Top Jurist, 41 Others Found Slain in Bogota

Radio stations said the president of the nation’s Supreme Court and 41 other people were found dead inside the Palace of Justice today after soldiers blasted into the building in an attempt to end a two-day siege by leftist guerrillas.

The radio stations said soldiers freed 38 rebel-held hostages after rushing into the building, but that rebels were still holed up in the building and apparently still holding captives.

The bodies of 42 persons were found inside the palace when soldiers entered, radio station RCN said, quoting army officers who had been inside.

They included Alfonso Reyes, the Supreme Court president, Caracol and RCN radio stations said, again quoting military authorities.

The report did not say how many of the dead were hostages or how they might have died.

Radio station Todelar said the guerrillas shot Reyes this morning. The station did not give the source of its information.

38 Hostages Rescued

Rebels with the M-19 guerrilla movement shot their way into the building Wednesday, taking several hundred hostages.

Soldiers rescued 38 hostages today after the army used dynamite to blast through palace walls, RCN and Caracol said in reports from just outside the palace.

Troops also captured the alleged leader of the guerrilla squad, Andres Almarales, said the reports, quoting army officers. Almarales was wounded in a leg, the reports said.