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Colombian Rebel Leader Rumored Dead

'Sure Shot' founded Marxist FARC more than 40 years ago

By Caroline Zimmerman,  Newser User

Posted May 24, 2008 5:48 PM CDT

(Newser) – Columbian rebel leader Manuel Marulanda Velez is dead, according to an interview with an official in a weekly magazine, AFP reports. The elusive FARC leader, known as “Sure Shot,” helped start the Marxist rebel group in the 1960s to battle Colombia's conservative government. He was rumored to have terminal cancer earlier this year.

Marulanda talks to rebel commanders in Los Pozos, southern Colombia.
Marulanda talks to rebel commanders in Los Pozos, southern Colombia.   (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan)
Colombia's Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos.
Colombia's Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos.   (AP Photo)
Manuel Marulanda in 2001.
Manuel Marulanda in 2001.   (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan)
Manuel Marulanda, the founder and top leader of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, FARC, gestures as he arrives in Los Pozos, southern Colombia, in this Feb. 9, 2001 file photo.
Manuel Marulanda, the founder and top leader of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, FARC, gestures as he arrives in Los Pozos, southern Colombia, in this Feb. 9, 2001 file photo.   (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan)
Colombian President Alvaro Uribe.
Colombian President Alvaro Uribe.   (AP Photo/Christian Escobar Mora)
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