Post by RPankn on Apr 28, 2004 4:32:06 GMT -5
[Note that Bush puppet Uribe is conducting peace negotions with the same group, AUC, which is allegedly serving as the Colombian attorney general's auxilliary paramilitary force]
Tuesday April 27, 2004 6:16 PM
By ANDREW SELSKY
Associated Press Writer
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) - President Alvaro Uribe, alleging Tuesday that some paramilitary forces want to kill him, warned that the government would annihilate the outlawed militias unless they abide by a cease-fire and stop trafficking in drugs.
Uribe's sharp comments came as power within the right-wing paramilitary groups appears to be shifting to members heavily involved in drug trafficking, and after paramilitary co-founder Carlos Castano disappeared on April 16 during a reported attack by rivals.
The events have thrown the government's nascent peace process with the paramilitary United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, or AUC, into doubt, Uribe said in a statement released by his office.
``The peace process with the illegal self-defense groups cannot advance amid cease-fire violations, vendettas, drug trafficking, or confrontations between criminal groups,'' Uribe said.
For two decades, the outlawed paramilitaries have fought leftist rebels led by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as the FARC, and the National Liberation Army, or ELN. The rebels have tried to assassinate Uribe several times.
``To the known and repeated threats against the president of the republic by the ELN and the FARC, we can add in recent weeks threats from sectors of the self-defense forces and drug traffickers,'' Uribe said, without elaborating.
The paramilitary groups must agree to concentrate their forces, believed to number from 12,000-18,000 fighters, in specified zones monitored by the Organization of American States, Uribe said.
``They must move forward on demobilization,'' he said. ``Otherwise the government will keep combating them until they are annihilated.''
He also backed U.S. extradition efforts against paramilitary leaders charged with drug trafficking. Paramilitary leaders facing such charges in the United States have said they see no point in completing a peace process only to wind up in a U.S. prison.
``Extradition is not a subject for negotiation,'' Uribe said. ``Those who want to avoid it should demonstrate to the international community their good faith and willingness to redeem themselves.''
Link: www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-4026960,00.html
Tuesday April 27, 2004 6:16 PM
By ANDREW SELSKY
Associated Press Writer
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) - President Alvaro Uribe, alleging Tuesday that some paramilitary forces want to kill him, warned that the government would annihilate the outlawed militias unless they abide by a cease-fire and stop trafficking in drugs.
Uribe's sharp comments came as power within the right-wing paramilitary groups appears to be shifting to members heavily involved in drug trafficking, and after paramilitary co-founder Carlos Castano disappeared on April 16 during a reported attack by rivals.
The events have thrown the government's nascent peace process with the paramilitary United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, or AUC, into doubt, Uribe said in a statement released by his office.
``The peace process with the illegal self-defense groups cannot advance amid cease-fire violations, vendettas, drug trafficking, or confrontations between criminal groups,'' Uribe said.
For two decades, the outlawed paramilitaries have fought leftist rebels led by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as the FARC, and the National Liberation Army, or ELN. The rebels have tried to assassinate Uribe several times.
``To the known and repeated threats against the president of the republic by the ELN and the FARC, we can add in recent weeks threats from sectors of the self-defense forces and drug traffickers,'' Uribe said, without elaborating.
The paramilitary groups must agree to concentrate their forces, believed to number from 12,000-18,000 fighters, in specified zones monitored by the Organization of American States, Uribe said.
``They must move forward on demobilization,'' he said. ``Otherwise the government will keep combating them until they are annihilated.''
He also backed U.S. extradition efforts against paramilitary leaders charged with drug trafficking. Paramilitary leaders facing such charges in the United States have said they see no point in completing a peace process only to wind up in a U.S. prison.
``Extradition is not a subject for negotiation,'' Uribe said. ``Those who want to avoid it should demonstrate to the international community their good faith and willingness to redeem themselves.''
Link: www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-4026960,00.html
