Colombia`s top labor unions Wednesday rejected President Alvaro Uribe`s offer to talk on labor rights and anti-union violence, amid Uribe`s attempts to win US Congress approval of a US-Colombian free trade agreement.

A landslide that swept over part of an upscale development in the Colombian city of Medellin was feared to have killed at least 12 people, authorities said Sunday.

BOGOTA, Nov 17, 2007 (AFP) - President Alvaro Uribe on Saturday said his dealings with politicians linked to paramilitary groups were done 'openly and in public,' but charged that some opposition leaders maintained secret, illegal relations with leftist rebels.

'The relations the president had with politicians have always been carried out openly and in public, compared to the clandestine relations (Alternative Democratic Pole Party, or PDA) members have with the guerrillas,' Uribe said in a statement.

BOGOTA, Oct 13, 2007 (AFP) - A rock slide at an open-pit gold mine in Colombia has killed at least 21 people, officials said Saturday.

Another 24 people were injured in the accident that occurred on Saturday morning in Suarez, in the country's southeast, Jairo Amaya, head of civil defense for the Cauca region, told AFP.

The casualty toll was expected to rise as between six and 10 persons remained unaccounted for, authorities said.

But rescue work was suspended late Saturday because of rain and darkness. It was expected to resume on Sunday.

BOGOTA, Oct 13, 2007 (AFP) - A cave-in at a gold mine in Colombia has killed at least 21 people, officials said Saturday.

Another 24 people were injured in the accident that occurred on Saturday morning in Suarez, in the country's southeast, Jairo Amaya, head of civil defense for the Cauca region, told AFP.

The casualty toll was expected to rise, authorities said.

Carlos Gomez, with the Cauca government, said local residents had begun mining on their own account in an area with no security measures in place, local radio reported.

BALLENAS, Colombia, Oct 12, 2007 (AFP) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Friday that his previously delayed meeting with Colombian leftist rebels will take place 'in coming days.'

Speaking after a meeting here with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, Chavez said that his efforts to mediate an exchange of hostages held by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, the country's largest rebel group, for guerrillas held by the government was going well.

BOGOTA, Oct 11, 2007 (AFP) - A private, twin-engine plane crashed Thursday in a rural area near Bogota killing five people on board and two on the ground, authorities said.

The airplane, which was providing hospital service in the area, crashed shortly after taking off from Bogota's El Dorado airport, Fire Chief Mauricio Toro said.

BOGOTA, Oct 11, 2007 (AFP) - Former Colombian justice minister Alberto Santofimio was sentenced to 24 years behind bars Thursday for his 'decisive' role in the murder of a presidential candidate in 1989, court officials said.

The presiding judge said Santofimio played a 'decisive and terrorist' role in the murder of Carlos Galan that was ordered by the late Medellin drug cartel kingpin Pablo Escobar.

In addition to 24 years in prison, Santofimio was also banned from holding or running for public office for a period of 10 years after his release.

LONDON, Oct 10, 2007 (AFP) - Visitors to London's Tate Modern gallery are encouraged to actively engage with a divisive new work -- and some, it seems, are taking the request too literally.

The new exhibit, Shibboleth, by Colombian artist Doris Salcedo consists of a 167 metre-long crack in the floor of the cavernous Turbine Hall.

The work is intended to symbolise the gap between white Europeans and the rest of humanity.

WASHINGTON, Oct 9, 2007 (AFP) - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Tuesday urged the US Congress to pass free trade deals with Peru, Colombia and Panama, warning that non-approval would be seen as a US 'withdrawal.'

Failure to pass the bilateral deals 'would be a great blow to those countries. It would be a retreat,' she told reporters at the Organization of American States.