Explosion kills 17 during President's inauguration

At least 17 Colombians were killed and 24 were wounded when four explosions rocked the parliament moments before the new Colombian President, Alvaro Uribe, was sworn in yesterday.

A bodyguard staggered in, critically injured after a grenade was reportedly tossed into gardens near the presidential palace and the ceremony was cut short. Two rockets were also reported to have hit the palace.

Despite unprecedented levels of security, an urban cell of Marxist rebels opposed to the new hardline President had attacked, officials said. The skies over Bogota had been closed to all air traffic other than an American P-3 spyplane guarding against threatened rebel air assaults. Some 20,000 troops patrolled the capital as the right-wing independent leader was sworn in behind closed doors, fearing assassins. There have been three attempts on his life in the past six months.

Less than an hour after Mr Uribe was sworn in, two more blasts went off in nearby slums. The stone walls of the government building splintered and glass windows blew out, bloodying the diplomats in attendance. North of the city, a mortar attack caused a dozen injuries in the morning, with several children among the victims.

A defiant Mr Uribe, whose own father was killed by Farc rebels, said his crackdown against terror would continue. In his inaugural speech, he said: "The world must understand that this conflict needs unconventional, transparent and imaginative solutions."

Mr Uribe, an Oxford-educated lawyer elected in May, starts out with a 70 per cent approval rating for his pledge to rule the civil-war racked country with a firm hand but the challenges will be daunting during his four-year term.

He seeks support from both Europe and the United States. On Friday, Washington eased restrictions that limited its military assistance to drug interdiction.

Marxists insurgents and paramilitary death squads have made Colombia bleed for nearly four decades. Every year, at least 3,500 people are killed in conflict and 3,000 are kidnapped; more than 37 people have died in the past two days alone. But even though Washington keeps doling out money, supplies and military intelligence to Colombia's government, Mr Uribe is expected to fund all new war efforts while tackling the country's military, political and financial structure.

The US ambassador, Anne Patterson, said: "The United States is ready to invest more if the Colombians invest more in their own security."

The new hardline President wants to call up army reserves and abolish conscription to boost the number of professional soldiers, while doubling the police and armed forces to 400,000 members. Security will be augmented by a network of a million civilian informants. As a state governor, Mr Uribe implemented a similar scheme in Antioquia, and though opponents say this helped give rise to right-wing paramilitary forces in a region where drugs were rife, President Bush has encouraged a copycat programme in the US in an attempt to curb internal terrorism threats.

Critics have warned that Mr Uribe is courting false hopes by pushing for a military solution to the civil war.

But before he was sworn in, he said: "To the Colombians I say, 'Expect action every day but not miraculous results.' "

Right after being sworn in, Mr Uribe announced a referendum on halving the number of lawmakers and merging the two houses of parliament.