Col: Troops seize cyanide-laced bullets

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) - Troops seized 800 bullets soaked in liquid cyanide after clashes with leftist rebels in northeast Colombia, an army general said Wednesday.

The poisoned ammunition was found Tuesday near the remote municipality of La Salina, 160 miles northeast of Bogota, after clashes in which two guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, were killed, Gen. Luis Antonio Coronado told local radio.

Troops also confiscated an arsenal of guns, hand grenades and radio sets.
Coronado, the commander of the Army's 1st Brigade, called the use of the poisoned ammunition a strategy aimed at causing "certain death to whomever comes into contact with this substance."

The rebels are fighting against government troops and right-wing paramilitary forces in a 40-year-old civil war that kills an estimated 3,500 people annually.

Colombian officials have in the past accused the FARC of targeting troops with cyanide-tipped bullets _ which are prohibited under international treaties _ although it is unclear if any soldiers have died from them.

The cyanide increases the killing power of bullets by preventing preventing oxygen from reaching cells.

In September 2001, four police died in what was alleged to be a poison gas attack blamed on the FARC. A U.S. Defense Department investigation found traces of cyanide in one of the corpses. The rebels have not responded to accusations that they use poisonous substances.

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It's only a matter of time before substances such as easily manufactured Ricin, or even deadlier poisons such as Sarin end up in common use amongst terrorists.

All the more reason for destroying them posthaste whilst ignoring the bleating cries of those who try to negotiate with evil.