BOGOTA -- Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos on Thursday refused to extradite a guerrilla leader of the National Liberation Army (ELN) to the United States.
Santos signed a resolution after the Colombian Supreme Court denied the extradition to the United States of Wigberto Tomas Chamorro, alias "Jairo," who was captured last year and charged with kidnapping a U.S. citizen.
Chamorro has been requested for extradition since 2007 by a court in the District of Columbia, in the United States, on charges of kidnapping,hostage-taking and helping facilitate crimes.
He was considered the head of the ELN guerrillas in the central department of Tolima, while his brother Eliezer Herlinto Chamorro, alias "Antonio Garcia," is a member of the ELN central command.
The ELN is the second largest guerrilla group in Colombia after the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).
