British minister sees gun attack on antidrugs plane

BY VICTORIA FLETCHER

TONY LLOYD, the Foreign Office Minister for Latin America and Africa,
witnessed the Colombian drug war at first hand when a plane spraying
herbicide on a poppy crop was fired on only minutes after he had landed in
the jungle.

The aircraft came under fire while destroying an illegal poppy plantation
on Tuesday. Mr Lloyd watched as the plane and its pilot were hit. Two
Colombian military helicopter gunships were called in to return the fire
and to escort the crop sprayer to the ground, where the pilot was treated
for an injured foot.

Using chemical defoliation sprays is often the most effective way to
destroy the drug plantations on the borders of the Huila and Caqueta
provinces of southeast Colombia, but lowlevel flying makes the aircraft
easy targets for leftwing rebels below.

The Foreign Office said that Mr Lloyd was not in any direct danger. "The
minister was unperturbed by the incident and continued with his visit," an
official said. He added that the event would not alter Mr Lloyd's itinerary
for the visit, which has included talks with President Samper about
Colombia's efforts to combat the drugs traffickers.

The official said that the incident would not distract Mr Lloyd's attention
from other important issues discussed with the President, covering human
rights and especially Britain's future trading interests.