Even by the standards of Latin American regional politics it is a twisted tale, involving clandestine cross-border raids, drug-peddling guerrillas and eye-catching claims of plans for a radioactive ''dirty bomb''. It is also fast turning into a military stand-off with apparent potential for calamity.
The presumed suicide bombers who killed themselves and 52 other people in London on July 7 checked out their targets a week beforehand with an apparent dummy run of the attack. Grainy stills from closed-circuit television cameras issued by the police showed three of the four men assumed to be the attackers gathering together before heading into the capital on June 28.