Ecuadoran president downplays alleged plot

QUITO, Ecuador (CNN) -- Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa downplayed news that authorities arrested four people in an alleged plot to attack him.

There was a "high probability" that they were swindlers asking for money to provide information, the president said Thursday in a statement on his Web site.

He suggested in a televised interview that it may be a case of bribery.

Three Colombians and an Ecuadoran were arrested in Ecuador in connection with the alleged plot.

Ecuadoran officials had little information about the Ecuadoran and have asked Colombian authorities for information on the three detained Colombians, according to Caracol Radio of Colombia.

Police must "continue to investigate, but we are not alarmed," Correa said in a report from The Associated Press.

Tensions between Quito and Bogota have remained high since a March 1 Colombian cross-border raid on a rebel camp in Ecuador's jungle.

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