Laptop may put Venezuela on list of sponsors of terrorism

Washington Times:

The Bush administration is examining the contents of a laptop computer captured in Ecuador, which reportedly documents pledges by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to guerrillas fighting the Colombian government.

The administration has also asked its lawyers to investigate whether Venezuela could be placed on its list of state sponsors of terrorism, according to a report yesterday in the Miami Herald, quoting senior U.S. officials.

"We are currently evaluating the contents of the confiscated laptop and hard drive and will continue to monitor the situation carefully," a State Department spokeswoman said yesterday. "We are not in a position to comment fully at this time."

In an interview with The Washington Times, also yesterday, CIA Director Michael V. Hayden said there was "no reason to doubt" the Colombian government's claims regarding the data.

"The Colombians want to share" the information, Mr. Hayden said. But he added that the CIA did not yet have its own copy of the laptop's contents.

"We will be happy to let the facts take us where they will" on the issue, he said.

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A team from the international police agency Interpol, led by its director Ronald K. Noble, reportedly were invited by Bogota to help authenticate the documents and laptop data, the Associated Press reported.

National Security Council Spokesman Gordon Johndroe said U.S. intelligence agencies also were "going to take a look at the information picked up by Colombia in the FARC raid."

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I think the laptops of FARC are going to be a continuing problem for the terrorist and their sponsors. I suspect that they will also lead to a money trail showing the flow of funds to the narco terrorist from various sources. This may compromise not only state sponsors like Venezuela, but also their drug proceeds.