Colombian warlord Carlos Castano, whose disappearance has rocked peace talks between the government and far-right paramilitaries, has been strangled to death by former comrades, one of Castano’s friends said on Friday.
| Doesn't sound like a very comradely act to me... |
The outlaw Castano, who was political chief of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, or AUC, went missing after a shootout with gunmen commanded by rival AUC chiefs at his hidden ranch in northern Colombia on April 16. "They caught Commander Carlos alive that very day and they killed him two days later, after they kept him for two days with his hands and legs bound, in his underwear," his friend told Reuters, saying he had spoken to witnesses.
| There's some doubt as to whether it was his underwear... |
Military intelligence and state prosecution service officials who have spoken to the friend and colleague of Castano said they believed his report but still had no definitive evidence. Proof Castano was killed could be a fatal blow to year-old negotiations the government hoped would lead to the disarmament of 20,000 paramilitary gunmen waging an illegal war against Marxist rebels and trafficking in cocaine.
| Who're waging an illegal war on the government and trafficking in cocaine... |
Government officials fear the loss of Castano would fracture the AUC and make talks impossible. Castano aides said rival AUC members heavily involved in cocaine trafficking had attacked him because he was planning to give information about their activities to U.S. authorities. But other senior commanders from the group said Castano’s guards had mistakenly opened fire on their own comrades and he ran away in the confusion.
| Backtracking: later story from the AP sez he ain't dead yet. |
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