FOREIGN DONORS PLEDGE MILLIONS TO DRUG FIGHT

International donors pledged $621 million on Friday to help fund Colombia's
multibillion-dollar project to combat cocaine production and revitalize the
country's economy.

Colombia is trying to gather $3.5 billion from foreign donors to add to its
own contribution of $4 billion to the project, which includes plans to beef
up military action against the drug trade, protected by Colombia's powerful
rebel movement.

The pledges from the one-day conference, which gathered 27 nations and
several international agencies in Madrid, Spain, ``forms the first
contribution from the international community to the peace process'', said
Enrique Iglesias, head of the Inter-American Development Bank, which is
presiding over the Colombia Plan.