COLOMBIAN POLICE LINK BLAST TO TERRORIST FEUD

A feud between right-wing paramilitaries and criminal gangs was
blamed today for a powerful car bomb that exploded in a crowded park
in the Colombian city of Medellin on Thursday night, killing 8 people
and injuring 137.

"All indications are that this is a retaliation stemming from a war
between the A.U.C. and criminal bands, specifically the Terrace band,"
said Gen. Tobias Duran, director of operations at the National Police.
The A.U.C. is the paramilitary group United Self-Defense Forces of
Colombia, which uses the initials of its Spanish name.

A car bomb packed with 44 pounds of explosives ripped through an
upscale neighborhood in Medellin, north of Bogota, hurling shards of
debris and glass onto people enjoying a night out at a park bordered
by cafes, restaurants and night clubs.

It was the second car bomb to explode in less than 15 days in
Colombia, torn by a 37-year-old war that has killed 40,000 people in
the last decade.

The blast came hours after gunmen of the A.U.C. ó an outlawed militia
that targets leftist guerrillas ó assassinated the leader of the
Terrace, a Medellin-based criminal gang, said Gen. Alfredo Salgado,
the deputy police chief.

The armed forces chief, Gen. Fernando Tapias, said the attack was the
work of "demented terrorists" and called for special antiterrorist
legislation.

The 8,000-member A.U.C. is locked in a feud with the Terrace, its
former ally in an alliance of drug traffickers, street criminals and
anti-Communist fighters, since the A.U.C. leader, Carlos Castano,
ordered the killing of its leaders in what was believed to be a
settling of scores.

The surviving Terrace leaders then threatened to turn over to
prosecutors evidence linking high-profile assassinations and
kidnappings carried out by the gang on Mr. Castano's orders.

General Duran said the police were investigating reports from
witnesses that two men and two women were seen leaving a red Renault
sedan at Parque Lleras park shortly before the explosion. No one has
claimed responsibility for the bombing.