International

Ex-guerrilla leader returns to Colombia after Mexico arrest

AFP

A leader of the disbanded left-wing rebel group FARC returned to Colombia on Wednesday, just hours after he was briefly detained in Mexico under a “red notice” from Interpol.

Rodrigo Granda is the Marxist group’s head diplomat and played a crucial role in a historic 2016 peace accord signed with the government that turned the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia into a political party.

The 72-year-old former guerrilla thanked Mexico and the international community for facilitating his return to Colombia as he arrived at Bogota’s international airport, according to local media.

“We’re showing our face, here we are,” said Granda, who denied he had been arrested in Mexico.

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Mexican government sources confirmed his arrest to AFP, without giving details.

On Tuesday, Colombian Defense Minister Diego Molano said on Twitter that Granda’s arrest “for kidnapping, criminal association and intentional homicide” followed a request from Paraguay.

But a lawmaker from Comunes, the political party descended from FARC, who accompanied Granda to Mexico for an event organized by a left-wing party, also denied he was arrested.

Carlos Lozada was originally one of two Comunes lawmakers to claim on Tuesday that Granda had been detained but on Wednesday he insisted his colleague was merely “isolated” and held incomunicado for seven to eight hours before “voluntarily returning” to Colombia.

“We saw that it was much better to return to Colombia given that … this red notice was circulating,” Lozada told W Radio.

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Paraguay announced it had summoned the Mexican ambassador in Asuncion to explain Granda’s release.

Granda said he was authorized to leave Colombia by authorities from the Special Jurisdiction for Peace, a body investigating crimes committed during Colombia’s half century long conflict.

He claimed the international arrest warrant was a manoeuver by “high-level officials in the Colombian government” that are opposed to the conditions of the peace process.

Colombian President Ivan Duque is a vocal critic of the peace deal signed by his predecessor Juan Manuel Santos, considering it to be too lenient on former guerrillas.

It is not the first time Paraguay has requested Granda’s detention, having previously done so in 2008, accusing him of involvement in the 2005 kidnapping and murder of the daughter of Raul Cubas, a former president.

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International

Iran Reports 201 Dead, 747 Injured After U.S. and Israeli Strikes

The Iranian Red Crescent Society reported Sunday night (local time) that at least 201 people were killed and 747 injured following attacks carried out by Israel and the United States against the Islamic Republic.

A spokesperson for the humanitarian organization said more than 220 rescue teams have been deployed across affected areas and that relief operations are continuing without interruption. The official highlighted the difficulty of treating the large number of wounded and the urgent need for additional resources in impacted provinces.

Out of Iran’s 31 provinces, 24 have reported damage, according to a statement carried by the Isna news agency. This marks the first overall casualty toll released by Iranian state-affiliated media since the launch of the offensive.

Among the dead are 85 schoolgirls from a school in the southern city of Minab, according to the country’s judiciary. “The number of martyrs at the Minab girls’ school has risen to 85,” the local prosecutor’s office said, as quoted by the judiciary’s website, Mizan Online.

Iranian President Masud Pezeshkian described the attack as a “savagery” that “constitutes a new black page in the record of countless crimes committed by the aggressors.”

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Meanwhile, the international community continues to monitor the situation closely amid concerns about possible further reprisals and the broader impact on Middle East stability, energy markets, and global security.

AFP noted that it was unable to independently verify the casualty figures or the circumstances surrounding the events.

International

Pope Leo XIV Urges End to ‘Spiral of Violence’ in Middle East

Pope Leo XIV on Sunday called for an end to the “spiral of violence” in the Middle East, following military strikes by the United States and Israel against Iran and subsequent retaliatory bombardments in the region.

“Faced with the possibility of a tragedy of enormous proportions, I urge the parties involved to assume their moral responsibility and stop the spiral of violence before it becomes an irreparable abyss,” the pontiff told the crowd gathered in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican.

Speaking during the Angelus prayer, the U.S.-born pope said stability and peace cannot be achieved through threats or weapons. “Stability and peace are not built with reciprocal threats or with arms that sow destruction, suffering and death, but only through reasonable, sincere and responsible dialogue,” he declared.

The leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics also called for diplomacy to “regain its role” amid escalating tensions.

In addition, the pope urged Afghanistan and Pakistan to urgently resume dialogue after several days of clashes between the two countries.

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International

Security Council to Hold Emergency Meeting on Middle East Crisis

UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Saturday condemned the “military escalation in the Middle East” following attacks by the United States and Israel against Iran and Tehran’s retaliatory strikes, just hours before an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council.

“I call for the immediate cessation of hostilities and de-escalation,” Guterres said in a statement.

The Security Council is scheduled to meet on Saturday at 21:00 GMT (4:00 p.m. in New York) to address “the situation in the Middle East,” the United Nations announced.

The meeting, during which Guterres will deliver remarks, was convened at the request of France, Bahrain, Colombia, Russia and China, according to a diplomatic source.