U.S. SENDS DELEGATION TO PERU FOR TALKS ABOUT THE DOWNING OF MISSIONARY PLANE

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A U.S. delegation traveled to Peru over the weekend and
is expected to meet Monday with Peruvian officials for discussions about
the downing of an American missionary plane in an effort to find ways to
prevent similar incidents in the future.

Assistant Secretary of State Randy Beers, who heads the State Department's
counternarcotics bureau, leads the delegation, spokesman Philip Reeker said
Friday. Mr. Reeker said the talks will center on causes of the incident and
on measures to prevent a recurrence.

Other officials said the delegation also includes representatives from the
Pentagon, the CIA and perhaps other agencies, whose identities haven't been
disclosed. The talks are expected to start Monday in Lima, said the
officials, asking not to be identified.

Four senators sent a letter Thursday to Secretary of State Colin Powell
asking that discussions with the Peruvians begin as soon as possible.
"Otherwise, memories of the participants may begin to fade," they said. "We
must take all necessary steps to make certain that such a tragedy does not
happen again."

The letter was signed by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman,
Sen. Jesse Helms (R., N.C.), Sen. Lincoln Chafee (R., R.I.), Sen. Joseph
Biden (D., Del.), and Sen. Christopher Dodd (D., Conn.).

On April 20, a Peruvian military plane shot down the missionary craft after
mistaking it for a drug flight. A U.S. surveillance flight had tracked the
single-engine Cessna and alerted the Peruvian Air Force. The Bush
administration has said the surveillance plane urged the military craft not
to open fire on the Cessna because accumulating evidence suggested that the
plane was on an innocent mission.

American missionary Veronica Bowers and her seven-month-old daughter were
killed when the jet was shot down. Her husband and their six-year-old son
survived, as did pilot Kevin Donaldson, who was wounded and has undergone
surgery on both legs.

The Bush administration has suspended the surveillance flights while the
two countries seek ways to avoid a repetition of the incident.