Colombia conflict: Rebels deny plot to kill attorney general

Francisco Barbosa has been Colombia's attorney general since February 2020

Left-wing rebels from the National Liberation Army (ELN) have denied they are plotting to assassinate Colombia's Attorney General Francisco Barbosa.

The attorney-general's office had said that it had received information from "three sources" which "indicated that there would be a terrorist attack" targeting Mr Barbosa.

The news of the alleged plot came days after a ceasefire between the ELN and the government came into force.

The ELN has been active since 1964.

The attorney-general's office said it had been warned by the intelligence division of the armed forces - a police unit dealing with criminal organisations and its own investigative division.

In a statement, it said that all three alerted it to a meeting they said had been held in neighbouring Venezuela last month between "five high-ranking ELN members".

According to the sources, ELN members were being trained to carry out a sniper attack on Attorney General Barbosa under the command of a man known by the alias of "Rolo".

The office of Mr Barbosa also said that there had been "suspicious transactions" worth up to $750,000 (£588,000) in accounts linked to "Rolo".

But a delegation of the ELN which is engaged in peace talks with the government labelled the statement as "false". It also accused the attorney general of "trying to sabotage the peace process".

Mr Barbosa, 49, has been Colombia's attorney general for the past three and a half years.

He has been critical of President Gustavo Petro's plan for "total peace" and the negotiations held with armed groups, arguing that deals struck with them would hinder his office's ability to detain people suspected of carrying out serious crimes.

He has also planned proposals to reduce the prison sentences of members of criminal gangs in exchange for them disbanding.

The ELN is Colombia's main remaining active guerrilla group. It has been fighting the state since 1964 and previous attempts at negotiating a peace deal with it have failed.

But on 3 August a bilateral six-month ceasefire between the government and the ELN came into force and the next round of peace negotiations is due to be held in Venezuela on 14 August.