BUSH ASKS TO UNFETTER ANTI-DRUG AID

Colombia: President Seeks To Allow Use Of Previous U.S. Help And Any New
Funds To Fight Rebels.

WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration has asked Congress to allow the
Colombian government to use past anti-drug contributions of
helicopters, planes, gunboats and other equipment in its expanding
campaign against guerrilla groups, officials said Friday.

The administration had signaled that it would ask Congress to allow
new aid to be used for "counter-terrorism" activities as well as for
the anti-drug effort. But in a supplemental budget request submitted
this week, the administration seeks to further leverage the efforts
against the rebels by loosening restrictions on previous aid as well.

The supplemental budget request, which includes the unfettering of
past aid, also seeks $35 million in new funding for the current year.
The sum would be in addition to $435 million that the administration
has already requested for Colombia for fiscal 2003. "This is big,"
said Adam Isacson, a Latin America expert at the Center for
International Policy, a center-left think tank in Washington.

Congressional aides of the two major U.S. parties expect a fight over
the proposal this spring because some lawmakers fear that broadening
military aid could leave the United States mired in a conflict that
has raged for 38 years.

Critics believe that the budget request language permitting use of the
money for "counter-terrorism" defines its purpose so broadly that the
Colombian government "could use it for almost anything," in the words
of one aide.

Bush administration aides have been arguing that the United States
needs to quickly step up the battle against the two main Colombian
rebel groups, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia and the
National Liberation Army. The leftist guerrillas are battling
Colombian government forces and right-wing paramilitary groups.

U.S. officials contend that Washington should intervene because the
groups pose a threat to democracy and also to Americans directly. They
say Colombian rebels have kidnapped about 120 Americans over two
decades; 18 are dead or presumed dead.

Administration officials maintain that past U.S. policy, which tried
to limit aid to the anti-drug effort, was unrealistic because the
rebels have increasingly turned to drug trafficking to fund their insurgency.

"The terrorism and narco-trafficking threats tend to merge in their
attempts to undermine Colombian democracy," State Department spokesman
Philip T. Reeker said Friday in a briefing.

U.S. aid to Colombia has been allocated to a variety of purposes,
including building the Latin nation's economy and developing its
democratic institutions.

But the U.S. anti-drug aid has bought a variety of military equipment
that could be used against the rebels.

The United States has appropriated money to provide about 75
helicopters for the Colombian military, according to analyst Isacson,
although not all of the aircraft are ready for operations. He said the
United States has also bought about a dozen helicopters for the
Colombian police and has provided fixed-wing aircraft with
sophisticated sensors and some river gunboats that are armed with
machine guns.

If approved, about $25 million of the $35 million in new money would
go to help Colombian authorities improve their techniques in thwarting
kidnappings. Rebel groups abduct Colombians and foreigners to raise
money, and the country is sometimes called the kidnapping capital of
the world.

The total would also include $4 million to help fortify police
stations, especially in outlying areas. Police stations have
frequently come under rebel attack; their destruction has often meant
that the government had no control over parts of its territory.

The remaining $6 million of the requested new aid would be used to
accelerate a proposed program to train newly formed Colombian military
units so that they can protect an important oil pipeline that has come
under frequent rebel attack.

In February, the Bush administration formally requested $98 million
for the coming fiscal year to train Colombian troops to protect the
pipeline. But officials say they want to begin that effort even sooner.

Administration officials and their congressional supporters noted that
they aren't seeking to increase the number of U.S. military personnel
who can serve as advisors in Colombia. That number is capped at 400.

And they stressed that they intend to continue to follow the human
rights guidelines contained in the past policy. Under current law, the
United States is barred from assisting any Colombian military units
whose members have been found guilty of human rights violations.

At a news conference in Washington, Colombian Ambassador Luis Alberto
Moreno said the administration's interest in helping his nation sends
a message to terrorists: "Their days are numbered."

He welcomed the U.S. commitment to help Colombia combat kidnappings,
which total an estimated 3,000 a year.

"This has a tremendous impact on foreign investment in the country,"
the ambassador said.