U.S. TO REVIEW DRUG PROGRAM AFTER PERU CRASH

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States has expanded an inquiry with
Peru into the downing of a plane carrying U.S. missionaries mistaken for
drug traffickers to a review of its aerial narcotics interception
program in Peru and Colombia, a U.S. official said on Monday.

``We need to make sure that every possible safeguard is in place to
prevent the accidental loss of civilian life as a result of our
counterdrug air interdiction operation in the Andes,'' the State
Department official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

``The review will draw upon the findings of the Peru investigation
report, examine safeguards and procedures in both countries and make any
necessary recommendation on measures to take to prevent a repeat of the
tragic events,'' she added.

She said the review would be over and its findings released in July,
along with the results of the investigation into how missionary Veronica
Bowers, 35, and her newly-adopted baby Charity, 7 months, were killed in
a hail of bullets that sent their single-engine Cessna crashing into the
Amazon jungle.

U.S. pilot Kevin Donaldson, 42, and Jim Bowers, who lost his wife and
daughter, and remaining family member 6-year-old Cory survived the
attack by a Peruvian air force plane.

A CIA surveillance plane was flying nearby providing data on the suspect
plane as part of a joint program to help Peru's air force stop
traffickers.

A similar program exists in Colombia, which also has a policy of
shooting down suspected traffickers. U.S. surveillance flights in both
states have been suspended pending the inquiry.

The CIA plane carrying three American crewmembers and a Peruvian liaison
officer initially suspected the missionary plane was smuggling drugs and
alerted the Peruvian military.

U.S. officials say the Americans, all hired from an outside contractor,
subsequently told the Peruvian officer they doubted the plane was
running drugs. They tried to get him to call off the Peruvian air force
jet which fired on the single-engine Cessna plane 4,000 feet (1,200
meters) above the ground.