Columbia:Colombian authorities have ordered the arrest of 19 current and former politicians, including five sitting congressmen, for allegedly signing a 2001 so-called "devil's pact" with outlawed paramilitary groups in which they promised to work together to "re-found Colombia".
The orders represent the government's most substantial attempt to bring to justice politicians it alleges were complicit with the right-wing militias in Colombia's decades-long civil war.
Farmers and businessmen formed the militias for self-defence against left-wing guerrillas in the 1980s, but many of the groups evolved into crime cartels engaged in killings, drug trafficking, extortion, land grabs and election fraud.
The document, known as the "Treaty of Ralito", came to light earlier this year. Prosecutors have described it as a "devil's pact" that candidates signed to obtain political and financial advantage from association with the paramilitaries.
Paramilitary leader Salvatore Mancuso presented a copy of the document during court testimony he gave earlier this year.
Some of the officials alleged to have signed have said they were forced or did so under duress.
The government has declared paramilitary armies illegal and forbids citizens to have any contact with them.
It similarly prohibits any public contact with left-wing guerrilla groups, such as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as Farc.
"The attendance of these people at this meeting was free, spontaneous and conscious," said Colombia's attorney general Mario Iguaran in a statement. "With this meeting, they promoted armed groups that were outside the law." He was referring to a meeting in 2001 at which the politicians are alleged to have signed the document.
Most rank-and-file paramilitary soldiers have been demobilised in recent years, while their leaders are in the process of making confessions and disgorging assets as part of a deal to avoid extradition and qualify for light sentences for mass murder and other crimes.
Paramilitary leaders still exert control over many parts of Colombia, officials say.
The warrants come at a delicate time in US-Colombia relations as the US Congress considers passing a bilateral free trade agreement as well as extending the Plan Colombia aid package to fight drugs and terrorism.