COLOMBIAN PARAMILITARIES TO BE LABELED TERRORISTS IN U.S. REPORT

BOGOTA -- Colombia's right-wing paramilitaries will be listed as a
terrorist organization in the US State Department's annual report on the
subject scheduled to be released Monday, US Ambassador Anne Patterson said.

"That gives us many more powers under our law to attack those terrorist
groups, which means that we can attack their sources of financing, and that
if somebody is involved in that group, our law will prosecute him or her
with greater force," Patterson said Saturday.

The report, entitled "Global Patterns of Terrorism," is expected to be made
public Monday.

Colombian President Andres Pastrana has said the 8,000-strong Self-Defense
Units of Colombia is a criminal organization and has refused to negotiate
with its leaders.

The group, also known as the AUC, an acronym for its Spanish name, is
accused by rights groups and the US State Department of drug trafficking
and grave human rights violations.

They are sworn enemies of the left-wing Revolutionary Armed Forces of
Colombia, and the smaller National Liberation Army, already labeled
terrorist organizations by the United States government.