Colombia rebels kill suspected army collaborators

CNN 28 August 1998

                  Colombia rebels kill suspected army collaborators

                  BOGOTA, Colombia (Reuters) -- Colombian Marxist rebels shot dead five
                  civilians on Friday after dragging them out of their homes at dawn accusing
                  them of collaborating with the army, authorities said.

                  Police said the killings, by Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia
                  (FARC) guerrillas, occurred in the small town of Labranzagrande in a rural
                  area of central Boyaca province.

                  The victims, four peasants and a nurse from the local health clinic, were shot
                  outside their homes while townspeople watched in horror, police spokesmen
                  said.

                  They said the police station in Labranzagrande had been abandoned after a
                  recent FARC raid on the town and no security force members were on hand
                  early Friday.

The police account of the killings was corroborated by Labranzagrande's
mayor, who spoke of the incident in a brief interview with local radio.

                  The FARC, Colombia's largest and oldest guerrilla group, has agreed to
                  hold peace talks with the new government of President Andres Pastrana,
                  who took office on August 7.

                  As a precondition for the talks, Pastrana has agreed to the FARC's demand
                  for the demilitarization of a vast swath of territory in eastern and southern
                  Colombia.

                  In other developments Friday, the National Indigenous Organization
                  (IONIC) denounced the killing of an Embera Katio tribal leader in northwest
                  Cordoba province.

                  The IONIC, which represents dozens of Indian groups across Colombia,
                  said the community leader was gunned down by a right- wing paramilitary
                  group Tuesday because he opposed the planned construction of a dam in
                  Cordoba that would flood tribal lands.