COLOMBIA . . . SAMPER FOES TURN VIOLENT

Five gunmen jumped out of a van and fired automatic rifles at a car carrying an attorney for Colombian President Ernesto Samper this morning, wounding the lawyer and killing two of his bodyguards. A previously unknown group calling itself Movement for a Dignified Colombia claimed responsibility and demanded the resignation of Samper, who is beset with accusations that his campaign accepted contributions from the Cali cocaine cartel. Tuesday, the President was questioned at his palace by the head of a congressional commission that is investigating charges that Samper accepted contributions from the Cali cocaine cartel. "The commission is credible," reports Latin America bureau chief Laura Lopez. "But it's not likely they will recommend impeachment. The main reason is there isn't the political will from either Samper's party or the opposition party. They are afraid if they start scratching the surface, then they will all go down."