HEAD OF COLOMBIA MILITIA RESIGNS POST

BOGOTA, Colombia--The charismatic leader of Colombia's top paramilitary
militia has resigned his post, the outlawed right-wing group said
Wednesday, in a shake-up thought to reflect internal divisions in the
rapidly growing force.

Carlos Castano was reassigned to manage the political affairs of the United
Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, but with no top leader named in his place,
observers aren't expecting him to fade from the scene.

The group, known as the AUC, has become a major force in Colombia's 37-year
civil war. It is waging a brutal campaign against guerrillas and their
suspected collaborators, often massacring them. Fueled by drug profits and
the government's failure to provide security in the countryside, it has
expanded into an 8,000-strong, nationwide force.

However, the rapid expansion--and a recent government crackdown against the
group--prompted internal rifts that apparently led to Castano's resignation.

Under pressure from Washington to improve human rights, President Andres
Pastrana's government has begun confronting the AUC following years of
state tolerance. The United States is providing Colombia with hundreds of
millions of dollars in military aid.

Tensions within the AUC bubbled over in recent days, following recent
arrests of militia members and a raid on the home of an AUC commander's wife.

Castano earlier made public a resignation letter in which he cryptically
indicated his disagreement with other AUC commanders who were reportedly
calling for retaliation strikes against the government. Castano is
considered a relative moderate in the organization.

In a statement posted on the AUC's Internet site Wednesday, the group said
it had accepted Castano's resignation. It said he had been appointed to
conduct the AUC's political affairs.