AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

Monday, 10 August 1998


                  Colombia's new president sacks
                military brass, appoints new faces
                ----------------------------------


BOGOTA -- In one of his first important moves in office, President Andres
Pastrana sacked the country's top military leaders and appointed a fresh
slate of officers after humiliating setbacks in their war with the leftist
rebels.

Pastrana took office Friday after a campaign in which he vowed to reach
peace with Colombia's revolutionary groups.

On Sunday, Pastrana and Defense Minister Rodrigo Lloreda sacked all the
top military leaders from the Ernesto Samper presidency.

The purge follows a four-day rebel offensive last week that showed the
weakness of the Colombian military.

As many as 248 soldiers, rebels and civilians died in the attacks, which
ended Thursday, one day before Pastrana's swearing in. Some 110 soldiers
were reported captured by rebels.

The rebel offensive was aimed at outgoing president Samper and not at
Pastrana, said representatives from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of
Colombia (FARC), the country's largest rebel group.

Pastrana appointed General Fernando Tapias as the new head of Colombia's
armed forces, the president's press office reported.

Tapias had been the number two man on the job, and takes over from his
former boss, General Manuel Jose Bonett.

Other appointments include: Rafael Hernandez as head of the joint chiefs
of staff, Jorge Enrique Mora as head of the army, and Jose Manuel Sandoval
as head of the air force. All men have the rank of general.

Vice-Admiral Sergio Edilberto Torres was appointed head of the navy.

Pastrana however ratified General Rosso Jose Serrano as head of the
National Police.

Serrano is a favorite of Washington, who sees him as a hard-liner in the
war against drugs.

The three-decade-old civil conflict has picked up over the past two years,
leaving some 6,000 people dead in 1997. About one million people have been
displaced by the violence pitting rebels against the military and
right-wing death squads.

        Copyright 1998 Agence France-Presse