2 Top Uribe aides face questioning in Colombia spy scandal

Bogota, Agency
Two top advisers in former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe's 2002-2010 administration have been called to testify about their alleged role in the illegal wiretapping of judges, politicians and human rights defenders.

The Attorney General's Office summoned the former director of the DAS security agency, Andres Peñate, and Colombia's current ambassador to the Vatican, erstwhile Uribe press secretary Cesar Mauricio Velasquez.

Peñate, who headed the spy agency between November 2005 and August 2007, has been accused by former DAS deputy chief of operations Martha Leal of instructing her - on orders from Uribe - to eavesdrop on opposition Sen. Piedad Cordoba during a 2007 visit to Mexico.

Leal is part of a group of nearly 20 current or former DAS officials arrested and prosecuted for their role in the illegal wiretapping and monitoring of Supreme Court justices, opposition politicians, human rights advocates and prominent journalists.

"Previously, Leal, who now is a witness ... also said Peñate told her that Uribe was upset about columns and articles that the director of the Noticias Uno news program, Daniel Coronell, published about him and his family, and that he should therefore be one of DAS' 'targets,'" Caracol Radio reported.

The other individual called to testify, Velasquez, recently assumed his post at the Vatican.

The AG's office is seeking to determine whether Peñate was responsible for the illegally ordered, warrantless wiretapping of Cordoba, Coronell and another opposition senator, Gustavo Petro.

Velasquez, for his part, is suspected of acting as an intermediary between top officials at the president's office and the DAS.