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Colombian President Blames FARC for Murdering Congressman
Colombian President Andres Pastrana said on Saturday there are "serious indications" that the country's biggest rebel guerrilla is responsible for the murder of congressman Diego Turbay, his mother and five more individuals.
Once the hypothesis confirmed, the peace process with the rebel Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) would be in serious danger, Pastrana said in a declaration.
He also demanded that the FARC turn in the assassins, saying that his government has made everything possible to locate the killers as soon as possible.
On Friday, the gunmen shot House Representative Turbay after stopping his armored Toyota vehicle heading for a mayor's inauguration in southern Caqueta State, a major cocaine-producing province where the FARC has heave presence.
In addition to Turbay and his mother, the victims also included three bodyguards, the driver and another man described by police as an architect.
General Tobias Duran, Operative Director of the National Police, insisted there are trustworthy proofs pointing towards the FARC, adding that an interdisciplinary commission was formed to gather information to deliver to the Attorney General's office.
There was no immediate denial or claim of responsibility from the FARC. The killing were the second attack on a civilian involved in peace efforts in the last two weeks.
A labor leader involved in peace talks in Caqueta was shot and injured by right-wing paramilitary militias on December 13.
The 17,000-man FARC now controls about 40 percent of the Andean nation and wants the government to cede its control of the land in the north. It has carried out repeated attacks on oil infrastructure and kidnapping campaigns.
In November, it suspended peace talks with the government. Only contacts for the exchange of prisoners remain.
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