US WANTS COLOMBIAN REBELS EXTRADITED

BOGOTA, Colombia -- The U.S. government will try to extradite and put on
trial Colombian guerrillas and right-wing militia members who are involved
in drug trafficking or money laundering, the U.S. ambassador said Wednesday.

The announcement at an international money-laundering conference marks a
new strategy in confronting Colombia's illegal armed groups, which finance
themselves through drug trafficking.

Previously, drug kingpins have been extradited to the United States, but
none of the rebels or paramilitaries has faced the U.S. justice system.
Ambassador Anne Patterson said the extradition attempts form part of
increased efforts to combat money laundering after the Sept. 11 terrorist
attacks on the United States.

"We have focused our attention on all types of international organized
crime, including money laundering," the envoy told the conference in the
seaport city of Cartagena.

The U.S. requests would apply to two rebel armies -- the leftist
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, and the National
Liberation Army, or ELN -- as well as the right-wing paramilitary United
Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, or AUC.

All three groups are already on a U.S. list of foreign terrorist
organizations, and have long been accused of financing and fueling
Colombia's 37-year civil war themselves through drug operations.

"The United States wants to try the members of the three groups that are
involved in drug trafficking and money laundering and will seek their
extradition," Patterson said during the speech, excerpts of which were
broadcast on Colombian radio.

Patterson said all three groups are "deeply involved in drug trafficking"
and funnel their money through legal financial institutions.

She did not name any rebel or paramilitary members who could be extradited.

The United States is currently providing $ 1.3 billion in mostly military
aid to fight drug trafficking in Colombia. Most of the money has been
dedicated to the training of Colombian counternarcotics troops by U.S.
special forces and the delivery of dozens of combat helicopters.

The U.S.-trained troops have been protecting fumigation planes, which are
being used to wipe out drug-producing crops protected by the rebels and
paramilitaries.