PARAMILITARY GROUP SPLINTERS OVER DRUG TRAFFICKING DISPUTE

BOGOTA -- Colombia's brutal right-wing paramilitary organization has
splintered after an internal dispute over individual units' involvement in
drug trafficking, the group's founder said.

Carlos Castano, the founder of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia
(AUC) said on the group's Web site that the loosely organized
"confederation" had become impossible to sustain.

"We find ourselves with several groups that are scattered and highly
involved in drug trafficking," said the statement signed by Castano and the
group's military commander, Salvatore Mancuso.

The two men said they would try to reorganize a national paramilitary group.