by Rod Hughes

The Costa Rican Foreign Ministry has turned down a request for political asylim by Mario Uribe, cousin and advisor to Colombian President Alvaro Uribe. An ex-legislator, Mario Uribe is accused of having ties with paramilitary death squads.

An arrest warrant has been issued by Colombian prosecutors who charge that he met with paramilitary chiefs at least twice between 1998 and 2002 to seek his Senate campaign contributions and aid in buying cheap farm land. Uribe, 58, presented himself Tuesday at the Costa Rican embassy in Bogata, claiming he could not get a far trial in his own country. His arrest warrant is part of an ongoing probe into suspected ties of more than 30 congressmen and ex-lawmakers with death squads.

The non-givernment Human Rights Watch organization calls paramilitary groups whose chiefs Uribe allegedly consulted, “drug-running paramilitary death squads that are respnsible for some of the most horrific atrocities in Colombian history.” As for asylum, the human rights group’s American director Jose Miguel Vivanco scoffed, “It’s utterly absurd for Mario Uribe, one of Colombia’s most powerful politicians, to claim he is somehow a victim who needs asylum.”

But the asylum request caused Costa Rican President Oscar Arias to call an emergency cabinet session, including Vice President Laura Chinchilla and Foreign Minister Bruno Stagno, before the decision was reached.

(This report was condensed from reports from Al Dia, The Tico Times and wire services Reuters and the Associated Press.)