Dissident FARC faction denies role in attack on Colombian senator

By Luis Jaime Acosta

The main dissident faction of the former Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrilla group on Friday denied responsibility for an attack last weekend on Senator Miguel Uribe, after the government suggested the group was involved.

Uribe, 39, a potential presidential candidate, was shot in Bogota on Saturday during a rally and remains hospitalized in a critical condition.

The shooting, which was caught on video, has unnerved the nation which saw a streak of candidates assassinated in the 1980s and 1990s.

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A 15-year-old suspect is in custody. In a video of the teen's capture, independently verified by Reuters, he can be heard shouting that he had been hired by a local drug dealer.

"The units of the FARC-EP did not plan, order, or execute any action against the politician in question," the armed group said in a statement.

President Gustavo Petro's government had floated a connection between the shooting in the capital and a string of bomb attacks in the southwest on Tuesday, which left seven dead and dozens wounded.

The army and police had said the FARC splinter group was likely responsible for the bombings - some of which targeted police stations - as part of its ongoing anti-government offensive.

The FARC statement did not address those allegations. No group has claimed responsibility for the bombings.

A second suspect has been arrested in connection with the attack on Uribe, Attorney General Luz Adriana Camargo said on Friday.

She said he was accused of planning logistics for the attack, providing the gun to the teenager and being in the vehicle where the shooter changed his clothes after the attack.

She did not outline a potential motive. Investigators earlier this week had said they were exploring several lines of inquiry into the attack on the senator, a member of the opposition right-wing Democratic Center party.

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