Brussels: The United States wants to see a "diplomatic resolution" of a crisis which has pitted Colombia against Venezuela and Ecuador, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said today.

"The United States stands strongly for the diplomatic resolution of the recent circumstances," Rice told a press conference in Brussels after a meeting of NATO foreign ministers.

Tension has risen in the Latin American region since a Colombian military incursion into Ecuadoran territory targetting FARC Marxist rebels on Saturday.

"Everyone needs to be vigilant about the use of border regions by terrorist organisations like the FARC," she added.

"Colombia is a good friend and I do hope there will be a diplomatic outcome," she added.

The White House said yesterday that it was "a little bit premature" to consider US military aid to Colombia, a staunch US ally.

"We do believe that Colombia and Ecuador should be able to work this out between themselves. We don t see any need for a country that wasn t involved to be a part of it," said White House spokeswoman Dana Perino.

Colombian Vice President Francisco Santos, who was also in Brussels today, said that Chavez s support for Colombian FARC rebels was a "bomb on the verge of exploding" which the international community must deactivate.

However he assured that his country does not want a fight with Ecuador and Venezuela.

"We don t want any kind of confrontation. That would be madness. We won t respond with force, we won t move a single soldier to the border.

Source : PTI