on Sunday, which he termed as peaceful.

He also stressed that US President George W. Bush's administration is "fully committed" to the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) and hopes to complete the negotiation process in early 2005.

Powell started his two-day visit to Brazil Monday for better cooperation with the largest country in South America.

He will fly to Brasilia for meetings with Lula and Foreign Minister Celso Amorim late on Tuesday.
 

Colombian army kills four guerrillas
The Colombian army killed four rebels in two separate actions Tuesday, said the military.

In a combat, the military killed three members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in a rural area in Tres Esquinas, Meta province.

In another action, the military killed one member of the National Liberation Army (ELN) in La Carolina, Cesar province.

The military also thwarted a guerrilla attempt to bomb the CanoLimon-Covenas oil pipeline in Arauquita, Arauca province. The soldiers deactivated a 20-kg bomb planted at the pipeline.

FARC, with 20,000 combatants, is the country's largest and oldest rebel organization and allegedly finances itself through drug trafficking and kidnappings. The 4,500-strong ELN is the country's second largest rebel group.

Colombia has been locked in a four-decade civil war, the longest in Latin America, in which government forces, leftist guerrillas and far-right paramilitaries fight one another. The conflicts kill more than 3,500 people each year.