Source:
N.Y. TimesLeader Says He Intervened in an Inquiry in Colombia
By SIMON ROMERO
Published: October 10, 2007
CARTAGENA, Colombia, Oct. 9 — 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.
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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.
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