UNLIMITED MILITARY AID SOUGHT FOR COLOMBIA

March 14 - The Bush administration plans to ask Congress to lift
restrictions on American military aid to Colombia in order to help
the government in Bogota fight leftist rebels, officials said today.

If approved by lawmakers, the change would open a new front in
Colombia for American military trainers and equipment by involving
the United States directly in the fight against the Revolutionary
Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.

Until now, Congress has restricted the use of American aid to
Colombia - which has totaled nearly $2 billion in recent years - to
the struggle against narcotics traffickers. It has capped the number
of American military personnel in the country to 400 and linked
assistance to progress by the Colombian government in curbing human
rights abuses within its armed forces.

After the collapse of peace talks last month and a series of brazen
attacks by the FARC, the government of President Andres Pastrana has
clamored for permission to use American attack helicopters and other
equipment to rout rebels from a formerly demilitarized zone.

According to a report in The Washington Post, the administration will
submit its request as early as next week. The White House did not
comment tonight.