REPORT: RUSSIAN WEAPONS BACKING COLOMBIAN REBELS

Guns-for-Drugs Ring Links Military And Russian Mob

WASHINGTON (MSNBC.com) - Colombia's president said his government is
investigating a report by MSNBC.com that detailed an extensive smuggling
ring involving Russian organized crime supplying weapons to rebels in
Colombia in exchange for cocaine.

Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, standing beside President Andres
Pastrana, told reporters Tuesday the reported link between Russian
organized crime and Colombia's rebels was a point of concern but that she
was "not in the position to discuss these reports of intelligence information."

The smuggling ring allegedly involves an alliance of Russian military
officers, organized crime bosses, corrupted diplomats and South American
revolutionaries. The ring allegedly has been moving regular shipments of up
to 40,000 kilograms of cocaine to the former Soviet Union in return for
large shipments of weaponry.

"We are obviously concerned about the acquisition of arms by Colombian
rebels," said Albright. "It is a matter of concern to us and is something
we watch very carefully. We are also concerned about reports of Russian
organized crime activity in Colombia and the increased demand for cocaine
in Europe and Russia and the former Eastern European countries, but [we]
are not in the position to discuss these reports."

'Literally an industry'

Russian crime syndicates and military officers are supplying sophisticated
weapons to Colombian rebels in return for huge shipments of cocaine, U.S.
intelligence officials told MSNBC.com last week. A senior intelligence
official described the smuggling ring as "literally an industry" that
threatens to overwhelm the Colombian government and turn the U.S.-backed
fight against the Colombia cocaine cartels into a losing proposition.

Pastrana, in the United States to argue for a proposed $1.7 billion aid
package to fight the cartels, said his government had no evidence to date
about such an extensive connection. He said the MSNBC.com reports were the
first he had heard of the operation. Pastrana was making the rounds in
Washington in hopes of resuscitating the Clinton administration's emergency
assistance proposal for his country. The plan passed in the House last
month but has been held up by a procedural dispute in the Senate.

P.J. Crowley, a spokesman for the White House National Security Council,
said experts there were studying the MSNBC.com report but could not provide
confirmation of the scale or any other details of the operation. He said a
surge of violence in Colombia, along with corruption in the former Soviet
Union and possible arms dealing, is of concern to the White House. But he
said he could not confirm the account related by senior U.S. intelligence
officials to MSNBC.com.

"To the extent that you tie your story to intelligence sources, we are not
going to talk about intelligence matters," Crowley said. "We are not in a
position to validate assertions that establish a connection between Russian
organized crime shipping arms to Colombian rebels."

Michael McManus, spokesman for the Drug Enforcement Administration, said
the report has been distributed inside the agency and is being thoroughly
investigated.

'An emergency threat'

A spokesman for Spain's embassy in Washington refused to comment on
allegations that U.S. intelligence officials suspected its embassy in
Jordan of being involved in helping shipments get around Jordanian customs.
The Spanish Embassy spokesman said the report had been sent to Madrid for
further discussion.

Royal Jordanian Airlines failed to return several calls requesting comment.
The intelligence officials alleged that the arms and cocaine shipments used
Royal Jordanian Airlines cargo facilities while in Amman. Calls and e-mails
to Jordan's embassy in Washington also drew no response.

Before his talks with Albright, Pastrana met with White House drug control
chief Barry McCaffrey, who urged Congress to move quickly to pass the
emergency assistance proposal.

"This is an emergency threat, not only to regional security in Colombia,
but also to the United States," McCaffrey said. "This problem kills 52,000
Americans a year. We do think we can turn this around, but we are calling
on Congress to support this plan."

Money for Kosovo, disaster relief

In a letter hand-delivered to Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott and other
Senate leaders on Saturday, McCaffrey wrote: "A long delay in our support
for Colombia and the Andean region will considerably diminish the value of
our assistance."

"At the same time, President Pastrana's hand would be severely weakened,
reducing his ability to combat drug traffickers, pursue economic reform and
negotiate peace," McCaffrey said. "Several months' delay will send the
message that the U.S. lacks the will to provide significant resources
against drug production."

The House bill would provide $9 billion for the Pentagon, including $2
billion for costs of Kosovo peacekeeping. It also would provide disaster
relief.

Marine Gen. Charles Wilhelm, commander in chief of the U.S. Southern
Command, told the Senate Armed Services Committee last week that the
administration's proposal "is crucial to ... plans that, if executed, will
strike at the heart of the illicit drug trade."

The package would "contribute to the overall security and stability of a
region of rapidly growing strategic importance to the United States,"
Wilhelm said. He noted that Colombia is now the world's largest producer of
cocaine and fourth among heroin producers.

NBC's Betsy Steuart, MSNBC's Michael Moran and The Associated Press
contributed to this report.