Colombian Opposition Leader Killed Associated Press

Gunmen ambushed a prominent opponent of Colombia’s president in a crowded Bogota street Thursday, killing him and an assistant.

President Ernesto Samper declared a state of emergency, giving himself and security forces wide powers after the assassination.

Samper’s assumption of sweeping powers comes amid investigations into allegations he won the 1994 elections with huge donations from the Cali drug cartel.

Alvaro Gomez Hurtado, 76, had written editorials in an opposition newspaper urging Samper to resign over the allegations that the cartel had given millions of dollars to his election campaign.

Gomez, a former senator and ambassador to Washington, was hit four times in a hail of automatic weapons fire in front of the university where he taught law.

In a somber, nationally televised address Thursday night, Samper said Gomez’s assassination “makes the entire nation mourn.”

He then announced police could make searches and arrests without court orders, and he placed limits on press freedom, saying the media could not carry any declarations by persons involved in crimes.

A man telephoned radio stations and claimed responsibility for the attack on behalf of a group called National Dignity.

“Await more actions,” the caller said. In some of the calls, he demanded Samper’s resignation.

A similarly named group, Movement for the Dignity of Colombia, claimed responsibility for an attack on Sept. 27 on Antonio Jose Cancino, a lawyer defending Samper against the allegations that drug traffickers had aided his election financially.

Cancino was lightly wounded, but two bodyguards were killed in the attack, which some Colombians suspect was mounted to divert attention from the political crisis that threatens to topple the president.