BOUTERSE CALLED TO FACE DRUGS CHARGES IN THE HAGUE

THE HAGUE, Feb 10 (Reuters) - Dutch public prosecutors have summoned
Surinam's former military ruler Desi Bouterse to appear before a Hague court
next month on drug smuggling charges.

In August 1997, the Netherlands issued an international arrest warrant for
Bouterse, who still lives in his native Surinam, on suspicion of drug
trafficking and money laundering. He was also put on Interpol's wanted list.

The public prosecutor in The Hague said Bouterse had been summoned with
another Surinamese man, identified only as Lowes, to appear in court on
March 22.

"During the hearings the court will judge to what extent the suspects
Bouterse and Lowes are involved in drugs trafficking and a criminal
organisation," the prosecutor said.

Two others, Surinam's Central Bank president Henk Goedschalk and a man
identified as Misier, must also appear. The details of their summonses will
be announced later, the prosecutor said.

The hearing will go ahead whether or not Bouterse and the others attend, a
spokeswoman from the prosecutor's office told Reuters, adding that
Bouterse's lawyer would be present.

A guilty verdict would almost certainly lead to a prison sentence but
Bouterse would need to be arrested in a country that has an extradition
agreement with the Netherlands.

Prosecutors listed five incidents of drugs trafficking to the Netherlands
and Belgium, between December 1989 and May 1991, in which they believed
Bouterse played a role.

More than 1.3 tonnes of cocaine were seized at Dutch and Belgian ports and
airports during the period. The exporters have already been sentenced by
Dutch and Belgian courts.

Bouterse has so far avoided arrest.

The Netherlands failed last July to have the burly ex-army sergeant
extradited from Trinidad and he returned to his native Surinam where he
remains a senior government adviser, although he holds no public office.