Pubdate: Mon, 23 Jul 2001 Source: Associated Press (Wire) Copyright: 2001 Associated Press Author: Jared Kotler Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/area/Colombia FORMER COLOMBIA GENERAL ARRESTED BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) - A retired army general with alleged links to right-wing death squads was arrested Monday - a move that could strengthen the government's case for receiving more U.S. military aid to fight drug trafficking. Former Gen. Rito Alejo del Rio faces charges of supporting paramilitary groups during his 1995-1997 tenure as an army commander in northwest Antioquia State, according to a brief statement from the prosecutor's office. He would be the first Colombian general tried before a civilian court for ties to the paramilitaries, outlaw militias who are waging a brutal massacre campaign against suspected leftist rebels. Monday's arrest comes as the U.S. Congress considers new aid for Colombia atop a $1.3 billion package approved last year for the South American country and its Andean neighbors. Cracking down on army officers who work with the militias is one of several condition governing U.S. counterdrug aid to Colombia's security forces. Del Rio, who was forced into early retirement amid human rights accusations in 1999, has been a contentious figure. Some conservatives consider him a hero for helping pacify a northern banana-growing and cattle-ranching region that was crawling with rebels in the early 1990s. Human rights groups see him as the embodiment of a dirty alliance between the military and the paramilitaries. There was no immediate comment from Del Rio. However, his attorney, Orlando Perdomo, said the former general is innocent. President Andres Pastrana forced Del Rio and another general into retirement in 1999 as a demonstration of his resolve to sever army-paramilitary ties. But critics complained that Del Rio was not being brought to justice. On Monday, a leading U.S. human rights group applauded the arrest. "It's exactly the kind of step we've been hoping to see in Colombia for a long time," said Robin Kirk of Human Rights Watch. With the help of military officers and cattle ranchers seeking protection against guerrilla harassment, the rightist United Self Defense Forces of Colombia, or AUC, has grown from just a few hundred fighters in the early 1990s into a 8,500-strong nationwide force. The group is blamed for a majority of the massacres committed annually in the country's 37-year war. - --- MAP posted-by: GD