Colombia's ELN Rebels Call Allegations Of Plot To Kill Attorney General 'False'

The National Liberation Army (ELN) rebels denied on Wednesday they were plotting to kill Colombia's Attorney General Francisco Barbosa.

The Attorney General's office said Tuesday it had received information from "three sources," which "indicated that there would be a terrorist attack" targeting the 49-year-old, who has been the attorney general for the last three and a half years.

Barbosa's office further said it had been warned about the attack by the armed forces' intelligence division and its own investigative department.

The office was reportedly alerted about a meeting in neighboring Venezuela in July between "five high-ranking ELN members."

As per the sources, ELN members were getting trained to carry out a sniper attack on Barbosa under the command of a man known as Rolo.

Barbosa's office also said there had been "suspicious transactions" worth up to $750,000 in bank accounts that were linked to Rolo.

The news of the alleged assassination plot came just days after a ceasefire between the Colombian government and the ELN began, reported the BBC.

ELN responded to the allegation, labeling it "false." The group also accused the attorney general of "trying to sabotage the peace process."

ELN, which has been active since 1964, has requested for an "extraordinary meeting of the Monitoring and Verification Mechanism to examine the situation created by the prosecutor's false accusations, which create great difficulties in the development and confidence in the process."

The group is the country's main remaining active guerrilla organization, and previous attempts at peace deals with it have failed.

Still, the government hasn't given up. A bilateral six-month ceasefire between the government and the group came into force on Aug. 3. The next round of peace negotiations is scheduled to take place in Venezuela on Aug. 14.

Deputy Attorney General Martha Janeth Mancera said the office was not trying to sabotage peace talks, according to Reuters. She shared the office has suspended 29 arrest warrants against members of the ELN to facilitate their participation in the peace talks.

However, Barbosa is not completely on board with Colombian President Gustavo Petro's plan for "total peace" and negotiations with armed groups. According to him, the deals struck with the rebels would create obstacles in his office's ability to detain people suspected of carrying out serious crimes.

Barbosa has also opposed a pending law, which plans to reduce prison sentences for criminals who surrender.