COLOMBIA SUSPENDS AERIAL ERADICATION OF DRUG CROPS

BOGOTA, Colombia - A Colombian court on Friday ordered a suspension
of aerial eradication of drug crops using the chemical glyphosate,
the main prong of a U.S.-backed counterdrug offensive in the South
American country.

The ruling by a Bogota district court came in response to a petition
by an organization representing Colombia's native Indian communities.

President Andres Pastrana said his legal experts were studying the
ruling. He did not indicate whether he was ordering an immediate stop
to the spraying against the plants used to make cocaine and heroin.

Addressing a news conference, Pastrana reiterated his government's
official policy of spraying herbicides only against large-scale drug
plantations and of inviting poor peasant farmers to join voluntary
manual eradication programs.

But Indian groups, small farmers and environmentalist say that poor
farmers' drug crops are also being wiped out by planes dumping
herbicides and that the spraying is poisoning rivers and making
people sick.

"As a provisional measure, all aerial fumigation with glyphosate is
ordered suspended," the ruling said.

The court decision comes amid growing opposition in Colombia to
herbicide use against drug crops and as Congress considers additional
drug fighting aid for the country. Last year U.S. lawmakers approved
a $1.3 billion package.

Washington is bankrolling the offensive against coca and poppy fields
in Colombia. The aid program provides crop-dusting aircraft and
escort helicopters that carry out spraying missions using glyphosate
- - the main ingredient in the commonly used backyard fertilizers.

A court official, speaking on condition that he not be identified,
emphasized that Friday's ruling was preliminary. He said it a more
definitive verdict would be issued within 10 days.

The officials said the court would clarify as early as Monday whether
the suspension applied to spraying in the entire country or only on
Indian reservations. Judge Gilberto Reyes could not be reached for
comment.

His ruling asked the government to respond within three days to a
series of questions about the legal framework, precision and the
possible health and environmental damage caused by the fumigation
program against coca and poppy plantations.

Colombia is the world's leading producer of cocaine and a growing
exporter of heroin to the United States and Europe.