AFP. 16 January 2002. Army reports rebel attacks as Colombia peace talks resume.
BOGOTA -- As peace talks between the government of President Andres Pastrana and the country's largest rebel group began again in the southern demilitarized zone, the army reported new rebel attacks around the country. Talks with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) got underway just before 1900 GMT -- three hours behind schedule -- in the town of Los Pozos, in the rebel-controlled area of southern Colombia. Talks began just hours after the army reported the abduction of seven people at a Pacific beach resort near the border with Panama. Army General Francisco Rene Pedraza said that six men and a woman were kidnapped when they landed on a deserted beach in ultra-light airplanes. According to local witnesses, 15 armed FARC rebels in two boats reached the beach soon after the planes landed, kidnapped the people, and took them into the jungle, Pedraza said. Late Tuesday FARC rebels also attacked the town of Guayata, in the northern department of Boyaca. The rebels entered the town in the afternoon and attacked the police station and other government buildings, firing guns and hurling explosives, military sources said. Soldiers from the departmental capital were rushed to the area, sources said. Smaller FARC attacks were reported in Cundinamarca department, in central Colombia. Meanwhile, top Pastrana officials Wednesday said the government was seeking authorization from Washington to use US funds given exclusively for the war against drugs also for anti-guerrilla warfare. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Barry Stoller http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ProletarianNews
