Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Oyarbide clarifies Uribe bomb scare

Judge Norberto Oyarbide today clarified that a small noise bomb discovered in a Buenos Aires theater where former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe was due to speak was not a lethal device.

Oyarbide told reporters that police had defused an explosive device that could have killed people nearby if it had gone off, raising suspicions that left-wing Colombian rebels may have been aiming at Uribe.

But Police Captain Nestor Rodriguez later said two devices found in a cardboard box were "designed to make a thunderous noise, having little mechanical or destructive effect."

"I was told the devices ... had the capacity to cause significant harm," Oyarbide told Colombia's Radio Caracol, adding he had been briefed by the head of the Argentine police's anti-terrorism unit.

The judge welcomed collaboration from Colombian investigators to help clear up the case. No group claimed responsibility for planting the device.

Uribe arrived in Argentina and will go ahead with his appearance at the Gran Rex theater in downtown Buenos Aires, where a leadership conference is being held.

Last week, Uribe's former interior minister narrowly escaped a car bombing in Bogota. The blast killed his driver and police escort.