BOGOTA, May 14 (Reuters) - Colombia's Supreme Court on Monday ordered five congressmen arrested on charges they colluded with paramilitary death squads in a widening political scandal entangling allies of President Alvaro Uribe. Uribe is under fire from critics at home and Democrats in the U.S. Congress who are skeptical about approving a free trade deal and a military aid package for Colombia because of suspected ties between pro-Uribe lawmakers and militia commanders. Eight congressmen have already been jailed on charges they cooperated with paramilitary bosses who carried out massacres, murders and kidnappings in the name of combating guerrillas until they reached a 2003 peace deal with Uribe. Authorities said the names of five lawmakers appeared on a document signed with paramilitary leaders in 2001 at the Santa Fe de Ralito militia stronghold when the commanders took over swathes of countryside in a counter-insurgency campaign. "The court's penal chamber has issued warrants for the five lawmakers accused of signing the Ralito pact. The charge is conspiring to commit an aggravated crime," Magistrate president Alfredo Gomez told reporters. Uribe's government has received millions in U.S. aid to help fight rebels who are still battling a four-decade-old conflict fueled by the cocaine trade. The rebels have been pushed back in the jungles and Uribe has negotiated the disarming of 30,000 paramilitaries. Rights groups have long denounced collusion among the paramilitaries, political leaders and army officers, but the extent of the links is becoming clearer as militia commanders give testimony about their crimes as part of their peace deal. Uribe says the arrests are proof that Colombia's institutions are working better than ever and demanded authorities support the investigation. But rights groups say the militia bosses have kept their criminal networks and influence alive. Top paramilitary commander Salvatore Mancuso has promised this week to give evidence about politicians, army commanders, business leaders and foreign companies who collaborated with the warlords before their demobilization.
