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160 Colombian paramilitaries
back into civil life
At least 160 paramilitaries of
the United Self-Defense Forces
of Colombia (AUC) were gathered
in the Andean country's northern
part prior to a demobilization
plan within the framework of the
peace process, a government
communique said Thursday.
"A group of 160 paramilitaries
concentrated at the hamlet of
San Pablo, a rural zone of the
municipality of Maria la Baja,
setting the stage for their
reincorporation into civil
life," said the communique.
The AUC paramilitaries arrived
in the special zone accompanied
by delegates of the Mission for
the Support of the Organization
of American States and officials
of the Office of the High
Presidential Commissioner for
Peace.
Since the peace dialogue was
launched in December 2002, 5,285
paramilitaries have been
demobilized with the remaining
AUC members expected to lay down
their arms by 2006.
The group was established in the
1980s by drug traffickers and
land owners to fight leftist
guerrillas in areas where
government troops had little
control.
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