Costa Rican security minister steps down over FARC concerns

(CNN) -- The security minister in Costa Rica stepped down Sunday after alluding to possible links between a Colombian rebel group and Costa Rican politicians.

Security Minister Fernando Berrocal stepped down after meeting with the president and another senior official Sunday, according to a statement on the Web site of the Costa Rican presidency.

Berrocal and other officials met to discuss concerns that delicate national security matters could be politicized, including "the possible interference of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in Costa Rica," the statement said.

The FARC is a force organized in the 1960s as a Marxist army intent on overthrowing the Colombian government.

After Colombian forces killed Raul Reyes, the second-in-command of FARC, in an air strike March 1, authorities said they found a laptop computer detailing FARC contacts with officials in some Latin American countries.

Berrocal said recently that the laptop could reveal FARC connections with some Costa Rica politicians, according to La Nacion, a newspaper in San Jose, Costa Rica. E-mail to a friend

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