COLOMBIA SEEKS MORE U.S. AID TO FIGHT DRUGS

WASHINGTON -- Despite a $1.3 billion aid package already approved to fight
illegal drugs, Colombia will need as much as $600 million a year in
additional funds from the United States in the next few years to reduce
drug production, Colombia's ambassador says.

Ambassador Luis Moreno says he is confident U.S. support for Colombia will
remain strong despite the change in U.S. administrations.

"This was a bipartisan policy," he told The Associated Press in a recent
interview. "It began as a bipartisan policy and it should remain that way."

The $1.3 billion package approved last summer is intended to help Colombia,
the world's largest producer of cocaine, cut in half its drug production
over six years.

Much of the package was for helicopters to help the South American
country's military fight leftist guerrillas who finance their insurgency in
part by protecting coca fields and cocaine laboratories.

President-elect Bush expressed support for the Colombian aid in an Aug. 25
speech in Miami, saying, "This money should help build up the capabilities
of Colombia's armed forces.

"Our aid will help the Colombian government protect its people, fight the
drug trade, halt the momentum of the guerrillas and bring about a sensible
and peaceful resolution to this conflict," Bush said.

Bush, like President Clinton, said he opposed to using U.S. troops in
battle there.

The Clinton administration has stressed that military aid will be limited
to fighting guerrillas linked to the drug trade and not to help Colombia in
its civil war.

Some Republicans say it's naive to separate the drug fight from the overall
Colombian conflict and that the Bush administration may not be as concerned
about making that kind of a distinction.