4 Colombia Rebels Held in Alleged Presidential Assassination Plot
The Colombian military arrested four leftist guerrillas in Bogota who were part of a rebel plot to assassinate President Ernesto Samper, authorities said Saturday.
An army statement said the rebels, belonging to the Marxist Revolutionary Armed Forces, known as FARC, were also planning attacks against other public figures in response to Samper’s recent exoneration in Congress on drug corruption charges.
The rebels, two men and two women, were caught at a safe house on the south side of the capital along with a large cache of weapons, military officials said.
They said the weapons included a surface-to-air missile launcher with nine projectiles that were to have been used in the attack on Samper, presumably by downing the presidential jet.
The weapons cache also included over 70 grenades, eight mortar rounds and thousands of rounds for automatic weapons.
Founded in 1964, FARC is Colombia’s largest and oldest guerrilla group. It specializes in kidnappings and protection of rural drug operations.
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