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03/13/2006:

"Paramilitaries Forgo Guns In Colombia"

BOGOTA, Colombia, March 10 -- The last large Colombian right-wing paramilitary force gave up its guns Friday as part of a peace deal negotiated with the government.

Rodrigo Tovar, alias "Jorge 40," the paramilitary leader on Colombia's Caribbean coast, led 2,500 of his troops in the demobilization ceremony.

About 28,000 right-wing fighters have accepted the government's offer of reduced jail terms for such crimes as massacre, torture and cocaine smuggling.

The ceremony in the northern town of La Mesa was attended by indigenous leaders whose people have been caught for decades in the cross-fire between the paramilitary fighters and left-wing rebels.

The paramilitaries have committed some of the worst atrocities of Colombia's guerrilla war, in which they have collaborated with members of the army to fight the rebels.

Opposition politicians and human rights groups say the demobilization is a smokescreen that allows the paramilitaries to secure benefits from the government without being forced to dismantle their cocaine-smuggling and extortion networks.
washingtonpost.com