EXPANDED U.S. ROLE SEEN IN COLOMBIA

DEA Chief Tells of Need to Fight Terror

BOGOTA, Colombia - The United States should soon be able to help Colombia
defend itself against insurgent groups and not just drug traffickers, the
head of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration predicted Tuesday.

During a visit to the world's main cocaine-producing nation, DEA chief Asa
Hutchinson said he expects Congress will approve a Bush administration
request for authority "in fighting both the terrorists and the drug
traffickers" here.

U.S. and Colombian officials are increasingly using the term "terrorists"
to refer to leftist guerrillas and an illegal right-wing paramilitary group
fighting in Colombia's 38-year war. Both have terrorized civilians and are
believed to rely on profits from the drug trade.

But until now, U.S. military aid to Colombia has been restricted largely to
anti-narcotics purposes.

Although no direct U.S. combat role is envisioned, the Bush administration
- - under a request made last week - is reportedly considering more direct
counterinsurgency aid and training. Some critics worry that that could draw
Washington too deeply into Colombia's conflict.

With rebels moving ever deeper into the drug trade - and in some instances
becoming "one and the same" as traffickers - Hutchinson said broader
military aid is justified.

"President Bush remains committed to continuing the U.S. support of
Colombia in its fight against terror, terror which the world now knows is
funded to a large extent by drugs," he said in a speech at police
headquarters in Bogota.

The DEA chief referred to a Colombian guerrilla leader indicted in the
United States this month for drug trafficking.

Hutchinson declined to comment on whether an operation was afoot to capture
the rebel, Tomas Medina, of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.