U.S. STEPS UP CRITICISM OF REBELS

WASHINGTON - The State Department is stepping up its criticism of
Colombia's largest guerrilla group, citing abuses of prisoners and
suspected collaboration with Irish Republican Army militants.

Officials made public on Wednesday an unclassified cable from the U.S.
Embassy in Bogota describing a meeting between embassy officials and four
Colombian policemen released by the leftist rebel group, known by its
Spanish initials, FARC. The four gained their freedom in June in a prisoner
exchange.

"All gave vivid descriptions of the terror of being captured, the inhumane
conditions in the prison camps and the trauma of readjusting to freedom
after three years of psychological abuses in FARC prison camps," said the
cable, signed by U.S. Ambassador Anne Patterson.

When the policemen were released, the cable said, the FARC staged a media
show intended to repair the group's tarnished image and gain public
approval. "Instead, the barbaric treatment of these prisoners undercut this
effort," the cable said.

A State Department official said the former prisoners have not gone public
in Colombia with their story because the Colombian police are worried about
their security.

The department's latest report on human rights conditions worldwide, issued
in February, rated the Colombian government's own human rights record as
poor, including its treatment of prisoners.

The report said government security forces commit serious abuses, including
extrajudicial killings. It added that authorities rarely bring to justice
higher-ranking officers of the security forces or police charged with
violating human rights.

The report also said police, prison guards and military forces torture and
mistreat detainees. "Conditions in the overcrowded and underfunded prisons
are harsh," the report said, adding that "arbitrary arrest and detention,
as well as prolonged pretrial detention, are fundamental problems."

Meanwhile, State Department spokesman Philip Reeker reacted sharply
Wednesday to reported links between the FARC and three members of the Irish
Republican Army, who have been arrested in Colombia.

"No one should be in any doubt that the United States would be greatly
concerned about any assistance, information sharing, training or
collaboration with the FARC, which is a terrorist organization," Reeker said.

An administration official, asking not to be identified, said the most
worrisome of the three IRA militants was James Monaghan, whom he described
as a top equipment and explosives expert.

Also on Wednesday, Colombia's Supreme Court approved a U.S. request to
extradite Fabio Ochoa, one of the highest-ranking former members of the
violent Medellin cocaine cartel.

The decision, if as expected President Andres Pastrana approves it, would
pave the way for the most prominent extradition of a Colombian drug suspect
since the 1980s.

The announcement came less than a week before the scheduled visit to
Colombia by senior level Bush administration officials. They are expected
to show support for Colombian efforts to curb drug trafficking and quash
rebels of both left and right.