LIMA, March 4 (Xinhua) -- Bolivian President Evo Morales and current President of the Union of South American Nations (Unasur), has called a special meeting of the Union to discuss the Colombia-Ecuador diplomatic crisis, according to a statement from Bolivia's Foreign Ministry Tuesday.

    The Unasur Council of Foreign Ministers meeting will take place Thursday in the Dominican Republic on the sidelines of a Rio Group meeting there, said the statement.

    Earlier Tuesday, Morales said the two nations' conflict could seriously affect the Unasur consolidation process.

    Foreign ministers from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay have confirmed that they will attend the meeting, it said.

    Ecuador has severed diplomatic relations with Colombia and sent troops to its border areas in response to a Saturday raid by Colombian forces on Ecuadorian territory that targeted a camp belonging to Colombia's largest rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). The raid killed 21 rebels including the group's No. 2 figure, Luis Edgar Devia, better known by the alias Raul Reyes.

    Venezuela, which has had a troubled relationship with Colombia since November, also cut diplomatic links and sent troops to its border areas with Colombia, saying it was backing Ecuador.