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http://www.assistnews.net/Stories/2007/s07070055.htm

ASSIST News Service (ANS) - PO Box 609, Lake Forest, CA 92609-0609 USA
Visit our web site at: www.assistnews.net — E-mail: assistnews@aol.com

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Two pastors shot dead in Colombia; Leftist guerilla group implicated

By Michael Ireland
Chief Correspondent, ASSIST News Service

COLOMBIA (ANS) — Members of the leftist guerilla group FARC are believed to be responsible for the deaths of two Pentecostal pastors who were assassinated last week in southern Colombia.

Pastor Humberto Mendez, age 63, and Pastor Joel Cruz Garcia, age 27, were approached at around 8:00 PM on July 5, as they preached at an open-air service in the village of El Dorado, located in the department of Huila in the southern part of the country, where FARC has a strong presence. It appears that the 17th Brigade of the leftist guerrilla group, FARC, is responsible.

According to church representatives, a group of armed men wearing camouflage clothing called them by name and led them away. The bodies of the two men were found the next day 40 meters apart; both had been shot in the head.

While authorities and church leaders seem to agree that FARC committed the murders, the motive is unclear. The families of the pastors have said that they never received any warnings or threats from any group.

Reports by the news agency, www.GospelNoticias.com , say the assassinations were in response to the participation of local churches in nationwide protests against terrorism and kidnapping.

Church representatives in the area, however, also point to the ongoing risks that accompany preaching and teaching Christian principles in a region with a significant guerrilla presence. According to church leaders at the local and national levels, FARC has declared protestant pastors to be legitimate military targets.

These two assassinations are representative of a wider problem for communities of faith, particularly those located in rural areas and conflict zones, across the country, says Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), a human rights watchdog organization which specializes in religious freedom, works on behalf of those persecuted for their Christian beliefs, and promotes religious liberty for all.

Two church based NGO’s, Justapaz and the Commission for Restoration, Life and Peace, have documented more than 100 targeted assassinations of pastors and other church leaders across the country since 2000. Many are a response to a refusal on the part of the pastors to participate in or support the activities of the armed groups, including paying protection money or tolerating the recruitment of young people from their congregations into the armed groups.

CSW says that while FARC is not responsible for all of these murders, they have been implicated in a significant percentage of them. Right-wing paramilitary groups and another leftist guerrilla group, the ELN, are believed to be responsible for the rest.

Tina Lambert, Advocacy Director of CSW, said, “Our prayers are with the families and the communities of these two men at this very difficult time. It is completely unacceptable for the FARC, or any other armed group, to target church leaders. These were two pastors, both civilians, who were simply preaching at a peaceful religious gathering. We call, once again, on all armed actors in Colombia to respect religious freedom and to uphold the rights of believers to practice and live out the tenets of their faith.”

For more information, please contact Penny Hollings, Campaigns and Media Manager at Christian Solidarity Worldwide on +44 (0)20 8329 0045, email pennyhollings@csw.org.uk or visit www.csw.org.uk.

** Michael Ireland is an international British freelance journalist. A former reporter with a London newspaper, Michael is the Chief Correspondent for ASSIST News Service of Lake Forest, California. Michael immigrated to the United States in 1982 and became a US citizen in September, 1995. He is married with two children. Michael has also been a frequent contributor to UCB Europe, a British Christian radio station.

** You may republish this story with proper attribution.

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http://www3.washingtontimes.com/national/20070608-115757-8679r.htm

“Three arrested in arms plot to kill Americans”
By Jerry Seper
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
June 9, 2007

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “A suspected international arms dealer was arrested yesterday in Spain and charged with conspiracy to sell millions of dollars in weapons to a State Department-designated foreign terrorist organization in Colombia to kill Americans.

U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Administrator Karen P. Tandy said Syrian national Monzer Al Kassar, 61, of Marbella, Spain, along with suspects Tareq Mousa Al Ghazi, 60, of Lebanon, and Luis Felipe Moreno Godoy, 58, also of Marbella, were arrested as they prepared to finalize a multimillion-dollar deal with the Marxist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, to pay for the weapons.

Mr. Kassar was arrested on the U.S. charges by Spanish authorities in Madrid; simultaneously Mr. Ghazi and Mr. Moreno Godoy were arrested in Romania.

“Monzer Al Kassar commands a global munitions empire, arming and funding insurgents and terrorists across the globe, particularly those who wish to harm Americans,” Mrs. Tandy said. “He operates in the shadows, the silent partner behind the business of death and terror.””