BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) -- President Alvaro Uribe threatened paramilitary forces with annihilation on Tuesday unless they abide by a cease-fire and stop trafficking in drugs. Claiming that some of the groups want to kill him, Uribe also backed U.S. extradition efforts against paramilitary leaders charged with drug trafficking. "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.
| Can we give Uribe a command in Najaf? |
Uribe's comments came as power within the right-wing paramilitary groups appeared to be shifting to members involved in drug trafficking. Paramilitary co-founder Carlos Castano also disappeared on April 16 during an alleged attack by rival drug-trafficking militia leaders. 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.
Paramilitary leaders facing such drug-trafficking charges in the United States have also 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."
He said paramilitary groups must concentrate their forces, believed to number from 12,000 to 18,000 fighters, in specified zones monitored by the Organization of American States. "They must move forward on demobilization," he said. "Otherwise the government will keep combating them until they are annihilated."
| Send this guy after Sadr! |
Almost halfway through his four-year term, Uribe has cracked down on Colombia's two leftist rebel groups. But critics say he has been less tough on the paramilitary forces, which waged a dirty war against the rebel groups for two decades.
| Sounds like he's fixing that. |
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