A man charged with the killing last March of the Archbishop of Cali has been shot dead in a prison where he was being held in the south-east of Colombia.

Monsignor Duarte had spoken out against rebels and drug barons

Officials say that Carlos Augusto Ramirez, 28, died after being assaulted by inmates at a high security prison in the city of Palmira, near Cali.

He was shot at least five times in the head, Cali's police chief said.

Roman Catholic Archbishop Isaias Duarte Cancino was killed in March as he was leaving a church after celebrating a wedding in a poor neighbourhood of Cali.

Warned

Officials say it is not clear who shot Ramirez.

He had been moved to the jail in Palmira and separated from his alleged accomplice, Alexander de Jesus Zapata, after police warned the prison authorities that he could be killed.

The murder of Archbishop Duarte shocked Colombia, a country wracked by 38 years of civil war, and led to questions about the government's ability to guarantee public safety.

The 63-year-old prelate was an outspoken critic of Colombian drug barons, right-wing paramilitaries and left-wing guerrillas.