Colombian Warlords Link New Demand to Peace Talks
Far-right Colombian warlords on Friday criticized a government demand that they withdraw to “concentration zones” and raised the stakes in stalled peace talks by demanding guarantees against extradition to the United States. In a newspaper interview, the paramilitary bosses said civilians would be vulnerable to Marxist guerrillas if their 20,000 men — blamed for countless atrocities in a 4-decade-old war — met demands for rescuing the talks by withdrawing to the special zones under government supervision. “This (relocation) could exacerbate attacks on the population by the guerrillas,” Salvatore Mancuso, military commander of the outlawed United Self Defense Forces of Colombia, or AUC, told El Colombiano newspaper. Full Story