Colombia president asks to stop arrest of narco sought by US

Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Get our free Inside Washington email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Colombia's president is seeking to suspend arrest orders against some of the country's biggest criminal suspects, including at least one individual wanted in the U.S. on narcotics charges, as part of an ambitious plan to dismantle armed groups that have long dominated the countryside. The request to suspend the arrest orders against eight members of the so-called Gulf Clan was made by President Gustavo Petro's peace commissioner in a letter dated Jan. 11 to Colombia's chief prosecutor. In a seven-page rebuttal shared with the media, the chief prosecutor's office said such requests could only be made against members of politically motivated armed groups whereas the Gulf Clan — which emerged from the ashes of Colombia's right-wing paramilitary movement — was a purely criminal enterprise. Since his historic election last year, the former leftist guerrilla has been pushing a plan for “total peace” that would include negotiating not only with that country's last main rebel group, the National Liberation Army, but also armed gangs like the Gulf Clan that continue to dominate and hold back development in Colombia's long neglected countryside.