COLOMBIAN ADMIRAL RESIGNS AFTER US DRUG ACCUSATION

BOGOTA (AP)--Colombian Rear Adm. Rodrigo Quinones, who serves as the
country's military attache to Israel, resigned Tuesday after U.S. officials
accused him of drug trafficking, the defense minister said.

Quinones is the highest-ranking military official in recent memory to be
implicated in drug trafficking in Colombia, which produces most of the
world's cocaine and most of the heroin used in the United States. Quinones
has also been accused of failing to protect villagers who were massacred in
northern Colombia last year by right-wing paramilitary gunmen, when Quinones
was stationed in the region.

The U.S. State Department last week announced it had revoked Quinones' U.S.
visa because of his alleged involvement in drug trafficking.

Defense Minister Martha Lucia Ramirez did not refer directly to the
allegation when she announced Quinones had resigned.

"The resignation was accepted by the national government taking into account
the need to preserve our military institutions and assure the country ...
that the members of the security forces are above any stain," Ramirez told a
news conference.

The U.S. State Department did not release details of Quinones' alleged drug
trafficking, but the Colombian newsmagazine Cambio this week reported he
allegedly had links to the Cali drug cartel and protected shipments of
cocaine to the United States.

There was no immediate indication of whether prosecutors in Colombia or the
United States were preparing to bring charges against Quinones.

He was appointed Colombia's military attache in Israel this year, even
though a human rights group accused him of failing to prevent an outlawed
right-wing paramilitary group from killing 26 villagers in northern Colombia
on Jan. 17, 2001.

In a report released earlier this month, the U.S.-based Human Rights Watch
cited Quinones in the killings of villagers in Chengue. Witnesses said
several Colombian naval units did not intervene when the paramilitary
fighters attacked.

The original prosecutor in the case fled Colombia after receiving death
threats and the new prosecutor has not found enough evidence to arrest
Quinones in relation to the massacre.

The paramilitary United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, or AUC, maintains
secret ties with many members of the Colombian military as they battle
leftist Colombian rebels. The United States has classified the AUC and
Colombia's two main rebel groups as terrorist organizations.