Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Miami Herald
March 27, 2008
Pg. 1
The Colombian military claimed it has found uranium belonging to FARC rebels.
By Frances Robles
Colombian authorities said they seized up to 66 pounds of low-grade uranium hidden off the side of a road in southern Bogotá on Wednesday, which the Colombian Defense Ministry claimed belonged to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.
The Colombian Defense Ministry said the discovery adds weight to the evidence reportedly found in a laptop computer belonging to slain guerrilla leader Raúl Reyes, which indicated the rebel group was interested in buying and selling the chemical on the international underground market.
But the 30 kilos of uranium found in plastic bags dug up about three feet from a road in southern Bogotá was ''impoverished,'' the ministry said, and in that state could not have been used to make a radioactive bomb.
Authorities were waiting for further analysis to determine how dangerous the material found really is, armed forces commander Freddy Padilla said at a press conference late Wednesday.
It was not clear if Colombian authorities meant that they had found depleted uranium, which is the residue left after the mineral is processed to make nuclear energy or nuclear weapons.
In its natural state, uranium has low radioactive power and it has to be enriched through a sophisticated process to generate nuclear energy or to make nuclear weapons. According to Colombian daily El Tiempo, the country does not possess the technology to enrich uranium.
A U.S. State Department duty officer reached late Wednesday said the department was aware of the reports, but declined to comment.
The Colombian government has used details of an alleged deal to buy up to 50 kilos of uranium at $2.5 million a kilo found in e-mails on Reyes' computer to prove the FARC was planning to enter the international terrorism trade from its sanctuary in the jungle about one mile from the Colombian-Ecuador border.
A ministry statement made public Wednesday said thaton March 20 informants gave military intelligence officers a sample of uranium allegedly acquired by FARC rebels. Mining experts analyzed the sample and on Tuesday confirmed it to be ''impoverished'' uranium.
The informants led the military to the rest of the stash in Pasquilla, a district in Bogotá's Comuna 20 neighborhood, the ministry said. The uranium was found Wednesday, hidden near the road that leads to San Juan de Sumapaz, a longtime rebel stronghold.
RCN TV showed footage of jeans-clad authorities pulling white cloth bags out of the brush off the side of a road.
Two pieces, one rectangular and another round, each about 33 pounds, were found covered in dirt, Padilla said.
'According to the informants, it's the material the FARC was negotiating that appears in Reyes' seized computer,'' Padilla said. ''The seizure is of great benefit, because it prevents the FARC from counting on this kind of material'' which they have wanted since 2005, he said.
He said the material was transferred to the government mining ministry for more analysis on where it came from.
Padilla added the informants were people close to ''Belisario'' whose name appeared in Reyes' computer as the person charged with finding the radioactive material. Belisario, Padilla said, is not a guerrilla but rather a business contact.
Word of a possible effort by Colombian rebels to acquire uranium was first revealed earlier this month when the Colombian National Police rifled through one of several computers found at a bombed rebel camp.
One of the computers contained a Feb. 16 e-mail discussing a deal to buy uranium, which can be used to make dirty bombs in which conventional explosives disperse radioactive materials. The e-mails suggested that the FARC may have intended to sell the uranium to a third party rather than use it themselves.
''Another of the themes is the one on uranium,'' said a note allegedly written by a man identified as Edgar Tovar to Raúl -- an apparent reference to Reyes, the FARC's No. 2 man.
''There's a man who supplies me with material for the explosive we prepare, and his name is Belisario and he lives in Bogotá,'' the note reads. ``He sent me the samples and the specifications and they are proposing to sell each kilo for two and a half million dollars, and that they supply and we look for someone to sell to, and that the deal should be with a government that can buy a huge amount. They have 50 kilos ready and can sell much more.''
Colombian Vice President Francisco Santos later said the note proved the FARC was ``negotiating to get radioactive material, the principal base for making dirty weapons of destruction and terrorism.''
Some experts questioned whether the deal was legitimate, and the FARC denied it.
''Only developed nations like the United States and others have the conditions and the technology required to process uranium, not a guerrilla movement that still fights for people's dignity with rifles and even sticks,'' a FARC statement previously published by the Colombian media said.
Miami Herald Washington correspondent Pablo Bachelet and special correspondent Jenny Carolina González contributed to this report.
