TEAM HOPES TO UNRAVEL COLOMBIA NECKLACE BOMB

BOGOTA, Colombia--Investigators struggled Thursday to decipher the
newest weapon in violence-plagued Colombia--a necklace bomb--as they
tried to determine who was responsible for its debut Monday in a
bungled extortion attempt that decapitated a woman.

Giving serious weight to denials of responsibility issued by the
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, this nation's oldest
and largest guerrilla group, bomb experts were looking for clues that
could reveal who designed the heinous weapon that claimed the life of
Elvia Cortes, a 53-year-old dairy farmer.

They have determined that the tube of explosives clamped around
Cortes' neck early Monday was an extremely sophisticated device with
three detonation mechanisms: chemical, electrical and mechanical. That
made it "almost impossible to deactivate," a government bomb expert
said.

The masked intruders who fastened the bomb on Cortes had warned her
family of that likelihood in a recorded message that demanded $7,500
before they would return and remove the necklace. The explosive
detonated as soldiers, called to the scene by neighbors, sought to
disarm it.

Cortes and an army bomb disposal expert were killed, and four other
soldiers were wounded.

The only similar device that explosives experts here have seen was a
belt bomb that was clamped around the waist of a bank manager a year
ago during a bank robbery in Boyaca province, where Cortes also lived.

The belt was removed when the bank manager gave the robbers $55,000.
That robbery is believed to have been committed by the FARC,
investigators said.

Both bombs were circular and designed to explode if an electric
current traveling around them was interrupted, the government bomb
expert said. The belt bomb, however, lacked the additional chemical
and mechanical triggers used in the weapon that killed Cortes and the
soldier, said the expert, who requested anonymity.

Furious at Cortes' slaying, which he blamed on the FARC, President
Andres Pastrana on Tuesday suspended a May 29 meeting of the
government, the rebels and delegates from countries that are being
asked to help finance Colombia's peace and anti-drug efforts.

Guerrilla leaders Thursday took the public relations offensive,
scolding the government for being quick to blame them.

"We're asking the government to commit itself to . . . not make these
unilateral decisions," FARC spokesman Raul Reyes said in a radio
interview, referring to Pastrana's announcement.

Still, after the two killings, Colombians are increasingly questioning
the paradox of negotiating peace with a rebel band that has become
more blatant in its attacks on the civilian population. The FARC
finances its 36-year-old fight with the government by kidnapping,
extortion and "taxing" drug crops grown in areas under its control.
Highway travelers are routinely stopped at guerrilla roadblocks and
detained until their families pay ransom.

"The idea of procuring peace in the midst of war has led us to
tolerate and almost legitimize the worst abuses," columnist Abdon
Espinosa wrote in the respected newspaper El Tiempo. "Whether or not
the FARC is responsible for the torture and death of Elvia Cortes, a
re-framing of the peace process is called for."

The National Assn. of Industrialists called on Pastrana to suspend all
talks with the FARC except those related to a cease-fire.