Colombia seeks to extradite Israeli "para" trainer

Well, what do you know...very interesting, if this is actually the same guy...and no, I do not know if he's eligible for any benefits, but probably not.

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Colombia seeks to extradite of Israeli "para" trainer
28 Aug 2007 17:40:33 GMT
Source: Reuters

(Changes dateline, previous MOSCOW, updates with details on background, adds separate spelling of name)

BOGOTA, Aug 28 (Reuters) - Colombia said on Tuesday it will seek the extradition of a former Israeli army officer once convicted of training paramilitaries in the Andean country and who was captured by Russian police at Moscow's Domodedovo airport.

Yair or Yara Gal Klein, 61, was sentenced in 2001 in absentia to 10 years in jail by a Colombian court for training recruits for paramilitaries in their brutal campaign to counter Latin America's oldest left-wing rebel insurgency.

Colombian Foreign Minister Fernando Araujo said the government would ask that Klein be extradited to carry out his sentence in the Andean country, where the disarming of illegal paramilitaries has helped ease violence.

"Colombia's government is going to make a formal petition to the Russian Foreign Ministry, so he is sent here to pay his sentence," Araujo said.

In 1998, Colombian prosecutors accused Klein and three Israeli associates of providing paramilitary training in the Magdalena valley between 1987 and 1989 and also working as mercenaries for the Medellin drug cartel, a charge he denied.

Colombia said Klein was sentenced in 2001 to 10 years by a local court for instructing terrorist techniques and conspiring to commit a crime.

He said publicly at the time ranking Colombian military officers were aware of his paramilitary training activities.

Interpol had tipped off Russia's Interior Ministry that Klein could attempt to travel to Moscow in August. He was detained when he arrived at the airport on Monday.

"To get through passport controls in many countries without any difficulties, he changed his date of birth, his surname and the passport number," a spokesman said.

Colombia's paramilitary movement began in the 1980s when wealthy landowners banded together for protection against attacks, kidnapping and extortion by leftist guerrillas in rural areas where state presence was weak.

But the militia groups soon turned to drug-trafficking and kidnapping as they snatched land and killed peasants in the name of counter-insurgency.

Aided by billions of dollars in U.S. funding, President Alvaro Uribe has led a crackdown on rebels and negotiated the disarmament of the paramilitary movement. The rebels are still fighting, aided by finances from the country's drug trade

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N28262932.htm

By juancegomez on Aug 28, 2007, 22:00 in Politics & the war.

Dolfi says on Aug 29, 2007, 01:12:

Yes, put the bastard in a colombian jail!

panthdave says on Aug 29, 2007, 03:19:

There is more behind this than more people know I bet ya... You know I don't know who to believe at this point you hear so many different stories with the para military movement..I wouldn't be surprised..

panthdave Miami

juancegomez says on Aug 29, 2007, 09:42:

Considering that the guy had already been sentenced to 10 years way back in 2001, when Uribe was pretty much out of the picture, and that he has now been captured by Russian authorities (based on an Interpol warrant already requested by Colombia), it's hardly as simple as that, I'd say.

As for Uribe, I am not omniscient, but at this moment I don't really recall any accusations of him/his family "working as mercenaries" or "providing paramilitary training in the Magdalena valley" between 1987 and 1988. Maybe I missed them, I suppose, or they'll pop up later on.

On the other hand, Klein's activities do fit that exact description and have been discussed many times before. They are hardly going to make anyone forget the current scandals, unless we are dealing with rather weak minded (or outright dumb) people.

juancegomez says on Aug 29, 2007, 11:42:

I don't know, you tell me. The thing is, most of the current accusations against him as far as that particular subject (paramilitarism) is concerned date from the 1990's onward, not backward.

Assuming that he did something is easy enough, that is clear, but knowing (which usually implies proving as well) is something else entirely.

juancegomez says on Aug 29, 2007, 13:24:

But then again, I wonder why many other accusations have actually surfaced (either now or in the past), including about other things that happened in the 1980's and of course other things regarding Uribe, but not one that exactly fits the description above. Curious.

Also, though I forgot to mention this, I still have to say that guilt should not (and usually isn't, legally speaking) be transferred along family lines, unless there are individual responsibilities involving each particular family member. In other words, being the cousin, brother, father or son of a criminal does not automatically make you a criminal.

Simon says on Aug 29, 2007, 13:31:

"In other words, being the cousin, brother, father or son of a criminal does not automatically make you a criminal."

Very true, but unfortunately Consuelo Araujo, our babe Chancellor, still was forced to step down.

HERE'S SIMON!!!!

Tinto (Moderator) says on Aug 29, 2007, 13:37:

She's a babe, but if you come from a family of thugs, maybe you ought to choose a different career than politics, where perception and reputation matters (to varying degrees). She was a major league liability and had to go.

Simon says on Aug 29, 2007, 14:32:

"She's a babe, but if you come from a family of thugs, maybe you ought to choose a different career than politics, where perception and reputation matters (to varying degrees). She was a major league liability and had to go."

Yeah, but that didn't stop those Kennedy boys from going into politics, did it?

HERE'S SIMON!!!!

Tinto (Moderator) says on Aug 29, 2007, 14:41:

No it didn't, but being a moonshiner, whore chaser, anti-Semite and financial manipulator doesn't exactly compare to membership in the AUC. Depending on how instrumental they were in raising funds for the IRA, then I'll agree they have blood on their hands, as do a number of Irish-American Catholics. Anyway, the clan's arrogant and self-destructive behavior has limited their influence and reduced their gene pool. Darwin was onto something there and I'll be happy when they're gone.

juancegomez says on Aug 30, 2007, 09:30:

Tinto has a point as far as politics and diplomacy are concerned, though I don't really agree with saying that she has a "family of thugs" just because of two or three people, But still...I may have missed or just forgotten it, but AFAIK, nobody has actually (judicially) accused them of being members of the AUC per se. Not yet at least.

GiB: Funny that you would mention that, because I think that there actually *are* a few of those around. Maybe as a generalization what you've said is fine, I've heard it before and to a certain extent I can see the logic behind it, but I don't think it's so absolute.

As for there being room for speculation...yeah, but you need more than that in order to set up a strong case against anyone.

Tinto (Moderator) says on Aug 30, 2007, 10:05:

If it was Consuelo's third cousin, then maybe it would be different, but it's her brother and her father that have been charged with kidnapping and extortion. I believe the brother was removed from the Senate and is in jail and the father is or was a fugitive. Those are serious enough crimes in my book to qualify as thugs - there's not much worse except for rape and murder.

juancegomez says on Aug 30, 2007, 10:44:

I'm not excusing their actions. If the accusations are true, then "thug" would be far too kind a term.

But my point is that, even if it's her father and brother, a family is usually made up of a lot more people than that. There are thugs in her family, but I prefer not to generalize any more than that.