Colombia has received information from Swiss authorities in the case of Jean-Pierre Gontard, a mediator whom Colombia has accused of aiding the Farc rebel group.

A spokesman for Switzerland's justice ministry told the Associated Press on Friday it had handed the transcript of an interview with Gontard to the Colombian embassy in Bern on Wednesday.

Colombia had appealed to Switzerland in September for cooperation as part of its treaty obligations to provide mutual legal assistance to other governments in criminal matters.

Switzerland has rejected allegations that Geneva-based Gontard carried $500,000 (SFr610,000) to Farc during a mission to secure the release of two Novartis employees held by the group in 2001.

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