In Brief / Colombia

COURT ORDERS HALT TO DRUG-SPRAYING EFFORT

A Colombian court ordered the government to suspend its U.S.-backed drug
crop eradication program until more is known about the herbicide's effects
on human health and the environment. Officials said they would appeal and
press on with spraying in the meantime.

"These policies were drawn up without first studying effects on health and
the environment," said lawyer Claudia Sampedro, who represented
environmentalists, human rights activists and farmers opposed to the spraying.

Colombian and U.S. officials say the chemical used, a variant of the
popular backyard weed-killer Roundup, is ecologically harmless and safe for
humans.