ECUADOR TO ASK FOR AID TO FIGHT BORDER DRUG TRADE

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Concerned about spillover from neighboring
Colombia's war on drugs, Ecuador wants the international community to help
pay for a protection zone along its border, Foreign Minister Heinz Moeller
said on Friday.

At a series of meetings with U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno (news - web
sites), drug policy director Barry McCaffrey and U.S. lawmakers, Moeller
said Ecuador needed $250 to $300 million over the next two to three years
to prevent the spread of coca plantations into Ecuador.

Ecuador and Colombia's other neighbors have said Bogota's $7.5 million,
U.S.-backed Plan Colombia -- targeting drug traffickers and guerrillas
allegedly financed by drug money -- will send refugees, drug traffickers
and rebels over their borders.

Ecuador shares a 370-mile frontier with Colombia, part of which is along
Colombia's rebel-controlled, drug-producing Putumayo region.

Ecuador's plan focuses on economic and social programs, new community
centers, health centers, new roads for farmers, the alternative
agricultural, ecological sanctuaries and the creation of a police and
military border patrol.

The government said it hopes European lenders will forgive part of its
foreign debt, saying it instead will use the money to fund development
programs along the border.

Last month Ecuador signed a debt restructuring agreement with members of
the Paris Club, a group of creditor nations that includes the United States.

Ecuador has given U.S. anti-narcotics planes access to its Manta air and
naval base in the northern part of the country, and hopes the United States
will reciprocate with anti-drug aid.

Moeller, on a six-day visit to Washington, will also meet with U.S.
Undersecretary of State Thomas Pickering, a staunch advocate for U.S.
support for Plan Colombia, other legislators and Pentagon (news - web
sites) officials.