Colombia finds stash in militia boss's cell

Colombia finds stash in militia boss's cell

February 14 2008 at 03:49PM

Bogota - Colombian authorities on Thursday were investigating how a grenade, a handgun and thousands of dollars in cash were smuggled into a high-security prison holding demobilised paramilitary commanders.
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Begun in the 1980s by wealthy landowners to counter rebels, the paramilitaries soon controlled large swathes of land where state presence was weak. They carried out massacres and kidnappings sometimes in league with the armed forces.

Under Uribe's government, more than 30 000 paramilitary fighters demobilised and the president credits the program in part for a drop in violence from the four-decade conflict.

But rights groups say the government has been too lenient with the commanders, who they say have kept criminal gangs alive and failed to live up to the conditions of the peace deal to confess and compensate victims.

Uribe, a key Washington ally, is also under pressure for a scandal linking some of his lawmaker allies to the paramilitary squads. Dozens of lawmakers and politicians are jailed and under investigation for ties to the militias.

More:
http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=3&art_id=nw20080214145423896C173472