Colombian general arrested 20 years after politician's slaying

(CNN) - Colombian authorities have arrested the former head of the nation's secret police in connection with the 1989 assassination of a leading presidential candidate.

Gen. Miguel Alfredo Maza Marquez surrendered to authorities Tuesday evening after an investigation concluded he may have been involved in the shooting death of politician Luis Carlos Galan Sarmiento while he was giving a speech in August 1989, the Colombian public prosecutor's office said.

As head of Colombia's Administrative Security Department, known by its Spanish acronym DAS, Maza was in charge of security for Galan. According to published reports, investigators asked Maza last month why he downgraded Galan's security in the days before the assassination.

Galan was a self-proclaimed enemy of Colombia's drug gangs, particularly the Medellin cartel led by Pablo Escobar. Investigations after the assassination indicated Escobar had ordered the killing.

The prosecutor's office said in a release that Maza was arrested for his "presumed responsibility" as "coauthor of the aggravated homicide." But officials have not said why they believe Maza was involved in the slaying and whether he had any connection with Escobar or other drug gang chieftains.

Colombian President Alvaro Uribe praised Galan on Tuesday, the 20th anniversary of the politician's death.

"Twenty years ago today," Uribe said at a forum, "Colombians were moved to the deepest core of our beings with the assassination of ... Luis Carlos Galan. The hero ... riddled with bullets by a criminal history that we are obligated to defeat."