Arrest Warrant Issued For Close Uribe Associate

Published February 9, 2012 7:00PM (EST)

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Colombia's chief prosecutor has issued an arrest warrant for the peace commissioner of ex-President Alvaro Uribe for allegedly arranging a bogus demobilization of leftist guerrillas.

Luis Carlos Restrepo is the third former close associate of Uribe to face criminal charges.

Nestor Novoa is a top prosecutor and says Restrepo left Colombia on Jan. 8.

He was Uribe's peace commissioner between 2002-2009 and engineered a peace pact with far-right militias.

In the false demobilization case, he faces criminal charges that carry a minimum prison sentence of six years.

Some supposed rebels who disarmed in a March 2006 public ceremony have testified that they were not insurgents but thieves and unemployed and homeless people recruited to participate.


By Salon Staff

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