COLOMBIAN JUDGE ALLOWS DRUG SPRAYING TO RESUME

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) -- A Colombian judge ruled Monday that the U.S.-backed
fumigation of drug crops could resume in Indian lands in the Amazon. Eleven
days before he had ordered it suspended.

Judge Gilberto Reyes had ordered a temporary suspension of the aerial
fumigations on July 27 after the Organization of Indian Peoples of the
Colombian Amazon alleged the herbicide glyphosate was causing health
problems and environmental damage.

Reyes said he ordered the suspension to give the Indian group time to back
up its claims with evidence. The group did not provide evidence and Reyes
revoked the suspension order, said the judge's assistant, Jaime Ardila.

Jorge Rojas, of Paz Colombia, a group of Colombian non-governmental
organizations, said the decision would be appealed.

U.S. Ambassador Anne Patterson indicated Monday that drug-crop eradication
was key to continued U.S. support for Colombia's anti-drug efforts.

"I am very scared that if the fumigation in Colombia doesn't continue, we
won't give the level of assistance that Colombia needs," she told
journalists.

The aerial fumigation is a major component of President Andres Pastrana's
Plan Colombia, which Washington is supporting with $1.3 million in aid. The
effort is aimed at reducing crops that produce cocaine and heroin and
denying income to leftist rebels and right-wing paramilitaries who earn a
fortune by "taxing" the drug crops.

Gen. Gustavo Socha, chief of the Colombian anti-narcotic police, said
Monday's ruling affirmed the government's claim that the fumigation flights
are not harmful.

"They don't cause any harm to the health of people or the environment,"
Socha said. U.S. officials say the herbicide, manufactured by the U.S.
company Monsanto and sold as common weedkiller under the name "Roundup," is
safe.

Opponents say it is causes skin, respiratory and intestinal illnesses and
harms Colombia's diverse ecosystems.

Since the U.S.-funded fumigation began under Plan Colombia in December,
123,500 acres of coca have been sprayed. The goal for the end of 2001 is
197,600 acres.