Terrorist Financing: Colombia accuses Swiss diplomat

When Colombian Minster of Defence Juan Manuel Santos accused Jean Paul Gontard, apparently a Swiss Diplomat, of passing USD500,000 to the FARC (the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, a supposedly Marxist revolutionary group but which, in fact, runs the Colombian drugs industry and much of its kidnap-for-ransom business) the scene was set for a broadening of the diplomatic troubles that Colombia is already having.

Recently, Colombian forces made a cross-border raid into Ecuador to try to remove some of the power-base of FARC. In that raid, Paul Reyes, said to be FARC's second in command, was killed. The Ecuador government was incensed that the raid was carried out on their turf by a foreign government's forces without their permission or involvement.

Santos has been under fire recently: there have been allegations that the release of fifteen long term hostages, including Ingrid Betancourt, secured last week had been as a result of a payment by the Colombian government to FARC - a Swiss radio station, Suisse Romanda, has alleged that FARC was paid USD20 million for their release. Santos says that this is complete nonsense - and has gone on the attack against Gontard who, he alleges, is referred to email records recovered from Reyes' computer "as the bearer of USD500,000."

Santos says that the release of the hostages was secured by a trick: those guarding them were presented with false orders to transfer the hostages to Alfonso Cano, FARC's leader. When the handover took place, the Colombian army simply walked away with the hostages.

Pressure is mounting on FARC in relation to all of the remaining hostages. Fidel Castro, no longer leader of Cuba but still regarded as a revolutionary father to Marxists, has said that FARC should release them - but he also said that FARC should not lay down their arms.

But there is little doubt that others will pile onto the story about the alleged Swiss money. Those who see Switzerland-bashing as a means of diverting attention from issues at home - that is the US and, increasingly Germany, Australia and the UK, are likely to begin making demands to know exactly what, if anything, Gontard has done.