Shots were fired at a passenger plane carrying 18 people on Friday when the aircraft was landing at La Macarena in southeast Colombia, the Sabena airline said.

The aircraft, on a flight from the city of Villavicencio, was hit five times by bullets fired from the ground. There were no casualties among the 15 passengers and three crew, the airline said.

Sabena is run by the Colombian army and provides air services to isolated parts of eastern and southern Colombia.

The army said guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia frequently attack military helicopters and aircraft, but this was the first time that an airliner became the target.

Britain voices confidence to win resolution on lifting Iraq sanctions

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said Friday that the United States, Britain and Spain, which presented to the US Security Council a draft resolution calling for an end to sanction on Iraq and a phase-out of the oil-for-food program, would end up with a good resolution.

In an interview with the Channel 4 TV News, Straw said: "And I think if we get the kind of constructive environment in the Security Council, we will end up with a good resolution."

Asked about if the United Nations was relegated to a "purely consultative" role in post-war Iraq under the draft resolution, Straw said: "I don't accept that. Comments about the fact that this gives the United Nations only 'a back seat role' really is a travesty for anybody who actually reads the twenty three operative paragraphs of this resolution."

"What the resolution does first of all is simply acknowledge the reality that it is the coalition of the US, UK, Australia and increasingly a number of other countries, who are for the time being the power in the land," Straw said.

"We do provide for a very key role for the United Nations in humanitarian operations and those have continued and have been facilitated by the coalition in reconstruction work," he said, insisting that the draft resolution proposes that there should be appointed a special coordinator to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.

There were a string of requirements and obligations and responsibilities for that special coordinator to work alongside the coalition, the authority, to secure first of all an interim Iraqi authority and then over time a properly democratic and elected administration, Straw argued.

"The idea that oil revenue is going to be used for the benefit of the coalition is total nonsense," Straw said, adding that someone had to actually physically control what happens with the oil and that has to be the 'occupying power' under international law.

"But under clear mandatory paragraphs all the revenues, every single dollar or dinar of the revenues, has to be used for the benefit of the Iraqi people, set out very clearly in the Iraqi assistance fund which is audited by independent auditors and supervised by an advisory board which includes representatives of the Secretary General, the IMF and the World Bank," he said.

Straw's interview came amid reports that the United States was bombarded with questions at the UN Security Council on Friday when it introduced the draft resolution that would give Washington and its allies control over oil revenues.

France, Russia and Germany, which opposed the US-led war against Iraq, raised pointed questions about the limited UN role expressed in the resolution, the future of UN inspections, which was omitted from the resolution and the legality of a new Iraqi leadership to be set up by the United States and Britain alone.

Russia and France, both permanent members of the Security Council, have argued that lifting sanctions would only be appropriate when UN weapons inspectors have established that Iraq has no banned nuclear, chemical or biological weapons.

German chancellor defends anti-Iraqi war stance

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder on Friday defended his government's opposition to the US-led war on Iraq and its policy for a strong Europe.

Talking with the American Chamber of Commerce in Germany, Schroeder said the relations between Germany and the United States were "vital", but there were also bound to be differences between the two nations.

Schroeder said the collective memory of defeat in both world wars of the last century had turned the majority of Germans into pacifists and this would remain the case in future conflicts.

He said Germany would not pull back from global responsibilities, but the country's history and geography meant it would primarily seek an active role limited to Europe.

A strong European Union is in the US interest, Schroeder added.

Schroeder also pledged to continue the close ties with Paris, saying that both relations with France and the United States were vital for Germany.

Seven people sucked out of Congo's cargo plane: official

Kikaya Bin Karubi, information minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, said on Friday that seven people had been confirmed killed after being sucked out of the Ilyushin-76 cargo plane ferrying military personnel from Kinshasa to the southern Katanga province on Thursday evening.

Karubi told reporters the ramp had burst open at 7,000 feet (2,200 meters) over the city of Mbuji-Mayi.

However, he said he did not know how many people were aboard the plane.

After the accident occurred some 45 minutes into the flight, the pilots managed to turn back and land the plane in Kinshasa.

DRC Defense Minister Irung Awan confirmed that the accident occurred Thursday night but said he was unaware of any deaths.

Two officials at the international airport in Kinshasa said that more than 120 people were feared dead in the mishap.