Uribe accused of paramilitary ties

[Judi Lynn]

Sep 7, 9:31 PM EDT
Uribe accused of paramilitary ties

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) -- A leftist Colombian congressman has presented video testimony from a jailed far-right militia chief who accuses former President Alvaro Uribe of sponsoring his illegal armed group in the mid-1990s.

Pablo Hernan Sierra says in the video released Wednesday that he organized an illegal militia that operated from a ranch owned by Uribe's family when Alvaro Uribe was governor of Antioquia state.

Rep. Ivan Cepeda says the video was recorded last month at the prison where Sierra is held on murder charges.

Sierra is the first former paramilitary leader to directly accuse Uribe of sponsoring the illegal militias responsible for most killings in Colombia's dirty war.

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