Colombia ex-president Uribe to face trial for witness tampering and fraud

Álvaro Uribe, one of country’s most powerful figures, denies working with paramilitary death squads against leftist rebels

Colombia’s ex-president Álvaro Uribe will face trial for witness tampering and fraud, prosecutors have announced, once again casting the spotlight on allegations that the former leader partnered with paramilitary death squads in his war against leftist rebels.

Uribe has long been accused of committing a litany of crimes at the peak of Colombia’s six decades of brutal conflict, but has never been brought to trial, and remains one of the country’s most powerful political figures.