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Police in Colombia thwart apparent attempt to assassinate U.S. officials

Sen. Wellstone

BOGOTA, Colombia -- Police in Bogota, Colombia, said on Friday they had thwarted an apparent assassination attempt against U.S. Sen. Paul Wellstone and Anne Woods Patterson, the U.S. ambassador to Colombia, The Associated Press reports.

Wellstone, of Minnesota, and Patterson, a former assistant secretary of state and ex-ambassador to El Salvador, were visiting Barrancabermeja, often considered the most violent town in Colombia.

Hours before Wellstone and Patterson were scheduled to visit the town on Thursday, police discovered two shrapnel-wrapped land mines alongside the road leading from the airport to the town and arrested a suspected rebel, said police Col. Jose Miguel Villar.

More details soon.

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U.S. State Department
  • Biography: Anne W. Patterson
U.S. Senator Paul Wellstone
U.S. Embassy in Bogota, Colombia (Spanish/English)
  • Biografia embajadora Anne Woods Patterson (Spanish)

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