US TO HELP COLOMBIAN TROOPS DEFEND OIL PIPELINE

The United States wants to train and equip Colombian troops to defend a key
oil pipeline, a senior US official said on Tuesday, unveiling plans to turn
US aid more directly against rebels fighting a 38-year- old war.

Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Marc Grossman said the Bush
administration would ask Congress for $98 million to strengthen a Colombian
army brigade to guard the 490-mile (780-km) Cano Limon pipeline, whose oil
field is operated by US firm Occidental Petroleum Corp..

The aid, which would likely include helicopters, comes on top of already
massive US assistance limited to wiping out cocaine and heroin production
in the Andean nation.

Grossman said helping protect the Cano Limon -- a favorite target of
leftist rebels -- was part of Washington's commitment to help Colombians
create a "terror-free democracy."

"The war on terrorism will require every bit of state policy and every tool
available to the state," Grossman told a news conference in Bogota as he
wrapped up a three-day visit by a top-level US delegation.

The Bush administration sent to Congress on Monday a fiscal year 2003
budget that included funds for training a second anti-drug brigade as part
of a 14 percent increase in anti-narcotics spending in the Andean region.

Of the $731 million proposed for the regional effort, $439 million was for
Colombia.

Wary of getting dragged into a conflict that has claimed 40,000 lives in
the past decade, the United States has not granted President Andres
Pastrana's request for authorization to use US anti-narcotics aid against
guerrillas and far-right paramilitaries in non-drug operations.

On Tuesday, Grossman said the new aid will be modeled on training provided
for a Colombian army anti-narcotics brigade, whose progress has pleased
Washington.