U.S. SEEKS COURT IMMUNITY FOR TROOPS IN COLOMBIA

BOGOTA, Colombia, Aug. 14 -- Senior U.S. officials asked President Alvaro
Uribe today to shield U.S. military trainers in Colombia from prosecution
by the International Criminal Court for any human rights abuses that may
arise in connection with their work.

The request, made by Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Marc
Grossman, is part of a global campaign by the United States to prevent U.S.
nationals from being subjected to the international court. Arguing that
future military aid hangs in the balance, U.S. diplomats have begun working
here and with other allies to arrange such immunity agreements, which are
allowed under the treaty setting up the court.

Under anti-terrorism legislation signed by President Bush this month, U.S.
military aid would be cut off to countries that have ratified the treaty,
except those granted a waiver by the White House. The United States has
made it clear that governments granting an immunity pledge to U.S. citizens
will continue to receive aid.

"That turns out to be the way people advised us to protect ourselves," said
a senior U.S. official here before meeting with Uribe today. "We'd like to
get it signed as soon as possible."

The Bush administration has opposed the treaty and is seeking the immunity
agreements, U.S. officials have said, because it fears that U.S. soldiers
and other citizens could be subjected to politically motivated prosecutions
abroad.

The issue has special importance for the Colombian government, which
formally recognized the court on Aug. 5. Uribe, who was sworn into office
two days later, is relying on U.S. aid to help him wage a broader military
campaign against leftist guerrillas who have been fighting for years to
replace the government with a Marxist state.

Colombia's 38-year war, rooted in social inequality and a culture of
impunity, is being fueled by drug profits in the security vacuum left by a
weak central government. The conflict matches the Revolutionary Armed
Forces of Colombia, or FARC, and a second, smaller Marxist- oriented
insurgency against the U.S.-backed military and a privately funded
paramilitary group that fights by its side. Last year, 3,500 people died as
a direct result of the war, most of them civilians.

Colombia, the third-largest recipient of U.S. military aid, has received
nearly $2 billion in U.S. assistance over the past two years. The nearly 80
transport helicopters and hundreds of U.S. military trainers, among other
aid, were initially meant to help the Colombian government attack the
thriving drug trade.

As part of the anti-terrorism package signed this month, the military
equipment donated by the United States can now be used directly against
guerrilla forces. The package also included $6 million to train a new
Colombian army unit to protect an oil pipeline in eastern Colombia that is
a frequent rebel target. Another $500 million in aid has been proposed for
Colombia in the 2003 budget.

Only two countries -- Israel and Romania -- have agreed to immunity pledges
and the U.N. Security Council recently granted immunity for one year to
U.S. troops participating in international peacekeeping forces. The
Colombian government did not give Grossman an immediate response.

"We haven't made any decision on this yet," said a senior Colombian
diplomat, who predicted that it would prompt congressional hearings here.
"Our understanding is that this goes beyond the Security Council's decision."

Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.), chairman of the Senate Appropriations
foreign operations subcommittee who drafted the human rights requirements
for U.S. aid to Colombia, said, "I support using safeguards in the [court]
treaty to protect Americans against political prosecutions, but I am
concerned with the message this sends to the Colombian government when we
are urging them to do more to protect human rights."

Each of Colombia's three irregular armies is on the State Department list
of foreign terrorist organizations, the "nexus between counter- narcotics
and counterterrorism" that a senior U.S. official said today justifies the
changed aid rules. But U.S. and Colombian officials consider the FARC,
which now numbers 18,000 armed members, the largest threat to the
government's stability.

Allowing the Colombian military greater leeway in using the military aid
has also increased the U.S. role in designing strategy against the
guerrillas. U.S. officials have advised Colombians on the use of military
equipment in the anti-drug effort, mostly in operations in remote southern
jungles, but now will be doing so with "a larger variety of missions," a
senior U.S. official said.