BRITISH LORD SUES EX-U.S. DRUG AGENT

A member of Britain's House of Lords has filed a $1 million federal lawsuit
in Atlanta against a former U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration
intelligence analyst.

The lawsuit was filed by Michael Ashcroft, who was once treasurer of
Britain's Tory Party. He sued Jonathan Randel, who once worked in Atlanta
and pleaded guilty to illegally selling agency information to The Times of
London. In a series of stories in July 1999, the British newspaper falsely
implied Ashcroft was the target of DEA investigations into drug
trafficking, the lawsuit said.

Ashcroft sued The Times for libel. In December 1999, the newspaper
published a front-page correction. In January, Randel was sentenced in
federal court in Atlanta to one year in prison for illegally selling the
restricted information.

Because of Randel's actions, the lawsuit said, Ashcroft "has suffered
monetary losses as a result of extensive legal fees incurred in defending
his general and professional reputation, and he has been caused personal
embarrassment and disruption of his life and work."