Uribe lures Colombian guerrillas away from war with housing, education.

Byline: Gary Marx

BOGOTA, Colombia _ Carlos Alberto Plotter spent a decade as a top guerrilla commander fighting to topple the Colombian government.

Then, in late May, Plotter deserted his comrades in arms and entered a controversial government program that seeks to turn former rebels and right-wing paramilitary fighters into productive members of society.

"I'm tired of war," said Plotter, which is his nom de guerre. "For 10 years I was in combat 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 12 months a year. I didn't see victory in the near future.

"The armed struggle is not the ideal way to transform this country," he added in an interview arranged by Colombian officials.

Plotter is one of the most important of the 1,650 former rebel and paramilitary fighters who have joined the reinsertion program since President Alvaro Uribe took office in August with a mandate to crush the nation's powerful insurgencies or force them into negotiations.

Along with boosting the size of Colombia's armed forces, Uribe has set up a network of civilian spies to improve battlefield intelligence. He also …