POWELL OKS COLOMBIA ANTI-DRUG FLIGHTS

WASHINGTON (AP) - Secretary of State Colin Powell has approved a resumption
of drug surveillance flights over Colombia after a two-year suspension, a
U.S. official said Tuesday.

The official said the White House is expected to announce the resumption on
Thursday, when Colombian President Alvaro Uribe observes his first
anniversary in office.

Uribe has advocated a strong stand against drug traffickers.

The official said Powell's recommendation went out Monday night. The
process took far longer than expected, as officials attempted to put
safeguards in place to minimize the possibility of an incident like that
two years ago, when a plane carrying a U.S. missionary and her child was
mistakenly shot down.

At the time, surveillance flights were conducted over Peru and Colombia.
They were suspended in April 2001 after a Peruvian fighter jet acting on
U.S. intelligence shot down the missionary plane, killing Veronica Bowers
and her daughter Charity.

U.S. government and congressional investigations said many factors
contributed to the mistake, including a failure to follow established
procedures, inadequate Peruvian air control and inadequate foreign language
skills of Peruvians and Americans.

The new safeguards for flights over Colombia include clearer procedures for
identifying and communicating with suspected planes and establishing a
chain of command for making the decision to fire on a plane. Colombians
would make the final decision.

White House spokesman Scott McClellan, who is with President Bush in
Crawford, Texas, said an interagency process has helped develop procedures
to enhance safety.

"The president's overriding concern is to support our allies in Colombia to
address the threat to their national security posed by illegal drug
trafficking while ensuring that procedures are in place to protect innocent
life,'' McClellan said.

Other officials have said no agreement is expected soon to resume flights
over Peru, which lacks radar and aircraft needed for the program.