Lawmakers Arrested in Colombia

Court officials in Colombia have ordered the arrest of three lawmakers close to President Uribe. The names of the men involved were all found on a computer owned by the right-hand man of Rodrigo Tovar Pupo, one of Colombia's biggest paramilitary leaders. The three men, Sens. Alvaro Garcia and Jairo Merlano and Rep. Erik Morris., were all questioned back in October this year and are accused of various crimes.

Garcia is accused of murder for his role in 'organizing, promoting, arming and financing' paramilitaries and a massacre of 20 people in 2000, the court said in a statement. Merlano is accused of belonging to the paramilitaries and taking money from the groups for his 2002 electoral campaign. Morris was governor of the department of Sucre, a stronghold of Pupo's forces, from 1998 to 2000.