A Colombian reporter accused of conspiring with leftist rebels denied the allegations on Friday, saying his contacts with the guerrillas were purely for his journalistic work.
William Parra said in an interview in Venezuela, where he lives, that police and military in his home country have viewed him as an enemy ever since he refused to lead them to a camp where he interviewed a leader of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).
“I don’t have anything to hide. My closeness to the guerrillas was exclusively out of journalistic interest,” Parra said. “I never passed a line beyond that.”
A Colombian court issued a warrant for Parra’s arrest on Monday.
Prosecutors have accused him of financing terrorist activities and sedition. However, on Friday, prosecutor Ricardo Bejarano said he was removed from the case.
Parra called that a positive step.
“It shows they are in fact recognizing all of the highhandedness,” he said.
He said Colombian authorities should also allow him access to any evidence they believe they have against him related to contacts with the FARC.
Bejarano has said prosecutors have e-mails that Parra exchanged with Raul Reyes, a rebel commander killed in 2008, and that in one, Reyes asks Parra to buy missiles in the Middle East.
Parra denied meeting with anyone to discuss weapons for the FARC.
“When they show me that evidence, I’m willing to go to jail,” he said.
Meanwhile, eight police officers were killed in clashes with leftist rebels on Friday in southwestern Colombia near the border with Ecuador, authorities said revising down an earlier death toll of 10.
Police and defense ministry officials said four police officers were also wounded and two civilians were missing in the shootout with members FARC, who tried to take over San Miguel town in Putumayo province.
Earlier, San Miguel Mayor Roberto Benavides said 10 police had been killed, while Orlando Paez, a top national police official, reported two guerrillas killed in the shootout.
Ombudsman Volmar Perez said the guerrillas fled San Miguel after the firefight and placed landmines during their retreat.
In Bogota, Colombian Defense Minister Rodrigo Rivera said he “communicated with Ecuador’s Security Minister Miguel Carvajal, who agreed to immediately activate the cross-border binational commission, to conduct a joint investigation into the facts.”
Carvajal, speaking to reporters in Quito, strongly denied the attack had been launched from the Ecuadoran side of the border, insisting the national security forces have “full territorial control.”
Colombia’s rebel groups have launched a string of deadly attacks in recent weeks following the inauguration of Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, a former defense minister who has promised to maintain pressure on the insurgents.
The air force said on Friday it had sent combat and reconnaissance planes to the area, while two medical helicopters were dispatched to pick up wounded police.
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