Middle East Times 11 Luglio 2008

JERUSALEM: Former Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia (FARC) hostage, Columbian-French politician Ingrid Betancourt Pulecio was freed recently in a spectacular derring-do operation by Columbian security forces – with the help of ex-Israeli commandos.

Betancourt, a former senator and anti-corruption activist, was kidnapped over six years ago as she campaigned for the Columbian presidency as a Green. Her decision to campaign in an area of Columbia with a high guerrilla presence, despite warnings from both the police and the government not to, enabled the FARC to capture her with relative ease.

During her subsequent rescue the Columbian security forces managed to trick her captors into believing they were from a leftist non-governmental organization.

Betancourt's captors put her on a helicopter that arrived as scheduled, little knowing that their comrades-in-arms were actually undercover Colombian soldiers. Betancourt and 14 other hostages who had been held in the jungle, including three Americans, were freed.

As Betancourt savored her first moments of freedom, the international media went into a collective feeding frenzy as her face appeared on newspapers and TV screens around the globe.

The Israeli media in particular made a meal of the moment as Betancourt had referred to Israeli help in gaining her freedom. It was ex-Israeli commandos who were responsible for advising and helping Columbian forces to free the captives.

Last year, a group of Israeli military advisers, on receiving approval from the Israeli Defense Ministry, took up residence in Colombia in order to assist the army there, the special units in particular.

This followed a request by Columbia asking Israel for help in its struggle against FARC which had become infamous for kidnapping civilians and military figures for ransom and drug trading.

Colombian Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos last year acknowledged that Bogota had quietly hired the group of former Israeli military officers to advise local defense officials on their counter-insurgency tactics against the FARC.

The advisers provided advice on intelligence gathering, debriefing former guerrillas and specialized interrogation techniques. They comprised dozens of security experts who had worked for the Mossad, the Shin Bet domestic security service, and the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) in various capacities.

Their coordination was handled by the security company, Global CST, owned by former General Staff operations chief, Brigadier General (ret.) Israel Ziv, and Brigadier (ret.) Yossi Kuperwasser. Ziv served as the head of operations in the elite Sayeret Matkal, the main special forces unit of the IDF, up until four years ago.

Following Betancourt's release, both Ziv and Kuperwasser released modest statements to the Israeli media, saying that Columbia's security forces deserved credit for the operation and not themselves.

Kupperwasser in particular appeared media shy and failed to return calls when asked for some personal comments. But there appears to be more to this apparent modesty than meets the eye.

Athough the Betancourt case was a feather in the cap of Israel's feared and respected special units, media coverage in regard to Israeli involvement in the training of South America's paramilitaries has not always been so kind.

Last year a rogue Israeli mercenary, former Lieutenant Colonel (ret.), Yair Klein, made international headlines when he was detained in Russia on an Interpol warrant.

The Russians said they had received a request from the Columbian government for his extradition on the grounds of "training a Columbian terrorist group supported by drug dealers."

Klein was also accused of training and providing arms to the notorious Medellin drug cartel's death squads and of training the security men of Pablo Emilio Escobar Gavira, the cartel's leader.

Although the Russian tribunal approved Klein's extradition to Columbia, the European Court of Human Rights intervened and reversed the decision on the grounds of a possible death sentence.

Klein's notoriety began in 1987 when right-wing paramilitaries hired Klein and members of his private "security" company Hod He'hanitin (Spearhead Ltd.) as advisers on the country's leftist insurgency.

In 1990 Klein was convicted in an Israeli court of exporting military arms and information to Columbian insurgents. He also spent 16 months in a Sierra Leone prison between 1999 and 2000 on charges that he smuggled arms to rebels from the Revolutionary United Front.

Freelance Israeli activities in Colombia, however, apparently did not end with Klein, as in May 2000 Colombian intelligence arrested two Israelis and a Colombian suspected of attempting to smuggle more than 50,000 weapons to guerrillas.

And today Israel is now Colombia's top weapons supplier, with the bulk of the armaments being used against the FARC and another leftist group, ELN (National Liberation Army). Israeli weaponry includes drones, light arms and munitions, surveillance and communication systems, and specialized bombs capable of destroying coca fields.

By MEL FRYKBERG

Source >  Middle East Times