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Colombian paramilitary chief
surrenders to govt
Colombia's eldest paramilitary
leader, along with his 990
followers, turned himself in to
the government on Tuesday.
Ramon Isaza, 86, chief of
Peasant Self Defense Forces of
the Magdalena Medio, attended
the demobilization ceremony in
the town of Puerto Triunfo in
the northwestern Antioquia
province, in the company of two
surrendered leaders of
Colombia's United Self-Defense
Forces (AUC).
The paramilitary fighters turned
in a total of 754 guns, four
machine guns, 16 trench mortars,
484 grenades and over 60,000
bullets during the ceremony.
They also surrendered 15
vehicles.
The Peasant Self Defense Forces
of the Magdalena Medio was
founded by Isaza in February
1978. It has been a right-wing
paramilitary group, along with
the AUC.
Official statistics show that
around 22,000 paramilitaries
have surrendered their arms
since the end of 2002.
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