COLOMBIA PARAMILITARY GROUP MAY BE ADDED TO U.S. LIST OF TERRORISTS

WASHINGTON - The State Department is considering placing Colombia's
right-wing paramilitary organization on its list of foreign terrorist
groups, meaning it would be subject to economic sanctions and other
penalties, a senior official said Monday.

The United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) have become a focus
of international attention because of the increasing number of
massacres attributed to it.

The AUC also has collaborated with the Colombian Army but Colombian
authorities say they have been attempting to sever those links and to
fight the group while taking on leftist guerrilla groups as well.

A State Department official, asking not to be identified, said the
administration has wanted to declare the AUC a terrorist organization
for some time but needed an international connection to do so. The
official said such a connection has now been established. He declined
to elaborate.

There are 28 groups officially designated as foreign terrorist
organizations, including the two main left-wing rebel groups in Colombia:
the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia and the National Liberation Army.

Last month, the Washington Office on Latin America, a private research
group, said paramilitary organizations for years have targeted
civilians who promote political reform and have kidnapped and killed
people who investigate human rights abuses. It said the AUC also is
deeply involved in the drug trade.

Colombian government figures indicate the massacres and selective
assassinations linked to the AUC rose from 400 deaths in 1998 to 1,560
last year.

It is illegal for Americans to contribute money or other assistance to
organizations on the terrorism list. Also, U.S. financial institutions
are required to freeze their assets and members or representatives of
such groups are ineligible for U.S. visas.

The most recent addition to the terrorism list was al-Qaida, the group
headed by Saudi exile, Osama bin Laden, who is wanted for the bombings
of two U.S. embassies in East Africa in 1998.