More Colombia lawmakers to testify in militia probe

BOGOTA, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Colombia's supreme court on Tuesday called four congressmen to testify about a 2001 accord they signed with illegal right-wing militia leaders, fueling the country's worst political scandal in years.

The move followed the jailing late last year of three legislators from parties friendly to President Alvaro Uribe, a conservative U.S. ally popular for cutting crime as part of his crackdown on drug-running Marxist rebels.

Among the four lawmakers called is a member of the opposition Liberal party, marking the spread of the scandal in which Senator Alvaro Araujo, brother of Foreign Minister Maria Consuelo Araujo, is also being investigated.

Earlier this month, paramilitary commander Salvatore Mancuso handed over a document signed by politicians in which they agreed to work with the paramilitaries to restore order to Colombia.

Lawmakers say they were intimidated into signing.

The "paras," which are branded terrorists by Washington and have carried out some of the worst atrocities of this country's four-decade guerrilla war, were formed in the 1980s by landowners to protect their property from rebels.

Militia bosses including Mancuso, who this month admitted he ordered massacres and 336 assassinations in the name of fighting left-wing rebels, also signed the document.

He is among more than 31,000 "paras" who have turned over their guns in the last three years as part of a deal offering them benefits including reduced jail terms.