U.S. ANTI-DRUG BASE RELOCATED

CARTAGENA, Colombia (AP) -- U.S. military counter-narcotics operations will
be relocated to Puerto Rico and elsewhere in the region when Washington
completes its troop pullout from Panama next year, a senior U.S. commander
said Tuesday.

Negotiations to maintain a U.S. troop presence for anti-narcotics purposes
in Panama were scuttled in September, setting U.S. officials on a search
for alternatives. All U.S. troops must leave the country by Dec. 31, 1999,
when the Panama Canal reverts to Panamanian control.

Marine Gen. Charles E. Wilhelm, chief of the U.S. Southern Command with
responsibility for Latin America, said the move could curtail operations
for a time, but would still satisfy U.S. counter-narcotics needs ``to a
reasonable extent.''

During a meeting of regional defense ministers, Defense Secretary William
Cohen, said the United States had ``not made much progress to date'' in
deciding which other countries would share in hosting the relocated forces.

Panama was considered the ideal base for drug interdiction, because of its
central location along shipment routes between Andean drug producing
countries and the United States.

Wilhelm did not say exactly what other countries might be prepared to
accept a U.S. presence.

Checked-by: derek rea