Associated Press, 07/11/97 22:30

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) The United States will send
Colombia millions
of dollars in antinarcotics aid that was held up by that
nation's decertification
as a drug war ally, the U.S. State Department said Friday.

But U.S. officials have said they won't give aid to the
Colombian army until
they get assurances it won't commit human rights abuses or
divert the
material from the drug fight to a decadesold rebel war.

Republican lawmakers urged the White House at a Wednesday
hearing to
release $30 million of weapons and materials to Colombian
forces. They said
failure to send the aid is hurting Colombia in its fight
against drug trafficking.

A State Department spokeswoman who requested anonymity
said aid not
earmarked for the army will be released, but did not say
when. It was not
clear how much of the $30 million will be withheld.

In February, the United States branded Colombia as
uncooperative in the
drug war, denying it some aid. The ruling did not affect
antidrug aid, but a
bureaucratic hurdle held up delivery of the $30 million.