SCANDAL IN COLOMBIA GROWS

Five More Lawmakers Are Arrested, Accused of Having Ties to Illegal
Paramilitary Groups.

BOGOTA, COLOMBIA -- The scandal involving alleged links between
Colombian lawmakers and illegal paramilitary groups widened Thursday
with the arrest of five more members of Congress, including a senator
who is the brother of Foreign Minister Maria Consuelo Araujo.

The arrests of Sen. Alvaro Araujo and the others could further
tarnish President Alvaro Uribe, who since being reelected to a second
term in a landslide last year has been rocked by allegations that
some close legislative supporters have ties to the right-wing armies.
The arrests are also bound to increase calls that Maria Araujo resign.

The others arrested were Sens. Dieb Maloof, Mauricio Pimiento and
Luis Eduardo Vives, and Rep. Alfonso Campo Escobar. Rep. Jorge Luis
Caballero was still at large.

The orders were issued by the Supreme Court, which handles criminal
investigations involving members of Congress. All those arrested are
staunch Uribe supporters.

No specific charges were revealed Thursday night, although a
spokesman for the attorney general's office confirmed that the
arrests had been made. Without offering details, a Supreme Court
source said the charges were related to illegal dealings with the
paramilitary groups.

Further complicating Foreign Minister Araujo's situation was the
revelation Thursday that her cousin, Gov. Hernando Molina of the
northern province of Cesar, is also under investigation in connection
with alleged dealings with the paramilitaries, including illegal
campaign financing.

When Sen. Araujo acknowledged in November that he was the subject of
an inquiry, Uribe rebuffed calls that he fire his minister to
eliminate a possible taint.

In November, four other sitting or former Congress members were
arrested and charged with criminal involvement with paramilitary
groups, including authorizing mass murder and government corruption.

Some of those arrested are among lawmakers alleged to have signed a
document in 2001 pledging support to paramilitary groups to "remake
the nation."

Ranchers and farmers formed the paramilitaries in the 1980s to defend
themselves against left-wing guerrillas. But in many cases, the
groups evolved into criminal organizations that engaged in drug
trafficking, killing, extortion and land grabs.

Uribe has been hurt by revelations that some paramilitary leaders
have continued to run their criminal empires from jail since
demobilizing and pleading guilty in exchange for lighter sentences.
Investigations in some cases have confirmed that politicians at the
local and national levels who support Uribe were complicit in militia crimes.