Colombia probes vice president over militia ties

BOGOTA - Colombian prosecutors have decided to open an investigation into the alleged ties between Vice President Francisco Santos and right-wing militias.

Acting Attorney General Guillermo Mendoza Diago has told a radio station in Bogota Monday that prosecutor Fernando Pareja has decided to overturn an earlier decision to shelve the investigation. He said more evidence is however needed to order a probe.

Santos is alleged to have asked AUC militia chief Salvatore Mancuso to create a paramilitary cell in Bogota, La W radio reported. The AUC militia is now demobilized.

Santos said in a statement that he respected the prosecutor’s decision and was prepared “to cooperate in the investigation”.

He hoped the probe would be “quick and effective” and is not subject to political exploitation by “those who have more interest in discrediting the government than in the right of the country to (know about) the truth”.

“It hurts and surprises me that those who know my career and principles can believe that I could have been behind the formation of a paramilitary group,” he said.

–EFE