Official: Colombia to arrest ex-lawmaker

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Colombia's Supreme Court ordered the arrest of an ex-congresswoman who says she reversed her position on a vote years ago in return for political favors from associates of President Alvaro Uribe, a government official said.

The official in the chief prosecutor's office spoke Friday on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to make the disclosure. Judicial police employed by the prosecutor's office execute the Supreme Court's arrest warrants.

Leading Colombian paper El Tiempo and several other news outlets also reported that an arrest warrant was issued for former lawmaker Yidis Medina.

In an interview broadcast last weekend but recorded nearly four years ago, Medina said she switched her vote on a bill that ultimately allowed Uribe to run for re-election in 2006. She was the swing vote on the measure, which passed 18 to 16.

She said Uribe called her afterward to thank her and to confirm that "what was agreed upon would be done."