Strasbourg, 16/01/2004 (Agence Europe) - Several MEPs protested at the invitation on Thursday of Colombian president Alvaro Uribe Velez to the Conference of presidents of the political groups of the European Parliament. Uribe will be addressing the European Parliament during the plenary in February (9-12 February in Strasbourg). In a joint press statement, the presidents of the GUE/NGL group, Francis Wurts and Daniel Cohn-Bendit of the Greens/EFA stressed that the invitation, proposed by the Socialists had been decided in opposition from their own groups (as well as that of the Liberal group and European of Democracies and Differences). They claim that president Uribe is "one of the most opposed Heads of State in Latin America, particularly in the context of respect for human rights and democratic freedoms". Not everyone agrees within the Socialist group and Claudio Fava (Democratici di sinistra) underlines that the presence of president Uribe at the parliament would not be appreciated at all as he is at the centre of an authoritarian situation and is also seen as being highly dangerous by the High Commissioner for Human Rights at the UN and the EU Representation in Bogota". The Italian MEP notes that the president of Colombia had rejected the road of political dialogue in order to obtain peace with the guerrillas and that the level of ambiguity with regard to paramilitaries remained "dangerously high". Mr Fava is therefore hoping that this invitation is subject to "close and rigorous scrutiny by president Cox".