COLOMBIA ANTI-DRUG DONORS VOW $621M

MADRID, Spain (AP) -- 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, ``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.

Spain offered $100 million, while Japan will donate $70 million and
Norway, $20 million.

The United Nations will provide $131 million, while the Inter-American
Development Bank and the Andean Corporation for Development, will
jointly contribute $300 million.

The European Union said it would announce its contribution at the next
meeting of supporting nations, scheduled for September in the
Colombian capital, Bogota. Other countries said they would make their
donations over the coming months.

Separately, the U.S. delegation to the Madrid conference said
Washington is contributing $250 million to social development and
alternative crop development in Colombia.

That money comes from a $1.3 billion aid package already approved by
the U.S. Congress for the Colombia Plan, announced in September by
Colombian President Andres Pastrana.

U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher welcomed Spain's
contribution to the anti-narcotics program, saying the administration
is ``especially grateful'' not only for the pledge but also for
Spain's role in hosting the conference.

He praised other European countries for their positive responses at
the conference.

``The conference has been a huge success,'' said Colombian Foreign
Minister Guillermo Fernandez de Soto. ``The presence of 26 countries
and other institutions showed international solidarity with our peace
process.''

When asked whether most of the aid would go to bolstering the
Colombian military, he said at least half the funding was destined to
social and economic recovery.

``This is a plan for peace that looks to strengthen the state's
capability to combat narcotics,''he said.

Foreign Ministry officials from the 15 European Union countries as
well nations such as Japan, Brazil and Canada attended the meeting as
did the Inter-American Development Bank, the International Monetary
Fund, the United Nations and the European Commission.

The Colombia Plan has raised fierce opposition from critics who
believe the aid, especially the U.S. package, will simply be used to
step up the war against Colombia's guerrillas.

Colombia is the world's biggest cocaine producer with thousands of
tons of the coca plant grown there each year. The crops are protected
by rebels and rival right-wing paramilitary groups who benefit
financially from the drug trade.