DRUG TIES ADMITTED

BOGOTA, Colombia - The leader of Colombia's right-wing paramilitary death
squads has publicly admitted the drug trade finances most of the
bloodletting committed by his militia force.

The confession by Carlos Castano, commander of the outlawed United
Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, came in a rare interview late Wednesday in
which he allowed his face to be shown on national television for the first
time.

"Drug trafficking and drug traffickers probably finance 70 percent,"
Castano said, when asked how he bankrolled the 11,200-strong force of
paramilitary gunmen he claims to command.

Paramilitary groups have killed leftists and suspected rebel sympathizers
across Colombia for more than a decade.

In the 90-minute interview on Caracol television, one of Colombia's two
privately-owned networks, Castano denied allegations he was a drug
trafficker himself.

"I'm not a monster," Castano said. "I'm a human being who has sacrificed
himself for his country."