Rebels blamed for two attacks ahead of Colombian president's inauguration

BOGOTA, Colombia -- Leftist rebels were blamed for two attacks Friday as Colombia prepares for President Alvaro Uribe's second-term inauguration -- a car bomb that killed four officers outside a Cali police station and an attack that killed two soldiers in a western province.

Authorities said the car bomb also killed the driver and injured four police officers in Cali, Colombia's third-largest city, as part of a series of attacks by rebels in the run-up to Monday's inauguration.

"I want the guerrillas to realize that no one wins with this type of violence," Gov. Argelino Garzon told Caracol Radio, blaming the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as the FARC, for the "terrorist" attack.

The FARC and a smaller leftist rebel group have frequently exploded car bombs in their four-decade rebellion. The rebels are not known to carry out suicide bombings, but have tricked bystanders into driving explosive-laden vehicles toward their targets.

The local police chief, Gen. Luis Jacinto Mesa, said the car exploded as it drove past the police station in the southwestern city of Cali, destroying four police motorcycles and damaging nearby houses.

The military and police have been placed on maximum alert ahead of Monday's ceremony. Representing the United States will be Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson and U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez.

The soldiers were attacked by rebels while searching for explosives in the rural municipality of Chaparral in the southwest province of Tolima, the army said. Two soldiers were killed and four more injured.

In the same zone Thursday, a rebel bomb injured five civilians, including two children, and a soldier.

Earlier Friday, police deactivated a truck bomb after discovering 330 pounds of explosives in front of an army base in the southwestern city of Pasto.

And on Monday, FARC rebels detonated a car bomb alongside a military convoy in Bogota, killing a civilian and injuring ten soldiers. That same day, rebels ambushed a unit of soldiers in northeastern Colombia killing 15.

In his first term, Uribe led a crackdown on the two leftist rebel armies. He has put 25 percent more troops and police on the streets and defense spending has nearly doubled, backed by military aid from the United States.