CUBA: FARC negotiating team in Cuba says former President Alvaro Uribe behind spying operation on peace talks

Record ID: 349828

  • Title: CUBA: FARC negotiating team in Cuba says former President Alvaro Uribe behind spying operation on peace talks
  • Date: 5th February 2014
  • Summary: BOGOTA, COLOMBIA (FEBRUARY 4, 2014) (REUTERS) VARIOUS EXTERIORS OF ALLEGED SPY CENTRE
  • Embargoed: 20th February 2014 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Colombia
  • Country: Colombia
  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVAA46S4D5DBZQ6IS72ULZ3KDO55
  • Story Text: FARC representatives said on Wednesday (February 5) that Colombia's ex-president, Alvaro Uribe, was behind an alleged spying operation targeting ongoing peace negotiations in Cuba.
    The FARC delegation spoke from Havana where representatives were meeting with government negotiators for another round of talks.
    "Of course, Alvaro Uribe is behind all of this. Don't forget that Alvaro Uribe Velez is public enemy number one of peace in Colombia," said the FARC's lead negotiator, Ivan Marquez.
    On Tuesday, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos ordered an investigation into reports that rogue elements in the military were spying on the government's and FARC's negotiating team at peace talks. He suggested that "dark forces" were trying to sabotage his bid to end five decades of war.
    Uribe has been a vociferous detractor of the peace talks, often using his Twitter account to criticize Santos for offering too much at the negotiating table and warning that FARC rebels may get off with soft prison sentences and seats in Congress.
    Uribe denied involvement in the spying and called any media suggesting that he was being it an "infamy" and a "smoke screen."
    "It's not just that there is spying from Colombia - from Colombia - on the peace delegation of the government, but especially on the peace delegations of the FARC. For that reason, we are raising these questions. What is happening is very serious. The government of Colombia should respond," said Marquez.
    Late on Tuesday in Colombia, fallout from the spying accusations continued as the government dismissed two senior army commanders.
    "In common agreement and in consensus with the general commander of the military forces and the commander of the national army, we have decided to relieve the chief of intelligence of the army (Brigadier General Mauricio Ricardo Zuniga) and the director of technical intelligence of the national army (Brigadier General Jorge Zuluaga) of their duties while the investigation goes forward and we look for greater transparency and greater clarity in the process," said Defence Minister Juan Carlos Pinzon.
    The negotiations with the FARC began in November 2012 and have been conducted in secrecy, which both sides have held to, except for brief communiques about their progress.
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