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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Hawkmoon who wrote (9847)	11/11/2001 8:06:56 PM
From: Hawkmoon	Respond to of 281500

Colombian FARC Rebels Kidnap Peace Commissioner BOGOTA, Colombia, Nov. 9 ? In another potential blow to Colombia's fragile peace process, Marxist-inspired FARC rebels kidnapped a provincial peace commissioner while she was driving along a rugged highway in the country's north, military and police said on Friday. Mireya Mejia Araujo was abducted on Wednesday in Cesar province, a northern cattle region in dispute between leftist rebels and far-right paramilitary gunmen. Araujo is the niece of Consuelo Araujo -- former culture minister and the attorney general's wife, who FARC rebels kidnapped and killed in Cesar in September. ''We emphatically and categorically reject this action by the FARC against a person who served the community. And they (the rebels) must understand that kidnapping will not help them politically,'' said Interior Minister Armando Estrada. The latest high-profile kidnapping came the same day the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia -- known by its Spanish initials FARC -- threatened to abandon three-year-old peace negotiations. FARC commander Manuel ''Sureshot'' Marulanda said Latin America's oldest and largest rebel group would only return to the negotiating table if the government met a series of demands -- including a declaration from the government the rebels are not ''terrorists,'' as Washington brands them. Marulanda said the declaration was necessary to ''avoid a pretext for intervention by the United States in the internal affairs of Colombia.'' Pastrana on Wednesday flew to the United States, which is pouring up to $2 billion into Colombia's anti-drug efforts in the biggest outlay of U.S. military aid in Latin America since El Salvador in the 1980s. He is scheduled to meet with President George W. Bush on Sunday. ARE FARC REBELS TERRORISTS? The United States has hardened its stance against Colombian rebels since the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington and announced last month it wanted to extradite FARC leaders on drug trafficking charges. Pastrana's patience has been tested repeatedly since ceding the Switzerland-sized enclave to the FARC nearly three years ago to launch peace talks. High-profile FARC killings, including the slaying of Araujo, have eroded popular support for negotiations. Colombia's 37-year-old war has claimed 40,000 mainly civilian lives in the past decade. The president told reporters in Washington on Thursday that it was up to the 17,000-member rebel force whether it would be described as a ''terrorist'' and drug trafficking organization. ''If they want to be seen as terrorists, logically they will have to continue kidnapping; they will have to keep attacking the (civilian) population. ... If they want to be seen as drug traffickers, this too depends on them,'' Pastrana said. The FARC has refused to hold negotiations since Oct. 17, just weeks after it signed an agreement with the government on beginning discussion toward a cease-fire. No further talks are scheduled. The FARC rejects ''terrorist'' labels, and describes itself as a legitimate revolutionary organization. It admits to ''taxing'' the cocaine trade and kidnapping citizens for ransom to fund its war efforts and recently abducted several members of Colombia's Congress. Copyright 2001 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. ds-osac.org