Colombia Arrests 2 U.S. Soldiers

Colombian police have detained two U.S. Army soldiers near a huge military base southwest of the capital in an alleged arms smuggling plot, Colombian and U.S. officials said Wednesday.

The soldiers, whose identities or ranks were not disclosed, were arrested during a raid Tuesday on a house in Carmen de Apicala, located southwest of the capital and near Colombia's sprawling Tolemaida air base, where U.S. soldiers have been stationed.

The American soldiers were arrested at the house where a large weapons cache was discovered, National Police chief Gen. Jorge Daniel Castro said. There were no details on the type and quantity of arms found.

A U.S. Embassy spokesman confirmed the arrests and said the embassy "is working to ascertain the facts surrounding the case." He refused to provide details.

The Colombian attorney general's office said the pair was being held by Colombian authorities near Carmen de Apicala.

Castro said police in the village 50 miles southwest of Bogota stopped a suspicious man, who under the threat of arrest led officers to the nearby house where the arms were stashed.

Shortly afterward, the two American soldiers - apparently unaware of the police operation - entered the house but could not justify their presence.

"In the course of the investigation, two Americans arrived, they did not give a satisfactory explanation and were put at the disposal of the prosecutors' office," Castro said.

The arrests mark the latest U.S. embarrassment in this South American nation. On March 29, five American soldiers were arrested after 35 pounds of cocaine were found aboard a U.S. military plane that flew to El Paso, Texas, from the Apiay air base east of Bogota. One suspect has been released, but the rest are being held in the United States.

Colombian lawmakers called for their extradition to face trial in Colombia, but U.S. Ambassador William Wood ruled out such a move, citing diplomatic immunity.

The United States has provided more than $3 billion in aid during the past four years to help Colombia battle leftist rebels and the drug trafficking that fuels a 40-year-old insurgency. Outlawed right-wing paramilitary groups also are in the fray, battling rebels while committing massacres, trafficking drugs and carrying out kidnappings and extortion.

U.S. law allows as many as 800 U.S. troops in Colombia to train Colombian armed forces and provide logistical support. It also allows up to 600 American government contractors in the country.