Posted on 12/12/2002 1:35:10 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
BOGOTA, Colombia -- Authorities said they had narrowly thwarted a devastating rebel attack on the nation's capital Wednesday, defusing five powerful, remote-controlled car bombs capable of punching holes in city blocks.
"These five car bombs could have done unimaginable damage," said Defense Minister Marta Lucia Ramirez.
The announcement, accompanied by pleas for Colombians to remain alert, came as security forces briefly moved President Alvaro Uribe to a secure location at an army post. There were unconfirmed reports that Marxist rebels planned to assassinate him during a trip to the city of Medellin.
The cars, each packed with at least 550 pounds of explosives, were rigged with remote control devices that would allow the bombers to guide the vehicles to targets, which, the police said, included their headquarters and a bus station.
Police said they arrested six people in raids throughout Bogota over the past 48 hours, some of whom later gave up details about the planned bombing campaign during interrogation sessions.
The car bombs were part of an urban offensive by the 17,000-strong Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known by its Spanish initials FARC, the largest of the country's two rebel armies. The rebels were blamed for a smaller car bomb that ripped through a supermarket parking lot in Bogota on Monday, injuring more than 60 people.
The FARC has been fighting government troops for 38 years and is increasingly taking Latin America's oldest guerrilla war to Colombia's cities.
There were reports Wednesday that rebels might be planning to assassinate Uribe, who took office in August pledging to increase military spending and stem a three-way conflict among the rebels, rightist paramilitary forces and government troops. About 3,000 people, mainly civilians, are killed in the fighting each year.
Uribe's security quickly moved an event at Medellin's Intercontinental hotel to a nearby army post based on "information" about plans for a presidential assassination, said spokesman Ramirez.
"We are not sure, really, about this information," Ramirez said. "But the existence of the risk was enough for us to immediately take the necessary precautionary measures."
Uribe played down the assassination attempt, saying only: "We have to act prudently with this. One is never immune to foolishness."
Uribe is no stranger to FARC violence. His father was killed by the guerrillas during a botched kidnapping attempt and the president was the target of a FARC assassination attempt in April that damaged his armored jeep and killed four other people.
FARC rebels greeted Uribe's swearing-in ceremony with a coordinated mortar attack on the nation's capital that killed 21 people.
The United States, which brands the rebels "narco-terrorists," has pledged to provide training to an elite unit of Colombian troops to hunt down the FARC's leaders.
Colombia is the third-largest recipient of U.S. foreign aid.
BBC News: "COLUMBIA 'IRA TRIAL' TO BEGIN" (ARTICLE SNIPPETS: "Niall Connolly, Martin McCauley and James Monaghan, who were arrested last year in Bogota, stand accused of training leftist insurgents in the use of explosives and other terrorist techniques."..."The men deny training FARC guerrillas") (120202)
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