MORE AID TO BE ASKED FOR NEIGHBORS IN DRUG WAR

The Clinton administration will urge Congress to give Colombia's neighbors
more money to prevent the escalating war on drugs in Colombia from driving
traffickers across its borders, a senior U.S. official said yesterday. Under
Secretary of State Thomas Pickering, who visited Colombia last week, said
the United States would have to pay more attention to regional aspects of
the drug trade as the Colombian offensive begins.

Congress has approved $180 million for antidrug programs in the neighboring
countries as part of the $1.3 billion package for Colombian President Andres
Pastrana's multinational Plan Colombia - a three-year program aimed at
wiping out the cocaine and heroin trade and making peace with rebels.