Colombia probes alleged army spying

4 February 2014 Last updated at 20:39

Colombia probes alleged army spying at peace talks

Colombia's President, Juan Manuel Santos, called the allegations against the army 'totally unacceptable'

Colombia's President Juan Manuel Santos has ordered an investigation into reports that army agents have been spying on government officials negotiating with Farc rebels.

An elite military group was set up to intercept communications from officials in Cuba, the magazine Semana reported.

Mr Santos called the alleged interference "totally unacceptable".

The government has been in talks with the Farc, the country's largest left-wing rebel group, for more than a year.

Mr Santos recently said he hoped to sign a peace treaty with the left-wing rebels this year, ending the 50-year-old conflict.

But critics say the government should fight against, not negotiate, with the rebels.

'Dark forces'

The president reacted angrily to the allegations published by Semana, calling those responsible for the monitoring of emails, phone calls and mobile phone messages "dark forces".

"It's not acceptable from any point of view that intelligence is conducted against ordinary citizens and much less against state officials," he said.

The group that allegedly spied on officials in Cuba was run by the army but hired young hackers and experts, the Semana reports claims.

It says the unit was set up by the intelligence branch of the army, which years earlier successfully infiltrated Farc communications leading to the liberation of the former senator and hostage Ingrid Betancourt.

Unnamed sources told Semana that former Colombian vice-president Humberto de la Calle was one of the government negotiators monitored by the unit.

Left-wing politicians such as the former Senator Piedad Cordoba were also allegedly spied on, the magazine said.

The government and the Farc have been in negotiations in Cuba since November 2012.

The talks in the Cuban capital, Havana, are the fourth attempt since the 1980s.

But after more than 14 months, the two sides have only agreed tentatively on two points of a six-point agenda: land reform and political participation of the rebels in a post-war Colombia.

The conflict – the longest-running in Latin America – has killed an estimated 220,000 people since it began in the 1960s, with some three million more people internally displaced by the fighting.