Colombia Tries to Retake Area From Rebels

Posted on Thu, Apr. 24, 2003 VANESSA ARRINGTON kansascity.com-Associated Press

BOGOTA, Colombia -Rebels burst into a hospital and shot dead two soldiers who were seeking treatment, the latest in a string of attacks in Colombia's lawless Arauca state.

The Colombian army accused the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, of committing a war crime with the attack Tuesday in the village of Fortul.

The gunmen pushed their way past medical personnel and shot Cpl. Hernan Villa Garcia and Pvt. Carlos Correa Galeano, who were at the hospital for dental care. Another soldier was severely wounded.

President Alvaro Uribe declared three of Arauca's biggest towns - not including Fortul - special militarized zones under emergency powers he assumed after taking office last August. Those powers expire the first week of in May, and with them will go Arauca military officials' right to round up terrorist suspects at will and monitor telephone conversations.

The three main towns - Arauca, Saravena and Arauquita - have continued to be bloodied by attacks, and much of the rest of Arauca state remains firmly controlled by rebels, who have been waging a four-decade war against the Colombian state.

The FARC, a smaller leftist rebel group and a right-wing militia are fighting for control of Arauca, situated along Colombia's eastern border with Venezuela.

Journalists working in Arauca state were forced to flee to Bogota, the capital, earlier this month after receiving death threats from the illegal armed groups. Two of the journalists have returned to Arauca, but more than a dozen are waiting for more protection from the government.

On Wednesday, the Colombian Supreme Court approved the extradition Wednesday of a rebel wanted in the United States for the 1999 murders of three pro-Indian activists in Arauca state.

When his extradition order is signed by the president, Nelson Vargas Rueda will be the first rebel sent by Colombia to face charges in the United States.

FARC rebels kidnapped Americans Terence Freitas, Ingrid Washinawatok and Lahee'Enae Gay in February 1999 as they worked with Indians in northeastern Colombia, the indictment says. Days later, the kidnappers shot the victims. Their bodies were found across the border in Venezuela.