Publish to Newswire
Add an EventFrom the Open-Publishing Calendar
From the Open-Publishing Newswire
Indybay Feature
American arrested in connection with hotel bombings in Bolivia
LA PAZ, Bolivia - Bolivian police arrested an American and an Uruguayan woman believed to be his wife early Wednesday in connection with a pair of explosions that killed two people and injured seven at two budget hotels in the center of this high-altitude city.
---
Bolivian police officers hold an alleged US citizen identified by police as Claudio Lestad of New Orleans at the Bolivian Interpol building in downtown La Paz, Bolivia on Wednesday, March 22, 2006. Two bomb blasts ripped through the Bolivian capital in two different motels at night leaving two people killed, police said. Lestad is suspected of being the author of the bombings. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
---
Police accused the two of planting about 50 pounds of dynamite in the attacks, but said they didn't think the bombings were politically motivated.
At a news conference, police gave the Americans' name as Lestat Claudius De Orleans and identified the Uruguayan as Alda Ribeiro Acosta. A police commander reached by Knight Ridder Newspapers said De Orleans is 25 and Ribeiro, 42, though there were differing reports of their ages.
A State Department spokesman in Washington confirmed that an American had been arrested but declined to provide a name or other details.
"We regret the loss of life that occurred," the spokesman, Eric Watnik, said.
Police commander Col. Oscar Nina said in a telephone interview that Bolivian police believe that the two suspected bombers were mentally ill.
"We have the impression that these two did this for their own pleasure," he said. "Put simply, they were crazy. We have found no evidence of an ideological or political basis to any of this."
Nonetheless, President Evo Morales, who's clashed with the United States over economic and anti-narcotics policy, asked publicly Wednesday whether U.S. officials were behind the bombings.
"There's a fight against terrorism on the part of the U.S. government or they're sending Americans to do terrorism in Bolivia," Morales said in the eastern city of Santa Cruz.
In the past he's accused U.S. officials of plotting to assassinate him, and he said recently that business interests were trying to sabotage his government, which took power in January.
The explosions did severe damage to the two hotels.
The first explosion went off around 9:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Linares hotel near the city's main plaza. The building collapsed and three neighboring houses were damaged, Nina said.
More than four hours later, the second blast destroyed the hotel Riosinho II, which its owner already had evacuated because of suspicions about the suspects' presence there.
The attacks killed a Bolivian couple and wounded seven others, including an American woman, Nina said.
Police traced the suspects to a hotel in the adjacent city of El Alto and arrested them there within an hour of the second explosion.
Among the couple's belongings, investigators found the American's diary, which included an entry calculating that the attack would kill as many as 50 people, Nina said. Police also found evidence that the couple had bought the explosives, widely used in Bolivia's mines, in the city of Potosi.
Read More
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/world/14161886.htm
Bolivian police officers hold an alleged US citizen identified by police as Claudio Lestad of New Orleans at the Bolivian Interpol building in downtown La Paz, Bolivia on Wednesday, March 22, 2006. Two bomb blasts ripped through the Bolivian capital in two different motels at night leaving two people killed, police said. Lestad is suspected of being the author of the bombings. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
---
Police accused the two of planting about 50 pounds of dynamite in the attacks, but said they didn't think the bombings were politically motivated.
At a news conference, police gave the Americans' name as Lestat Claudius De Orleans and identified the Uruguayan as Alda Ribeiro Acosta. A police commander reached by Knight Ridder Newspapers said De Orleans is 25 and Ribeiro, 42, though there were differing reports of their ages.
A State Department spokesman in Washington confirmed that an American had been arrested but declined to provide a name or other details.
"We regret the loss of life that occurred," the spokesman, Eric Watnik, said.
Police commander Col. Oscar Nina said in a telephone interview that Bolivian police believe that the two suspected bombers were mentally ill.
"We have the impression that these two did this for their own pleasure," he said. "Put simply, they were crazy. We have found no evidence of an ideological or political basis to any of this."
Nonetheless, President Evo Morales, who's clashed with the United States over economic and anti-narcotics policy, asked publicly Wednesday whether U.S. officials were behind the bombings.
"There's a fight against terrorism on the part of the U.S. government or they're sending Americans to do terrorism in Bolivia," Morales said in the eastern city of Santa Cruz.
In the past he's accused U.S. officials of plotting to assassinate him, and he said recently that business interests were trying to sabotage his government, which took power in January.
The explosions did severe damage to the two hotels.
The first explosion went off around 9:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Linares hotel near the city's main plaza. The building collapsed and three neighboring houses were damaged, Nina said.
More than four hours later, the second blast destroyed the hotel Riosinho II, which its owner already had evacuated because of suspicions about the suspects' presence there.
The attacks killed a Bolivian couple and wounded seven others, including an American woman, Nina said.
Police traced the suspects to a hotel in the adjacent city of El Alto and arrested them there within an hour of the second explosion.
Among the couple's belongings, investigators found the American's diary, which included an entry calculating that the attack would kill as many as 50 people, Nina said. Police also found evidence that the couple had bought the explosives, widely used in Bolivia's mines, in the city of Potosi.
Read More
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/world/14161886.htm
Add Your Comments
We are 100% volunteer and depend on your participation to sustain our efforts!
Donate
$215.00 donated
in the past month
Get Involved
If you'd like to help with maintaining or developing the website, contact us.
Publish
Publish your stories and upcoming events on Indybay.
Topics
More
Search Indybay's Archives
Advanced Search
►
▼
IMC Network