WASHINGTON DEBATES AID TO COLOMBIA

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Two deadly guerrilla attacks on Colombian police have
raised delicate questions after the recent approval of a $1.3 billion
anti-narcotics aid package.

Can U.S.-provided anti-drug helicopters be used for missions that aren't
directly related to drugs? If so, could that push the United States deeper
into Colombia's protracted civil war?

Last weekend, the helicopters -- provided under an earlier counternarcotics
package -- were used to carry security forces to Arboleda, a mountain town
90 miles northwest of Bogota, where as many as 22 policemen may have been
killed.

But two weeks earlier, the helicopters sat idle as 13 officers were killed
in cold blood in the southwestern town of Roncesvalles. The officers were
shot one-by-one after they ran out of ammunition and tried to surrender,
police said.

The Roncesvalles killings prompted Rep. Benjamin Gilman, R-N.Y., chairman
of the House International Relations Committee, to write to Secretary of
State Madeleine Albright his misgivings that U.S. use restrictions might
have kept the helicopters from being used.

Both U.S. and Colombian officials denied that was the case. Colombian
National Police Chief Ernesto Gilibert said helicopters were not deployed
because they weren't equipped to fly at night.

An American official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said U.S. policy
allows Colombia to use the helicopters "for humanitarian purposes to
prevent a loss of life and to provide evacuation."

The United States regularly reviews helicopter flight records to make sure
helicopter use complies with guidelines, the official said. To date,
Colombia has consistently met those guidelines.

The issue is sensitive from two sides. On one side is Gilman, who supports
the Colombian aid and wants to see the United States help the Colombian
National Police as much as it can.

On the other side are opponents of the aid, skeptical that it can be
limited to the drug fight and keep the United States from getting drawn
into Colombia's 36-year-long war against leftist guerrillas.

The $1.3 billion package signed by President Clinton on July 13 will
provide helicopters and other assistance to Colombian army counternarcotics
battalions. Those battalions will fight guerrillas, who finance their
insurgency by protecting drug producers.

The package also shifts the focus of U.S. aid from the police, whose main
task is fighting drugs, to the army, whose main task is fighting guerrillas.

U.S. officials have insisted they will not cross the line between fighting
drug trafficking and fighting the rebels. Opponents say that's a tough
distinction to make.

Sen. Paul Wellstone, D-Minn., said the concerns raised by Gilman "speak to
the whole problem that there's very little clarity about rules of combat."

"It's very unclear what's counternarcotics and what's counterinsurgency.
We're going to have over and over and over again many examples like this,"
he said.

The attack in Roncesvalles did not appear to be tied to a counternarcotics
operation. The officers spent 27 hours fighting off an attack by the
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, according to police. When they ran
out of ammunition, they tried to surrender. Each officer was shot
point-blank in the head.

John Mackey, an aide to Gilman, said Colombian police officials told him
they were reluctant to use the Black Hawk helicopters because they thought
they were restricted to counternarcotics operations.

The National Police chief insisted there was no question they could have
been used.

"When we need to use them for humanitarian purposes, we're not going to
hesitate in doing so. What's more, we've already done so," Gilibert told
reporters.

He said U.S. rules are clear about when the helicopters, flown by Colombian
pilots, can be used.

"We're not going to use them to attack a guerrilla group, but, yes, we can
use them to defend ourselves," Gilibert said.

U.S. State Department spokesman Philip Reeker said Monday the helicopters
used in Arboleda were "in the right location" with the forces that were
going to try to rescue the police.

"The U.S.-supplied aircraft are generally permitted to conduct such rescue
flights and search-and-rescue missions in addition to their normal
counternarcotics responsibilities," he said. "So that was very much in
keeping with the standard practice."