ANTI-DRUG RECONNAISSANCE FLIGHTS CALLED THREAT TO PEACE PROCESS

BOGOTA -- Fighter jets streaked over a vast rebel safe haven this week to
search for airstrips used for drug smuggling, the army said Wednesday.
Rebels called the flights a threat to fragile peace talks.

Two Mirage jet fighters flew over the safe haven at an altitude of at least
10,000 feet Tuesday after taking off from Tres Esquinas, a base where U.S.
intelligence experts have worked alongside Colombian military personnel, an
official at the Defense Ministry said.

More flights could be expected, the official said Wednesday.

Gen. Fernando Tapias, commander of the Colombian armed forces, said the
flights were aimed at detecting clandestine airstrips used for drug
smuggling and insisted the military has the right to carry out the missions.

President Andres Pastrana ceded the Switzerland-sized swath of jungle and
savanna to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) three years
ago to spur talks aimed at ending Colombia's civil war, now in its 37th year.

But FARC officials said earlier this month they would not hold peace talks
inside the safe haven, claiming the planned military overflights imperiled
their safety.

Many Colombians fear that if peace talks collapse, the war that kills about
3,000 people each year will intensify.