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BOGOTA, Colombia – A bomb targeting a hardline former interior minister killed two ofhis bodyguards and injured at least 31 people in Bogota's uptowncommercial district Tuesday in the type of brazen attack not seenin Colombia's capital in years. The former minister and morning radio host, Fernando Londono,suffered minor shrapnel wounds and was out of danger, authoritiessaid. Video footage showed a stunned Londono, his face bruised,being led from the wreckage in a dark suit and red tie. Bogota Mayor Gustavo Petro said a pedestrian attached an explosiveto a door of Londono's armored SUV and set it off remotely. He saidauthorities had video of the attack. The attacker "walked away disguised" and a wig of long black hairand a hat were found in the area, Petro told reporters. It was the first fatal bombing in the capital in nearly a decade ofan apparently political nature. Bogota's police chief, Gen. Luis Eduardo Martinez, blamed thecountry's main leftist rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forcesof Colombia, or FARC, though without offering any evidence. President Juan Manuel Santos said immediately afterward that it wastoo early to assign blame. "We don't know who is behind this attack," he said after meetingwith police and military brass, Bogota's mayor and the chiefprosecutor. He said, however, that the FARC was behind a car bombthat was detected and deactivated elsewhere in the capital earlierTuesday. Santos said Londono, 68, had in the past received death threats andhad a sophisticated protection scheme involving about 19bodyguards. An archconservative and a stringent critic of the FARC, Londono wasinterior and justice minister in 2002-2003 under former PresidentAlvaro Uribe. He hosts a daily radio show called "The Hour of Truth" and firmlyopposes peace talks with the FARC, calling the rebels "terrorists"and "murderers." He has also been critical of Santos for allegedlybeing soft on the rebels, who have stepped up attacks in recentmonths. Under Uribe, Colombia's U.S.-backed military dealt major setbacksto the FARC, diminishing its numbers by roughly half to about 9,000currently. Colombia's capital became progressively safer, theconflict increasingly limited to less populated hinterlands. The last major bombing in Bogota was in 2003, when the FARCdevastated the exclusive El Nogal social club, killing 36 people.The cocaine trade-funded FARC was also blamed for a pre-dawnbombing outside a building housing Caracol radio in August 2010that injured nine people. Londono's driver and a police bodyguard were killed in the attackshortly before midday on Calle 74 a half block from Caracas Avenue.The district is packed with offices, stores, restaurants and banks. Catalina Ballesteros, a 24-year-old student, was in a bus that wasbadly damaged by the blast. She said she was surprised at theconcentrated force. "After the explosion it was chaos," said Ballesteros, who sufferedonly cuts. She said she saw one man on the street who had fainted. Londono was being treated at the Clinica del Country hospital forminor shrapnel wounds in his face and was out of danger, said thehospital's director, Jorge Ospina. An additional 24 people were treated for injuries at the clinic,eight of whom were released, Ospina said. Six others were treatedat a different hospital, El Marly, said police Gen. RodolfoPalomino. Ospina said the only person seriously injured in the blast was a38-year-old passer-by who needed surgery and was in danger oflosing his right arm. Earlier Tuesday, police said they had deactivated a car bomb in thecenter of the city. Santos said its target was apparently a policestation in a neighborhood named for his great uncle, formerPresident Eduardo Santos. The driver, who was arrested, "made a series of confessions," hesaid, indicating the FARC was to blame. Santos considers himself a progressive and, in addition to amilitary hard line against the FARC, has sought to return stolenland to peasants and pay reparations to victims of Colombia'slong-running civil conflict. The FARC was blamed by authorities for two bombings in February inprovincial Colombia that killed at least 16 people, and militaryanalyst Alfredo Rangel said he suspected it in Tuesday's bombingbecause of Londono's hard line against the rebels. Leftist congressman and human rights activist Ivan Cepeda said hefeared the attack could trigger other acts of violence, includingtargeting the left. "I see a clear intent to destabilize," Cepeda said, blaming"sectors who don't want peace." Political scientist Vicente Torrijos of the Universidad delRosario, supported the theory that the FARC was to blame as it"seeks to show itself to the world as an organization sufficientlystrong militarily and no only a weak organization that is onlylooking to negotiate with the government." The FARC has been seeking peace talks and last month released whatit said were its last "political prisoners," 10 police and soldiersheld for as many as 14 years. In newspaper columns and on the radio, Londono hasn't just attackedthe FARC as standard-bearer of Colombia's right wing. He also firmly defends Uribe against allegations that the formerpresident was too cozy with backers of illegal far-right militias.Dozens of political allies of both men have been imprisoned oncriminal conspiracy convictions for colluding with the militias. The militia leaders made peace with Uribe's government but most oftheir top leaders were extradited to the United States, where theyare serving prison terms on drug trafficking convictions. The FARC, meanwhile, suffered serious setbacks under Uribe, wholeft office in 2010, but continue to inflict casualties on securityforces in ambushes and hit-and-run attacks. It currently holds a French journalist who was accompanyingsecurity forces on a drug lab-destroying mission when rebelsdetained him two weeks ago. The FARC said on Sunday that it intendsto free him soon. ___ Associated Press writers Cesar Garcia and Libardo Cardona in Bogotaand Frank Bajak in Lima, Peru, contributed to this report. We are high quality suppliers, our products such as Cavitation Slimming Machine , Co2 Fractional Laser Machine Manufacturer for oversee buyer. To know more, please visits Skin Rejuvenation System.
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