QUITO, Ecuador (Reuters) -- Ecuador believes it has found an abandoned
                  Colombian guerrilla camp in its jungle, fueling fears that leftist rebels from its
                  northern neighbor may be operating across the border, military sources said
                  Thursday.

                  A source in the intelligence unit of Ecuador's military high command told Reuters
                  that the camp, about five miles into Ecuadorean territory across from the
                  Putumayo region in Colombia's Amazon jungle, consisted of a hut, trenches,
                  military uniforms and backpacks.

                  The way the camp was built indicated it belonged
                  to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia
                  (FARC), the nation's biggest guerrilla group, the
                  source said.

                  "They have found a base that has been being used
                  for guerrilla elements," the source told Reuters. "It
                  is extremely worrisome."

                  There are no Ecuadorean guerrilla groups. But
                  there are widespread fears that Colombia's
                  U.S.-backed plan to combat drug trafficking may
                  push rebels and paramilitary groups, believed to
                  finance their activities through the narcotics trade,
                  across the roughly 370-mile shared border.

                  Some local officials have accused the government
                  of pushing Ecuador into Colombia's chaotic
                  40-year conflict -- which involves security forces,
                  rebels, paramilitary groups and drug traffickers --
                  by allowing U.S. drug surveillance planes to use a
                  coastal air force base.

                  Colombia's other neighbors, Venezuela, Peru and Panama have all expressed
                  concern about spillover from "Plan Colombia", which is supported by $1.3 billion
                  in U.S. aid.

                  In October, Ecuador's government accused the FARC, which controls a territory
                  the size of Switzerland in southern Colombia, of kidnapping 10 foreign oil
                  workers from Ecuador's Amazon jungle region. The FARC denied responsibility.

                  Ecuador's President Gustavo Noboa has said he will install ex-military officers as
                  governors in the border provinces and vowed to declare a state of emergency in
                  the area if necessary.