Latest controversy involving Mr. Uribe

Leader Says He Intervened in an Inquiry in Colombia

By Simon Romero, New York Times

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

CARTAGENA, Colombia, — President Álvaro Uribe acknowledged Tuesday that he had intervened in an independent investigation of a jailed paramilitary leader, saying that investigators were trying to enmesh him in an unsuccessful plot to assassinate another militia chief.

The imprisoned leader, José Moncada, wrote a letter to Mr. Uribe recently in which he vaguely mentioned an attempt to link the president to a 2003 effort to kill another warlord. The letter also pleads with Mr. Uribe to avoid being entangled by investigators.

No known evidence ties Mr. Uribe to the plot to kill Alcides de Jesús Durango, who is also in prison, and Mr. Uribe denied Tuesday that he had any relationship with those involved in the plan.

But Mr. Uribe, who released the letter on Tuesday, did acknowledge calling the Supreme Court justice investigating Mr. Moncada, saying it was “my duty” to ask directly about the inquiry. He accused the justice, Iván Velásquez, of trying to persuade Mr. Moncada to implicate him in the plot.

In turn, the Supreme Court called for an investigation into whether Mr. Uribe had obstructed justice by pressing Mr. Velásquez, who questioned Mr. Moncada as part of investigations of dozens of pro-Uribe legislators and officials tied to the militias.

Mr. Moncada was a midlevel leader of a paramilitary group that carried out kidnappings, extortion and killings during Colombia’s long internal war. He is now being investigated, accused of ties to current political leaders.

This is the latest controversy involving Mr. Uribe.

Last week, Mr. Uribe vehemently denied claims in a new book by the mistress of the late cocaine kingpin Pablo Escobar that he had close ties to the drug lord, and accused a journalist, Gonzalo Guillén, of helping to write the book. Mr. Guillén, a correspondent for El Nuevo Herald, said over the weekend that he had to flee Colombia because of death threats after he was publicly condemned by Mr. Uribe.

In addition, Mario Uribe, the president’s cousin and one of his leading allies, resigned from the Senate to avoid an investigation into claims that he collaborated with death squads. Mr. Uribe’s former intelligence chief, high-ranking military officials and lawmakers are also under investigation on suspicion of similar ties.

This latest dispute comes before a visit to Colombia by Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez. The Bush administration is trying to persuade American lawmakers to approve a trade agreement with Colombia, but the deal has stalled as the scandal over politicians’ ties to death squads slowly unfolds.

Jenny Carolina González contributed reporting from Bogotá.