US CONSIDERS COLOMBIAN RESCUE MISSION

AFTER the murder of a CIA operative and a Colombian intelligence official by
guerrillas, the United States is considering a rescue mission to free three
other CIA contractors in rebel hands.

"They had shots to the back of the head that show they were assassinated in
cold blood," said the US president, George Bush, in an interview with
Telemundo Television.

"They [Colombian rebels] are ruthless killers and deserve to be treated as
such. We are sharing intelligence and are co-ordinating the movements of
troops in the jungle to try and rescue these three people."

The "ruthless killers" are the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia
(FARC), the most powerful of Colombia's warring factions and long on the US
terrorism list.

They acted quickly when a US government plane on an intelligence mission
crash landed in the southern province of Caqueta, one of their strongholds.
Two of the five tried to resist kidnapping by the rebels and were executed,
according to witnesses. The remainder disappeared with their captives into
the jungle.

"I don't think there's any question that this precipitous action by the FARC
is going to meet with very strong retaliation," said Tom Davis, a member of
a visiting congressional delegation.

The US ambassador to Colombia, Anne Patterson, has made a recommendation to
Mr Bush on action to be taken. She refused to comment but another member of
the congressional delegation, James Moran, said it was "major and
appropriate".

A massive search operation for the three men has been conducted, so far
fruitlessly. Yesterday army helicopters flew over the area dropping leaflets
offering a UKP250,000 reward for information on the whereabouts of the
missing Americans, a fortune in a country where most live on less than
UKP100 a month.

But the FARC has eluded the best efforts of the security forces and will be
keen to keep its prize hostages.

The US embassy has refused to comment officially on the role of the captured
Americans, but sources said they were part of the Office of Regional
Administration, believed to be a CIA front.

The FARC has long been looking for a way to pressure the US government over
its involvement in the country's bloody 39-year civil conflict and has vowed
to fight "Yankee imperialism".

Colombia is the third largest recipient of US military aid after Israel and
Egypt, receiving more than UKP300 million a year, including training by 70
US special forces troops in the front-line province of Arauca.

But under congressional restrictions the estimated 400 US troops in the
country are forbidden, to engage in combat.

Still, military sources have indicated that special forces troops could be
sent into the country under a different mandate and effect a rescue.