Ecuador to sue WSJ over FARC allegations

President Rafael Correa with Ingrid Betancourt, held hostage for 6 years by Farc guerrillas (2002-2008).

Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa has vowed to sue the Wall Street Journal for linking his government to the Colombian FARC rebels.

"We will sue this newspaper because we are sick of their lies," Correa told reporters on Thursday after addressing the UN General Assembly’s Conference on the world financial crisis, Reuters reported.

"We demand the Wall Street Journal provide proof," he said, dismissing the journal’s accusations that he is affiliated with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

WSJ writer Mary Anastasia O’Grady alleged in a column published on June 22 that she had obtained information linking Correa and his government to the FARC guerrillas.

O’Grady based her claims on data she said was retrieved from the personal computer of slain rebel commander Raul Reyes, who was killed when Colombian forces with the help of the US conducted a cross-border attack on his group in Ecuador in 2008.

The Column-writer further alleged that the computer data provides concrete evidence that the rebels had correspondence and met Ecuadorian officials.

The US and Colombia have long accused Ecuador and Venezuela of supporting and sheltering FARC insurgents — an allegation strongly denied by Caracas and Quito.