Colombian authorities say the kidnapped governor of southern Caqueta province has been found dead.

哥伦比亚官员称，被挟持的南方卡克塔省省长已死亡。

Luis Francisco Cuellar had been seized from his house in the provincial¹ capital, Florencia, by suspected leftist rebels on Monday.

Officials said was the kidnap was the work of left-wing Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc) guerrillas游击队.

Mr Cuellar was the most high profile politician abducted²绑架 since President Alvaro Uribe came to power in 2002.

His body was found hours after Mr Uribe said every effort would be made to secure his release - more than 2,000 military personnel had been deployed³部署，配置 in the search.

The authorities had offered 1m pesos ($485: £300) to anyone giving information leading to Mr Cuellar's safe return.

The operation is continuing, but the focus is now on catching⁴ or killing⁵ the abductors, says the BBC's Jeremy McDermott in Medellin.

"Unfortunately we have to accept this painful reality," said acting⁶ governor Patricia Vega.

"I no longer have any doubts that Farc has done it again," she told Caracol radio.

Mr Cuellar was found bound and gagged塞住，堵住 with several bullet wounds in his body. Explosives had been placed around him.

He had been taken from his home on Wednesday by about 10 gunmen, who lobbed grenades手榴弹 at the building. Officials say he appears to have been killed soon after.

One policeman was killed in the attack and two more wounded.

'Weakening'

Earlier, Mr Uribe said Colombia "cannot be held captive by the whim一时的兴致，怪念头 of terrorists, terrorists who bathe the country in blood and who trick us everyday".

The Associated Press news agency said Mr Cuellar had been kidnapped four times in the past 23 years, for between two and seven months each time.

Speaking before the body was found, his wife told AP a ransom赎金 had been paid to secure his release on previous occasions.

Caqueta has been a stronghold要塞，大本营 of the Farc - Colombia's oldest and largest left-wing rebel group - for many years.

It was where French-Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt was kidnapped in 2002.

The Farc has not claimed responsibility for the attack on Mr Cuellar, but is widely thought to have been behind it.

The rurally-based organisation⁹, which finances itself through drugs trafficking, was once thought to have some 16,000 fighters, but reports suggest it now has about 9,000.

The Farc has suffered several defeats at the hands of conservative Mr Uribe's security forces.

Incidences of attacks and kidnappings have lessened¹⁰, but the rebels are still holding more than 20 police officers and soldiers, often referred to as high-profile hostages, who were seized more than a decade ago.

It is also believed to have kidnapped hundreds of other people, mainly for ransom⁸, over the years.

Our correspondent says the movement has rallied under new leadership in recent years and appears to be seeking to regain¹¹ the initiative in the country's 45-year civil conflict.

On Tuesday, Colombian Defence Minister Gabriel Silva said the attack showed that "narco-terrorists" were making an effort to "show their capacity", but that their strength was weakening.

Mr Silva said the Colombian government was "firm in its resolve to confront" the rebels.