U.S. to retry Colombian in terror case

[Ron Burgundy]

AP - U.S. prosecutors will bring a second hostage-taking and terrorism case against Latin American rebel leader Ricardo Palmera this spring, four months after the first attempt ended with a hung jury.

WASHINGTON - U.S. prosecutors will bring a second hostage-taking and terrorism case against Latin American rebel leader Ricardo Palmera this spring, four months after the first attempt ended with a hung jury.

Palmera, who is better known by his nom de guerre Simon Trinidad, is the most senior member to be captured from Latin America's largest rebel army. He is accused of helping the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia take three Americans hostage in 2003.

The original five-week trial included nearly 20 witnesses, including Palmera, testifying through translators. Jurors, who at times seemed tired and distracted during the lengthy testimony, quickly said they could not reach a verdict on charges of hostage-taking, conspiracy and providing material support to terrorists.

That outcome was cheered as "a great victory in the courts of the empire" by Raul Reyes, a senior FARC commander and spokesman.

The government "resorted without success to an array of mounted charges, lies and slander," Reyes said in an interview Dec. 10 with Anncol, a pro-FARC Web site.

U.S. District Judge Thomas Hogan said Thursday that the second trial would begin March 26, to be followed by Palmera's trial on federal drug charges.

Palmera is accused of plotting to keep three American defense contractors hostage after their plane crashed in Colombia in 2003. He testified that he never saw the men.

Reyes said he hoped Palmera would soon be free to return to Colombia. Such a move would facilitate an eventual prisoner exchange for three Americans, he said.

Palmera was extradited in late 2004 after his capture in Ecuador. He faces up to 30 years in prison, the maximum allowed under the extradition treaty between Colombia and the United States.

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Associated Press writer Joshua Goodman contributed to this report from Bogota, Colombia.