COLOMBIAN WARPLANES SEARCH AIRSTRIPS

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) -- Colombian 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, speaking on
condition of anonymity.

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.

"(It is) an exercise of sovereignty over Colombian territory," Tapias told
reporters late Tuesday.

President Andres Pastrana ceded the Switzerland-sized swath of jungle and
savanna to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or 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 it 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.

"I think we are at a critical juncture," said Carlos Garcia, the president
of Congress. Garcia told The Associated Press he held out hope that the
warring sides would still show a desire to reach a cease-fire agreement.

Underscoring the dangers of all-out war, a smaller rebel group that failed
to start formal cease-fire talks with the government stepped up its
campaign of bombings and other attacks.

On Wednesday, a car packed with 44 pounds of dynamite exploded on a rural
road outside the country's second-largest city, Medellin, police said. The
bomb, which injured a passer-by, was believed to have been planted by the
National Liberation Army, or ELN.

ELN rebels have also waged a sabotage campaign in eastern Arauca state
against a major oil pipeline that transports crude from an oil field
operated by Los Angeles-based Occidental Petroleum.

The ELN mounted five dynamite attacks Tuesday against Cano-Limon-Covenas
pipeline, which has been shut down while repairs are made. There have been
hundreds of attacks on the pipeline this year.

In Bolivar state in northern Colombia, government troops clashed with ELN
rebels, killing one guerrilla, the army said. Bomb-making materials were
found at the site.