Colombia’s largest rebel group denied responsibility for a Feb. 7 car bombing that killed 36 people, saying its members condemn acts of terrorism. In a statement posted on its Web site Sunday, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, said it determined after a “patient, rigorous and earnest investigation” that none of its members were involved in the attack on the exclusive Club El Nogal. Colombian authorities blamed the FARC a day after the bomb exploded in the parking lot of the club, killing 36 people and wounding 160. It was the worst terrorist attack in Colombia in more than a decade. The group, on the U.S. State Department’s list of terrorist groups, condemned terrorism and claimed that the government planted the bomb and blamed the FARC in efforts to unite the country against the rebels. The FARC has admitted taking various hostages in its 38-year war with the government, often to pressure the Colombian government to release rebels in jail, but rarely comments on bombings it is blamed for. “Violent acts that aim to intimidate the civil population … can only lead to uncertainty and widespread repudiation,” the statement said. “Our policies are justified because we are interpreters for a country intimidated by terrorism of the state.” Full Story
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