By Patrick Markey

BOGOTA, May 11 (Reuters) - A former Colombian paramilitary commander on Friday promised to reveal the identities of politicians, executives and military officers who colluded with rightist death squads during a war against guerrillas.

Testimony by Salvatore Mancuso, who has been imprisoned under a peace deal with the government, threatens to inflame a political scandal already linking allies of President Alvaro Uribe to militia warlords accused of atrocities.

"Obviously I am going to hand over all the necessary evidence," Mancuso told local Caracol radio in an interview.

The conservative Uribe faces fire over the scandal from U.S. Democratic lawmakers who are questioning whether to approve a free trade deal with Colombia and extend a multimillion-dollar aid package the country needs to fight insurgents and drug traffickers.

Under their peace deal, Mancuso and other paramilitary bosses must testify about massacres, murders and kidnappings they carried out in the name of combating guerrillas, who are fighting an insurgency dating back to the 1960s.

The former commander is scheduled to continue testifying before prosecutors next week.

Eight pro-Uribe lawmakers and a local governor have been arrested on charges they colluded with the paramilitaries, who were started by wealthy landowners to protect themselves from rebel attacks and kidnappings.

More than 31,000 paramilitaries have now demobilized and handed in their weapons in exchange for their commanders serving short prison terms and confessing to crimes ranging from massacres to drug-smuggling operations.

Uribe denies any direct ties to the paramilitaries and says the arrests show Colombia's institutions are working.

Rights groups say the scandal over collusion is revealing what was an open secret for years. They also express fear that imprisoned militia bosses have kept their criminal groups active and that they are threatening victims seeking reparation.

Earlier testimony from Mancuso and others drew criticism from victims groups, who said militia bosses were being allowed to skirt the truth.

"This is a step forward in getting to the truth in their testimonies," said Mauricio Romero, an author on paramilitaries and member of the National Commission for Reparation and Reconciliation, which monitors the demobilization.

"I don't know how comfortable Uribe's allies in the Congress are going to feel about this type of declaration."

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