Last update - 00:00 10/09/2007
PMO Counter-Terrorism Bureau warns Israelis not to travel to Colombia
By Barak Ravid and Irit Rosenblum, Haaretz Correspondent
The Counter-Terrorism Bureau in the Prime Minister's Office issued a travel advisory yesterday to Israelis planning trips to Colombia, following reports in the Colombian media of Israeli involvement in military training in Colombia.
The warning said "the threat has increased against Israelis connected with the Colombian government, particularly assassination and abduction."
In light of the threat, which has been defined as "a very high and concrete threat," Israelis are advised to "conceal as much as possible their Israeli identity," and to enter and leave Colombia, and travel internally, by air.
The bureau also warns Israelis "to completely avoid land travel after dark, including main roads, and to travel only on main roads during the day." The warning extends to a number of cities in Colombia, which are detailed on the bureau's Web site, www.nsc.gov.il/NSCWeb/FourLastAlerts.aspx (in Hebrew).
The warning followed reports in Colombian newspapers about former senior Israel Defense Forces officers who are training special units in the Colombian army to fight the rebel FARC movement. Major General (res.) Israel Ziv, who owns a military consulting firm, has been particularly prominent.
Some 3,000 young Israeli backpackers travel to Columbia every year along with small numbers of older travelers visiting the country in groups, according to Ronen Carasso, ISSTA deputy director general for marketing.
Carasso said he believed there were a few hundred Israelis in Colombia at present. Most Israeli travelers have left the country and headed south to Argentina, since high tourism season in Colombia ends in August, said Yehuda Zafrani, deputy director general for marketing at Ophir Tours. The most popular areas for Israelis are Bogota, Medellin and Cartagena. Zafrani said he did not believe the Counter-Terror Bureau warnings would deter backpackers, who "are not afraid of anything."