The Church has accused left-wing guerrillas of the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (Farc) of murdering a priest, Fr Javier Francisco Montoya, who disappeared in early December in the lawless Choc? region, near the Panamanian frontier

Mgr Alonso Llano, a church spokesman, said the guerrillas had admitted to a commission sent to investigate the case that they had shot the priest dead and buried his body. The Church has been trying to mediate a peaceful settlement to Colombia’s long-running civil conflict, but regional guerrilla commanders sometimes regard its representatives as a threat to their local control – about 60 church members have been murdered in the past few years, including a bishop.

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