World IN BRIEF : COLOMBIA : Military, Police Chiefs Dismissed
From Times Staff and Wire Reports
Demanding total support for his peace initiative, President Ernesto Samper sacked Colombia’s military leadership and replaced the national police chief. Armed forces commander Gen. Ramon Emilio Gil had opposed efforts to negotiate an end to a 30-year guerrilla war. The police chief, Gen. Octavio Vargas Silva, led the search for Pablo Escobar, the Medellin cartel kingpin. Escobar was slain in December by security forces. U.S. drug agents suspect Vargas received help from the rival Cali cartel.
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