Weekend of Violence Paints Brutal Picture of Colombia
BERNARD SHAW, CNN ANCHOR: The next stop on Mr. Clinton's trip: Cairo, Egypt. He will meet briefly with President Hosni Mubarak for talks on the Middle East peace process. From there, it's back to Washington for a day. Then on to Colombia, where on Wednesday he will reaffirm U.S. commitment to the country's fight against drug traffickers and Marxist rebels. The trip comes as the killings continue in Colombia. Marisol Espinosa (ph) reports.</s>MARISOL ESPINOSA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Three separate bloody incidents this weekend, two of which are being blamed on paramilitary groups, have left at least 17 civilians and six guerrillas dead in Colombia, police say. In the coastal town of Cienaga (ph), authorities are blaming the cold-blooded execution of 10 civilians on paramilitary groups. Most were dragged out of their homes and shot in the middle of the street.</s>MILENA DE ARCO, VICTIM'S DAUGHTER (through translator): My father was leaving for work. In the early morning, he left and he saw some men there. Three of them were tied up. He got scared and started running, and that is when they grabbed him and shot him.</s>ESPINOSA: In the town of Buenaventura, police are estimating a death toll of six to 12 civilians. In a predawn raid, civilians were dragged from bars and local clubs and shot dead. Red spray paint with the letters AUC, the Spanish-language initials for the paramilitary group United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia were scrawled on several buildings. In another bloody incident this weekend, in the town of Barrancabermeja, six guerrilla members died in what local police are calling an armed rivalry between rebel groups. More than 35,000 people, most of them civilians, have been killed in the past 10 years in Colombia. Marisol Espinosa for CNN, Bogota, Colombia.