FORMER COLOMBIA GENERAL ARRESTED

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) - A retired army general with alleged links to
right-wing death squads was arrested Monday - a move that could strengthen
the government's case for receiving more U.S. military aid to fight drug
trafficking.

Former Gen. Rito Alejo del Rio faces charges of supporting paramilitary
groups during his 1995-1997 tenure as an army commander in northwest
Antioquia State, according to a brief statement from the prosecutor's office.

He would be the first Colombian general tried before a civilian court for
ties to the paramilitaries, outlaw militias who are waging a brutal
massacre campaign against suspected leftist rebels.

Monday's arrest comes as the U.S. Congress considers new aid for Colombia
atop a $1.3 billion package approved last year for the South American
country and its Andean neighbors. Cracking down on army officers who work
with the militias is one of several condition governing U.S. counterdrug
aid to Colombia's security forces.

Del Rio, who was forced into early retirement amid human rights accusations
in 1999, has been a contentious figure. Some conservatives consider him a
hero for helping pacify a northern banana-growing and cattle-ranching
region that was crawling with rebels in the early 1990s.

Human rights groups see him as the embodiment of a dirty alliance between
the military and the paramilitaries. There was no immediate comment from
Del Rio. However, his attorney, Orlando Perdomo, said the former general is
innocent.

President Andres Pastrana forced Del Rio and another general into
retirement in 1999 as a demonstration of his resolve to sever
army-paramilitary ties. But critics complained that Del Rio was not being
brought to justice. On Monday, a leading U.S. human rights group applauded
the arrest. "It's exactly the kind of step we've been hoping to see in
Colombia for a long time," said Robin Kirk of Human Rights Watch.

With the help of military officers and cattle ranchers seeking protection
against guerrilla harassment, the rightist United Self Defense Forces of
Colombia, or AUC, has grown from just a few hundred fighters in the early
1990s into a 8,500-strong nationwide force. The group is blamed for a
majority of the massacres committed annually in the country's 37-year war.