U.S. EXPANDS PROBE OF MISSIONARY PLANE SHOOTING

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The United States has widened its investigation
with Peru into the downing of a U.S. missionary plane to include
aerial narcotics interception programs in Peru and Colombia, a U.S.
State Department official said Monday.

U.S. missionary Veronica Bowers and her infant daughter were killed in
April when a Peruvian air force plane shot down the single-engine
Cessna in which they were flying. The aircraft was suspected of
carrying drug traffickers; it wasn't.

A nearby CIA-contracted surveillance plane had been providing
intelligence on the missionary plane to the Peruvians as part of a
joint drug interception program. Drug interception flights in Peru and
Colombia have been suspended pending the results of the
investigation.

"The review will draw upon the findings of the Peru investigation
report, examine safeguards and procedures in both countries and make
any necessary recommendation on measures to take to prevent a repeat
of the tragic events," the State Department official said, predicting
the review and the results of the investigation into the shooting
should be completed in July.

"We need to make sure that every possible safeguard is in place to
prevent the accidental loss of civilian life as a result of our
counterdrug air interdiction operation in the Andes," she said.

U.S. authorities estimate about 50 planes have been forced down or
shot down in interdiction efforts by the United States and its allies
in the war on drugs.

The CIA's use of private contractors to perform its airborne
surveillance operations in Peru was criticized in hearings before the
House Criminal Justice, Drug Policy and Human Resources Subcommittee
in May.

CIA spokesman Bill Harlow said contractors are former U.S. military
pilots with 60 years of flight experience among them. He said having
the U.S. Air Force perform the same function would require a much
greater presence in the region.