REBEL GROUP SUSPENDS TALKS IN POSSIBLE PROTEST AGAINST U.S. ANTI-DRUG EFFORTS

BOGOTA -- Colombia's second-largest guerrilla group has suspended
discussions with the government in apparent protest of a U.S.-backed
military operation to wipe out drug crops.

The National Liberation Army, which has been fighting the government for
more than three decades, broke off discussions Friday that were aimed at
beginning formal peace negotiations.

"This is an impasse that we hope to overcome," government peace envoy
Camilo Gomez said.

The U.N. human rights director in Colombia urged the two sides to resume
talks on Sunday.

"The most important thing now is to not lose what has been gained, and a
lot has been gained," Anders Kompass said.

Gomez said rebel commander Pablo Beltran sent him a message breaking off
talks late Friday. The exact contents weren't revealed, but it is believed
the group was protesting a military offensive to clear the way for
U.S.-backed aerial fumigations of coca fields in Bolivar State. The rebels
consider the campaign an unwelcome foreign intervention.

Washington is backing Colombia's anti-drug campaign with a $1.3 billion aid
package that includes military hardware and training for Colombian
counternarcotics troops. The drug crops are guarded by leftist rebels and
right-wing paramilitaries, which earn millions of dollars a year from the
nation's narcotics industry.

Experts say the 5,000-strong ELN has been debilitated by a string of
military defeats and is ready to end its insurrection.