The Colombian Government has broken off talks with the country's second-largest rebel group, the National Liberation Army (ELN), saying the guerrillas were not committed to peace.

Pastrana came to power in 1998 promising to negotiate peace

"Despite all the efforts my government has made... once again the ELN has failed the country, failed Colombians, failed peace and failed the international community," the outgoing Colombian President, Andres Pastrana said.

BBC correspondent Jeremy McDermott says the announcement signals the complete failure of the peace process that got President Pastrana elected in 1998.

Our correspondent says the announcement also paves the way for President-elect Alvaro Uribe to carry out his plan of total war against the Marxist rebels.

No concessions

President Pastrana - who leaves the office on 7 August - announced the end of the peace process with the ELN during a speech at the military academy in Bogota.

The government said it would not make any reforms to meet the demands of the rebels, blaming the ELN for its refusal to subject itself for independent verification.

Uribe wants to declare an all-out war on rebels

The rebels had called for the group to be financed during a six-month ceasefire but the government said the demand was unacceptable.

However, observers of the peace process tell another story.

They say that since 1997 the ELN has been keen to make peace, but that this smaller group of some 4,000 fighters has been ignored by the government in favour of the larger Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

But the three-year peace process with the FARC ended in February when President Pastrana broke off talks with that group.

This prompted a guerrilla offensive which has brought the 38-year conflict into the cities and to its bloodiest levels to date.

Only after February did the government pursue talks in earnest with the ELN, which were held in Cuba with the support of Fidel Castro.

The Cuban leader and Ernesto Che Guevara are the inspiration for the rebels.

Beefing up the military

Our correspondent says that it is perhaps no coincidence that the announcement came as Assistant Secretary of State Otto Reich, a man known as hardliner, was in Colombia.

He is there to talk to President-elect Alvaro Uribe about his plans to declare an all-out war on the Marxist guerrillas in the name of the war on terrorism - perhaps with the inducement of yet more US military aid.

Mr Uribe has promised to increase spending on the armed forces and double the number of professional soldiers, in an attempt to force the rebels to the negotiating table.

The US has already provided more than $1bn for the anti-narcotics battle in Colombia, the world's largest cocaine producer.

But Bogota is pressing Washington to extend its aid to funding the fight against the rebels by lifting restrictions on the use of US military.