Colombia's far-right paramilitary warlords and the government begin formal peace talks yesterday aimed at ending one facet of the Western hemisphere's longest-running war.
About 10 bosses of the 20,000-strong Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, a vigilante army known as AUC that targets Marxist rebels and is accused of many human rights abuses, will take part in the talks.
Although militia leaders and government envoys have been talking in secret since July last year, the carefully orchestrated ceremony in Santa Fe de Ralito in northern Colombia marks the first time the two sides will take their peace process public.
The AUC commanders, armed with government safe-conduct promises and assurances they will not be extradited to the US -- where some are wanted on drug charges -- will remain within a 368km2 rural zone monitored by observers from the Organization of American States (OAS).
Reaching a peace accord with the paramilitaries is central to President Alvaro Uribe's strategy to end a four-decade-old guerrilla war that claims thousands of lives each year.
The demobilization of the paramilitaries would remove from the equation a well-armed private army which has swollen in size in recent years thanks to its links with drugs.
The year-old negotiations to demobilize AUC fighters by 2006 has been marked by broken cease-fires. The warlords insist that immunity from jail time be a condition of any settlement, a demand which has outraged human rights groups.
Hours before the talks were due to start, a warlord freed a former senator who had been kidnapped over the weekend, removing a last-minute obstacle which had threatened to derail yesterday's ceremony.
"The hour of truth for the [paramilitaries] has arrived," said Sergio Caramagna, OAS representative. Caramagna warned a settlement could be far off and that difficulties would arise.
Critics blame the AUC, dubbed "terrorists" by Washington, for some of the worst abuses in Colombia.
They say paramilitaries -- which have roots in militias set up by drug lords and cattle ranchers to fight rebels and have often worked with sectors of the military -- have killed thousands of peasants they suspected of sympathizing with rebels.
Highlighting deep misgivings about a peace process human rights activists dismiss as a travesty, few foreign ambassadors are expected to attend despite being invited by Uribe.
In an interview this week, US Ambassador William Wood said he believed the paramilitaries were more interested in "narco-terrorism" than in peace. "We are sceptical about the peace process," Wood said.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of
A prominent Christian leader has allegedly been stabbed at the altar during a Mass yesterday in southwest Sydney. Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was saying Mass at Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley just after 7pm when a man approached him at the altar and allegedly stabbed toward his head multiple times. A live stream of the Mass shows the congregation swarm forward toward Emmanuel before it was cut off. The church leader gained prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic, amassing a large online following, Officers attached to Fairfield City police area command attended a location on Welcome Street, Wakeley following reports a number