March 27, 2008
Pg. 1
The Colombian military claimed it has found uranium belonging to FARC rebels.
By Frances Robles
Colombian authorities said they seized up to 66 pounds of low-grade uranium hidden off the side of a road in southern Bogotá on Wednesday, which the Colombian Defense Ministry claimed belonged to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.
The Colombian Defense Ministry said the discovery adds weight to the evidence reportedly found in a laptop computer belonging to slain guerrilla leader Raúl Reyes, which indicated the rebel group was interested in buying and selling the chemical on the international underground market.
But the 30 kilos of uranium found in plastic bags dug up about three feet from a road in southern Bogotá was ''impoverished,'' the ministry said, and in that state could not have been used to make a radioactive bomb.
Authorities were waiting for further analysis to determine how dangerous the material found really is, armed forces commander Freddy Padilla said at a press conference late Wednesday.
It was not clear if Colombian authorities meant that they had found depleted uranium, which is the residue left after the mineral is processed to make nuclear energy or nuclear weapons.
In its natural state, uranium has low radioactive power and it has to be enriched through a sophisticated process to generate nuclear energy or to make nuclear weapons. According to Colombian daily El Tiempo, the country does not possess the technology to enrich uranium.
A U.S. State Department duty officer reached late Wednesday said the department was aware of the reports, but declined to comment.
The Colombian government has used details of an alleged deal to buy up to 50 kilos of uranium at $2.5 million a kilo found in e-mails on Reyes' computer to prove the FARC was planning to enter the international terrorism trade from its sanctuary in the jungle about one mile from the Colombian-Ecuador border.
A ministry statement made public Wednesday said thaton March 20 informants gave military intelligence officers a sample of uranium allegedly acquired by FARC rebels. Mining experts analyzed the sample and on Tuesday confirmed it to be ''impoverished'' uranium.
The informants led the military to the rest of the stash in Pasquilla, a district in Bogotá's Comuna 20 neighborhood, the ministry said. The uranium was found Wednesday, hidden near the road that leads to San Juan de Sumapaz, a longtime rebel stronghold.
RCN TV showed footage of jeans-clad authorities pulling white cloth bags out of the brush off the side of a road.
Two pieces, one rectangular and another round, each about 33 pounds, were found covered in dirt, Padilla said.
'According to the informants, it's the material the FARC was negotiating that appears in Reyes' seized computer,'' Padilla said. ''The seizure is of great benefit, because it prevents the FARC from counting on this kind of material'' which they have wanted since 2005, he said.
He said the material was transferred to the government mining ministry for more analysis on where it came from.
Padilla added the informants were people close to ''Belisario'' whose name appeared in Reyes' computer as the person charged with finding the radioactive material. Belisario, Padilla said, is not a guerrilla but rather a business contact.
Word of a possible effort by Colombian rebels to acquire uranium was first revealed earlier this month when the Colombian National Police rifled through one of several computers found at a bombed rebel camp.
One of the computers contained a Feb. 16 e-mail discussing a deal to buy uranium, which can be used to make dirty bombs in which conventional explosives disperse radioactive materials. The e-mails suggested that the FARC may have intended to sell the uranium to a third party rather than use it themselves.
''Another of the themes is the one on uranium,'' said a note allegedly written by a man identified as Edgar Tovar to Raúl -- an apparent reference to Reyes, the FARC's No. 2 man.
''There's a man who supplies me with material for the explosive we prepare, and his name is Belisario and he lives in Bogotá,'' the note reads. ``He sent me the samples and the specifications and they are proposing to sell each kilo for two and a half million dollars, and that they supply and we look for someone to sell to, and that the deal should be with a government that can buy a huge amount. They have 50 kilos ready and can sell much more.''
Colombian Vice President Francisco Santos later said the note proved the FARC was ``negotiating to get radioactive material, the principal base for making dirty weapons of destruction and terrorism.''
Some experts questioned whether the deal was legitimate, and the FARC denied it.
''Only developed nations like the United States and others have the conditions and the technology required to process uranium, not a guerrilla movement that still fights for people's dignity with rifles and even sticks,'' a FARC statement previously published by the Colombian media said.
Miami Herald Washington correspondent Pablo Bachelet and special correspondent Jenny Carolina González contributed to this report.