Officials: No Proof Carlos Castano Slain

[Quetzal]

Officials: No Proof Carlos Castano Slain

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) - Colombian authorities insisted Friday they have no proof that a key right-wing paramilitary leader is dead, despite reports that he died following a gunbattle April 16. Some paramilitary members said this week that Carlos Castano - a co-founder of the shadowy anti-guerrilla movement - was killed.

But a spokeswoman for the attorney general's office said on condition of anonymity that investigators have "no indication that he is dead" and were told by people at the ranch where the shootout occurred that he escaped.

No body has been found and Salvatore Mancuso, leader of the paramilitary group known as the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, has said he believes that Castano is still alive.

But two paramilitary figures, citing eyewitnesses to what they described as an execution, said in e-mails to The Associated Press that Castano, who is wanted in the United States for drug trafficking, was hanged at the ranch in northwest Colombia.

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http://news.findlaw.com/ap_stories/i/1102/4-30-2004/20040430180012_109.html