1,500 Colombian paramilitaries
demobilized
About
1,500 fighters of a Colombian
right-wing paramilitary
organization handed in their
weapons on Friday in Tibu
municipality of northeast
Colombia, marking the country's
largest demobilization of
illegal fighters in history.
The demobilization of members of
the Catatumbo bloc of the United
Self-defense Forces of Colombia
(AUC), the largest faction of
the group, represented a
significant achievement of
Colombian President Alvaro
Uribe's target of demobilizing
10,000 paramilitary fighters by
2006.
So far nearly 3,000 right-wing
paramilitaries have been
demobilized.
Sergio Caramagna, an official of
the Organization of American
States (OAS) who attended the
ceremony, praised the
demobilization as a "positive
step," but said law-enforcement
personnel should guarantee the
security of the zone in which
those demobilized usedto be
operated.
The 20,000-strong AUC has its
origins in vigilante groups set
up by cattle ranchers and drug
traffickers to combat left-wing
guerrillas locked in a
four-decade civil war, the
longest in Latin America, in
which government forces, leftist
guerrillas and far-right
paramilitaries fight one
another. The conflicts kill more
than 3,000 people a year.
Italy to return smuggled
cultural relic to Peru
The Italian government has
decided to return a smuggled
piece of cherished cultural
relic to Peru, local media
reported Friday.
The gold mask was confiscated at
the Rome airport in July. The
smuggler told the police that a
collector in Rome offered
100,000 US dollars for the mask.
The mask, dating back more than
1,000 years, is still in good
condition. According to experts,
this antique is one of the
cultural relics unearthed 15
years ago from the tomb of an
ancient Peruvian king.
Once returned, the antique will
be kept in a museum in north
Peru, where the ancient king's
tomb lies.
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16 killed in Venezuelan military
plane crash
A
Venezuelan military airplane
crashed Friday in Juniquito,
northeast of the coastal state
of Vargas, killing all 16 people
on board, authorities said.
Among the dead were top-ranking
officers, said Antonio Rivero,
director of the Civil Protection
and Disaster Management.
The aircraft was to participate
in a military parade in the
central state of Aragua, as part
of celebrations for the
anniversary of the Venezuelan
Air Force, Rivero said.
The cause of the accident is
under investigation.
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