COLOMBIAN REBELS THREATEN U.S. CIVILIAN "MERCENARIES"

BOGOTA, Colombia (Reuters) -- Colombia's largest leftist guerrilla group
warned on Wednesday it would attack American civilian "mercenaries" who
take part in military operations in the South American nation's
long-running war.

The 17,000-member FARC, Latin America's most powerful and oldest surviving
rebel army, has in the past declared U.S. military personnel deployed in
Colombia "military targets."

But in an interview posted on the rebels' Web site, FARC spokesman Carlos
Antonio Lozada said the threat extended to U.S. "mercenaries" hired for
military operations in Colombia.

"U.S. advisers or military personnel, including those directly in the U.S.
Armed Forces or mercenaries hired by firms to carry out military operations
on Colombian soil, run the risk of becoming at any time victims of military
actions by the Colombian insurgency," Lozada was quoted as saying.

The warning came after a helicopter under contract by the U.S. State
Department carrying American civilians hired for anti-drug operations was
fired upon by FARC rebels in February during an operation to rescue
Colombian anti-narcotics agents in the southern Caqueta region.

Washington has not said how many U.S. citizens were involved in the rescue
operation, but the incident raised fears of U.S. citizens getting involved
in Colombia's 37-year-old rebel conflict.

The war, which pits rebel groups against the army and outlawed right-wing
paramilitary groups, has killed nearly 40,000 people -- mostly civilians --
in the last 10 years.

The United States is committing $1 billion to stamp out the cocaine
industry in the Andean nation, the world's largest producer of the drug.
The funds are mainly going for combat helicopters and to train Colombian
anti-narcotics battalions for operations against rebel-held crops in
southern Colombia.

Some 200 U.S. military personnel are involved in the training of Colombian
army battalions for the anti-drug push, and U.S. officials have repeatedly
said that the American troops will not be involved directly in the war.

About 30 American civilians are involved in counter-narcotics missions in
Colombia, hired by DynCorp, a major Pentagon contractor based in Reston,
Virginia, that provides crop duster and helicopter pilots, mechanics and
paramedics as part of the U.S. aid package.