Colombia Rebels Flee to Ecuador [source: www.yahoo.com] Thursday February 10 10:09 PM ET Colombia Rebels Flee to Ecuador QUITO, Ecuador (AP) - Leftist guerrillas from Colombia cross into Ecuador to purchase weapons and supplies, a top Colombian police official said Thursday. ``We know that criminals and the guerrillas elude lawful forces, taking refuge across the border,'' Colombia's national police operations director Gen. Alfonso Arellano said. ``There they buy arms, food and rest after battles,'' said Arellano, who was in the capital, Quito, for an international public security seminar. Arellano told the Quito newspaper El Comercio that a force of 1,500 Colombian police patrol the 350-mile) jungle border separating the two nations to stem illegal smuggling and common crime. Colombia's military is more involved in dealing with leftist guerrillas, he said. Residents of Ecuador's jungle frontier town Lago Agrio have said for years that suspected Colombian guerrillas in civilian clothing regularly arrive to purchase supplies. But only in recent months have officials from either country acknowledged their presence.