Sawt Falasteen - Colombian presidential candidate's condition 'grave' after assassination attempt

Thirty-nine-year-old right-wing Senator Miguel Uribe underwent successful initial surgery to contain injuries from Saturday's attack, but doctors warned his life was still in serious peril.

He remains in "the most grave condition and the prognosis is reserved" said medics at the capital's Santa Fe Clinic.

Uribe's shooting has utterly shocked a nation that had believed decades of bloody political and narco violence were largely in the past.

Hundreds took to the streets in major cities on Sunday to light candles, pray and voice their anger at the attack.

"Our hearts are broken, Colombia hurts," Carolina Gomez, a 41-year-old businesswoman, told AFP as she lit candles and prayed outside the hospital where Uribe was being treated.

The crowd joined together in cries of "strength to you Miguel" and "the people are with you."

Uribe's wife Maria Claudia Tarazona thanked Colombians for their support and asked that they collectively pray for his survival.

"He is fighting hard for his life," she said. The senator received two gunshot wounds to the head and was also shot once in the leg.

Although a security guard at the scene captured the alleged gunman, the motive for the shooting is still not publicly known.

Uribe had been a fierce critic of Colombia's leftist government, of guerrilla groups that still control chunks of the country and of ultra-powerful drug cartels.

The government has vowed to use every police, military and intelligence resource to uncover the motive and find those who hired the alleged would-be assassin.

Police said there had been no specific threats against Uribe's life, but like other public figures he had close personal protection.

The young Senator's family history traces the tragedies of modern Colombia, making the attack all the more poignant for many.

He is the grandson of a former president Julio Cesar Turbay whose 1978-1982 term was marked by guerrilla insurgencies and the emergence of the Medellin and Cali drug cartels.

But Uribe is best known as the son of Diana Turbay, a famed Colombian journalist who was killed after being kidnapped by Pablo Escobar and whose death rocked the nation.

- 'Day of pain' -

A team of about 100 investigators are now working to determine the motive for the attack, Defense Minister Pedro Sanchez said Sunday.

Earlier he had offered a roughly US$725,000 reward for information about who was behind the shooting.

The suspect is believed to be about 15 years old was injured in the affray and was receiving treatment, said police director Carlos Fernando Triana.

Two others -- a man and a woman -- were also wounded, and a Glock-style firearm was seized.

The attack has been condemned by politicians across the political spectrum.

Leftist President Gustavo Petro condemned the violence as "an attack not only against his person, but also against democracy, freedom of thought, and the legitimate exercise of politics in Colombia."

The shooting was similarly condemned from overseas, with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio calling it "a direct threat to democracy."

But Rubio also pointed blame at Petro, claiming the attack was the "result of the violent leftist rhetoric coming from the highest levels of the Colombian government."

"President Petro needs to dial back the inflammatory rhetoric and protect Colombian officials," the top US diplomat said.

Y.Shaath--SF-PST