QUITO, March 17 (Xinhua) -- A photo published in the Colombian press allegedly showing Ecuador's security minister with a leading Colombian rebel is fake, Ecuadorian Interior Minister Fernando Bustamante said Monday.

    In a statement sent from the United States capital Washington, Bustamante said the person in the photo is not the nation's Security Minister Gustavo Larrea, who Colombia alleged has met with its largest rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

    Colombian press said the photo came from the computer of Edgar Devia, FARC's number-two official who was killed on March 1 in a raid by Colombian government forces in Ecuador's territory.

    The picture showed Devia, better known by his alias Raul Reyes, dressed in military camouflage clothing, and a figure in casual clothes that the media say is Larrea.

    However, the newspaper did not specify the date of the alleged meeting pictured.

    "It is truly sad that some political groups and international media are together embarking on conspiracies which we do not want to describe," Bustamante said, adding that the image is an attempt to discredit the Ecuadorian government.

    Ecuador broke off relations with Colombia after the March 1 raid which killed 25 people at a rebel base in Ecuador, including Devia, five Mexican students and a Colombian soldier.

    "Even a superficial examination of the photos shows it is a ham-fisted attempt to interpret someone with a vague resemblance as our minister," he said.

    "We cannot prove it, but we fear" a media campaign by the Colombian government, he said.

    Right-wing Spanish newspaper El Pais branded Ecuador "a sanctuary for narco terrorists" last week.

    At the beginning of the month Larrea admitted that he had met Devia as part of a bid to help free hostages held by FARC.

    Colombian authorities said computers found at the attack scene showed that Venezuela has given FARC financial support and that the rebels had official contact with Venezuela, Ecuador and Libya.