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Leftist rebels attacked energy towers in Colombia for the second time in three days Wednesday, this time leaving more than 100,000 people without electricity along the country's Pacific coast, officials said, AP reported.
Meanwhile, Colombia's Supreme Court has authorized the sending of a right-wing warlord to the United States to face drug charges, but President Alvaro Uribe has decided against approving it, his office said.
The rebels blew up at least six major pylons near Ricaurte, 330 miles southwest of Bogota in Narino state, Raul Ortiz, director of the local energy company Central Electrica.
The army blamed the strikes on the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, the major rebel group battling to topple the country's US-backed government.
On Monday, FARC fighters dynamited pylons and communication towers in Narino and neighboring Putumayo and Cauca states, cutting off electricity to 2.3 million residents and forcing authorities to import energy from Ecuador.
Carlos Maya, Narino state's top human rights official, pleaded with the rebels to stop the attacks, saying they were "plunging southern Colombia into darkness."
In the extradition case, the court said Diego Fernando Murillo, a leader of the outlawed United Self Defense Forces of Colombia led drug trafficking activities for the group, could be sent to the United States, where he faces drug trafficking charges.
But the president's office said Uribe has decided that Murillo's extradition request will be "suspended as long as the peace process continues and he respects and fulfills the rules."
Uribe took office three years ago on a promise to wipe out the rebels with military might, but his hardline stance has softened in recent months and he's made several peace overtures.
In one such initiative, the government said Wednesday it was freeing jailed rebel leader Francisco Galan for three months in the hopes that once on the outside he can convince his guerrilla group to begin peace talks.
Galan is a commander in Colombia's smaller rebel group, the National Liberation Army, or ELN.
(Chinadaily.com via agencies September 8, 2005)
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