U.S. TO FUND CRACK HONDURAN POLICE DRUGS UNIT

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (Reuters) - The United States will fund and support
the training of a crack unit of Honduran police to combat drugs
trafficking, the U.S. ambassador to Honduras said on Monday.

``We are going to support the creation of this unit, training its members
in techniques of tracking and detecting drugs trafficking,'' ambassador
James Creagon told reporters.

Honduras wants a special police task force to clamp down on drugs smuggling
along its Caribbean coast, especially around the Bay Islands tourist area.

Washington has doubled its anti-narcotics funding to Honduras to $195,000
this year to stem the flow of drugs such as cocaine shipped through
Honduras to the United States.

Officials have said that the Caribbean coast of Honduras is a key route
used by Colombian drug cartels. Tawhakas Indians living in coastal regions
have claimed the region is full of clandestine landing strips that
traffickers use to move drugs.

In another development, about 100 Lenca Indians protested in front of the
U.S. Embassy against the continuing U.S. military presence and troop
maneuvers in Honduras. They shouted anti-U.S. slogans and held up banners.

The Indians have long condemned the presence of around 500 U.S. troops at
Palmerola, north of the capital, a base in operation since 1983 and close
to the Lencas' ancestral lands.

(c) REUTERS