BOGOTA, Nov. 26 (UPI) -- Some 450 members of a Colombian paramilitary group laid down their arms as part of an ongoing demobilization process, El Tiempo newspaper reported Friday.
Members of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, or AUC, surrendered their rifles, grenade-launchers and mortars in a ceremony at a soccer stadium in the town of Turbo, about 310 miles northwest of Bogota. The crowd of onlookers included Colombian officials orchestrating the negotiations.
Nearly 300 of Colombia's right-wing paramilitaries laid down their arms earlier this week.
The AUC, with about 20,000 members, is to completely disarm by December 2005. The right-wing group has been battling left-wing rebels using profits from illegal trade to fund its operations.
The ongoing peace negotiations between Colombian President Alvaro Uribe and the AUC have experienced a few snags during recent months -- such as repeated cease-fire violations -- but reached a surprising agreement in October regarding the decommissioning of 3,000 troops by the end of the year.
In exchange for peace, the paramilitaries are demanding amnesty and immunity from extradition to the United States, where many AUC leaders are wanted on drug charges.
