BUSH OKS CONTINUED ASSISTANCE TO COLOMBIA ANTI-DRUG PROGRAM

HEDGESVILLE, W.Va.--President Bush said Tuesday the U.S.
government will continue to assist Colombia in interdicting aircraft
suspected of drug trafficking.

The renewed authorization follows the accidental shootdown several
years ago of an American missionary plane.

The program was suspended in 2001 after a Peruvian warplane mistakenly
downed the missionary flight over the Amazon, killing an American
woman and her infant daughter.

The "Airbridge Denial Program" was subsequently resumed on an annual
basis. The White House says the counter-narcotics operation will take
place "while observing strict adherence to agreed-upon and
well-established procedures" to force down planes suspected of
carrying drug shipments.

Bush, who was campaigning in West Virginia, signed a presidential
determination declaring that Colombia "has appropriate procedures in
place to protect against innocent loss of life."