Ecuador sues Colombia over anti-drug spraying

QUITO-Ecuador said on Monday it had sued Colombia in international court over drug crop fumigation along its border in a move that could stoke tensions as the neighbors spar over a Colombian raid into Ecuador's territory.A March 1 Colombian attack on a Colombian rebel camp in Ecuador killed more than 20 people including a top guerrilla leader. It also frayed diplomatic ties and briefly raised the threat of war after Ecuador and Venezuela moved troops to their borders with Colombia.Ecuador's legal claim, which could take years to be resolved in the International Court of Justice in The Hague, will likely delay a swift solution to the dispute. Bogota rejected Ecuador's charge.In the latest border incident, Colombia said, an Ecuadorian army helicopter violated Colombia's airspace on Sunday and was forced to land, but then took off and flew back into Ecuador.Ecuador apologized for the violation later on Monday and said its helicopter had entered Colombian airspace by mistake.Tensions between the Andean neighbors remained high after Quito accused Bogota of waging a smear campaign to tie Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa to the leftist rebels."Ecuador asks the court to declare Colombia's air fumigation a violation of Ecuador's sovereignty," Foreign Minister Maria Salvador told reporters in Quito.The minister demanded Colombia halt all fumigation near the border and pay the government compensation for more than seven years of spraying to destroy illicit coca crops used to make cocaine.
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