Freelance reporter leaving Colombia after receiving threats

++PLEASE NOTE – THIS ITEM IS NO ACCESS COLOMBIA PER INTERVIEWEE REQUEST+++

1. Various of freelance journalist Gonzalo Guillen talking on the phone
2. Guillen's hand holding the book he wrote: "The Confidants of Pablo Escobar"
3. Guillen talking on the phone
4. Webpage showing accusations against Guillen
5. Man looking at internet
6. Newspaper, "El Tiempo de Colombia"
7. SOUNDBITE: (Spanish) Gonzalo Guillen, freelance journalist:
"Ever since (Colombia President Alvaro) Uribe came out defaming me and accusing me, I have been sought after by the hitmen of Colombia, and there are a lot of them in Colombia. In three days I have received 24 death threats."
8. Guillen at home with his dog
9. SOUNDBITE: (Spanish) Gonzalo Guillen, freelance Journalist:
"He (Uribe) says that it was I who (co-)wrote the book by Virginia Vallejo and that what is said in that book about him was written by me. I did not write that. But he (Uribe) said this, with the intention of defaming me, injuring me and to put me in danger. He did this in bad faith and without any valid argument and without any basis to say what he was saying."
10. Close up of Guillen's book: "The Confidants of Pablo Escobar"
1. SOUNDBITE: (Spanish) Gonzalo Guillen, freelance journalist:
"If something happens to me, the person responsible is Alvaro Uribe Velez"
12. Close up, hands holding book, pull out to Guillen, zoom in to Guillen, talking
13. Close up of photo in book of Uribe relatives, accused of association with paramilitaries

STORYLINE:

A freelance reporter for The Miami Herald's Spanish language newspaper, El Nuevo Herald, says he is leaving Colombia because of several threats he's received after being criticised by Colombia's president.

Gonzalo Guillen told The Associated Press that he would leave Bogota on Saturday after receiving 24 death threats in three days.

President Alvaro Uribe on Tuesday accused the 55-year-old journalist of ghostwriting a book by a former mistress of the late drug lord Pablo Escobar that alleges Uribe was a friend of the Medellin cocaine cartel.

But Guillen says he had no connection with "Loving Pablo, Hating Escobar," written by Virginia Vallejo.

"Ever since (Colombia President Alvaro) Uribe came out defaming me and accusing me, I have been sought after by the hitmen of Colombia, and there are a lot of them in Colombia. In three days I have received 24 death threats." he said.

"He says that it was I who (co-)wrote the book by Virginia Vallejo and that what is said in that book about him was written by me. I did not write that, " he added.

El Nuevo Herald Executive Editor Humberto Castello said the threats against Guillen had come from paramilitaries, illegal far-right militias who have backed the government's tough anti-guerrilla policies.

He said he was extremely worried about the journalist, who he said has contributed to the paper from Colombia since 1999.

Guillen said he believes Uribe is also upset with a book he published in May, "The Confidants of Pablo Escobar," which make claims that the Uribe family had ties to organised crime.

Violent drug cartels, far-right death squads and leftist rebels have made Colombia a precarious place for reporters.

At least 40 journalists have been killed in the country since 1992, according to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists.

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