Uribe denies paying for paramilitary training

Ex-Colombian President Alvaro Uribe rejected accusations by an Israeli mercenary that he helped finance the training of paramilitary groups in the 1980s.

Uribe referred to the allegations via his Twitter account as, “an attack upon my honour, I never appeased criminals or their associates.”

The former head of state went on the defensive Thursday after Israeli mercenary Yair Klein testified before a Colombian court that he had been told that the former president helped finance the military training of militias. Klein gave his testimony via a video-link.

In another Twitter post, Uribe said, “Mercenary Klein forgets that I did not have a property in that area nor links with any of the groups I supposedly paid.”

The scandal broke Tuesday when Klein claimed, “one of the trainees was later president of Colombia…he was one of the landowners who paid for the training…I’m not saying the name because you know exactly who it is.”

Klein is wanted in Colombia under accusations of training paramilitaries that went on to form the AUC, an umbrella group for paramilitary blocks throughout the country.

Prior to Klein’s testimony, Uribe has previously been accused of favouring the paramilitaries during his eight years as president (2002-2010). Although he has never been charged with wrongdoing, many of Uribe’s former allies have been convicted of colluding with paramilitary death squads in what is known as the “parapolitics” scandal.

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