Webpage: news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/americas/newsid_1880000/1880315.stm
Pubdate: Tue, 19 Mar 2002
Source: BBC News (UK Web)
Copyright: 2002 BBC
Contact: http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/talking_point/forum/
Website: http://news.bbc.co.uk/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/558

US INDICTS COLOMBIAN REBELS OVER DRUGS

The United States has initiated drug-trafficking charges against several 
suspected Colombian rebels, US Attorney General John Ashcroft announced.

The move signals what American officials say is a tougher stance from 
Washington towards the guerrillas.

According to the US Justice Department, rebels from the Revolutionary Armed 
Forces of Colombia, the FARC, have been charged with conspiring to import 
cocaine into the US.

One of the indicted rebels is Tomas Molina, described by Mr Ashcroft as the 
leader of a rebel faction operating on the Colombia-Venezuela border.

The indictment accuses him of collecting cocaine from other rebel units at 
his base in the remote Colombian village of Barranco Minas.

 From there it was allegedly shipped through Venezuela and Brazil to the 
United States.

The drugs were sold for cash or weapons needed by the guerrillas for their 
40-year insurgency against the Colombian government.

"Today's indictment strikes at the heart of the terrorism/drug trafficking 
nexus by charging that members of the FARC created a 'safe haven' for drug 
traffickers in Colombia," said Mr Ashcroft.

"In addition, these FARC members are charged with exchanging cocaine for 
the weapons and material that supported their activities."

Colombian assistance

The attorney general said that Washington would ask Colombia to help in the 
capture of Molina and other FARC rebels, and assist in their extradition to 
the US.

Mr Ashcroft also warned that Americans who used drugs were boosting 
terrorist coffers.

"When a dollar is spent on drugs in America, a dollar is made by America's 
enemies," he said.

In the past, the Americans have sought unsuccessfully to bring FARC rebels 
to justice.

But this is the first formal attempt to link them directly to 
drug-trafficking activities.

The charges are likely to fuel speculation that the Bush administration is 
preparing to escalate American military involvement in Colombia.
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MAP posted-by: Beth