Escobar forms guerrilla army

MEDELLIN (AFP) - Pablo Escobar, the fugitive drug lord, yesterday said he was forming a guerrilla movement to fight the Bogota government which has been trying to jail him as chief of the world's biggest cocaine cartel. In a letter addressed to the Attorney General and sent to the media, Escobar, head of the Medellin drug cartel, said he was abandoning any attempt to fight his case through legal channels and would take up arms against the government.

There was no immediate official reaction, but the government has taken seriously his previous threats. Escobar, who escaped from prison in July, said he 'was left with no other solution' than to use force. The announcement appeared to dash attempts by politicians to negotiate his surrender.