US DENOUNCES RIGHT-WING COLOMBIA GROUP

The Colombian right-wing paramilitary group, the Self-Defence Forces
of Colombia or AUC, is to be listed as a terrorist organisation by the
United States government.

A report to be released by the State Department later today Monday
accuses the organisation of drug trafficking and grave human rights
violations.

The eight-thousand strong group has already been denounced by the
Colombian president, Andres Pastrana, as a criminal
organisation.

His government refuses to negotiate with its leaders. The two main
left-wing rebel groups in Colombia -- the Revolutionary Armed Forces
of Colombia and the smaller National Liberation Army -- have already
been labelled terrorist organisations by the United States.

But the BBC correspondent in Colombia says, unlike these groups, the
US will not take any action against the paramilitaries because they're
not perceived as a threat to American national security.