For Colombia Ex-Fighters, Few Jobs And Crime Pays

By Vivian Sequera

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) -- Thousands of former combatants in Colombia's long-running conflict who surrendered their weapons to the government have since discovered the downside to civilian life: unemployment.

From both sides of the old battle lines, former right-wing militiamen and leftist rebels are being lured into jobs as kidnappers, drug runners and hit men for emerging crime rings - a new security threat that ranks among the biggest challenges confronting President Juan Manuel Santos' government.