Pubdate: Wed, 04 Apr 2001
Source: CNN (US Web)
Copyright: 2001 Cable News Network, Inc.
Contact:  http://www.cnn.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/65
Author: Reuters

COLOMBIAN REBELS THREATEN U.S. CIVILIAN "MERCENARIES"

BOGOTA, Colombia (Reuters) -- Colombia's largest leftist guerrilla group 
warned on Wednesday it would attack American civilian "mercenaries" who 
take part in military operations in the South American nation's 
long-running war.

The 17,000-member FARC, Latin America's most powerful and oldest surviving 
rebel army, has in the past declared U.S. military personnel deployed in 
Colombia "military targets."

But in an interview posted on the rebels' Web site, FARC spokesman Carlos 
Antonio Lozada said the threat extended to U.S. "mercenaries" hired for 
military operations in Colombia.

"U.S. advisers or military personnel, including those directly in the U.S. 
Armed Forces or mercenaries hired by firms to carry out military operations 
on Colombian soil, run the risk of becoming at any time victims of military 
actions by the Colombian insurgency," Lozada was quoted as saying.

The warning came after a helicopter under contract by the U.S. State 
Department carrying American civilians hired for anti-drug operations was 
fired upon by FARC rebels in February during an operation to rescue 
Colombian anti-narcotics agents in the southern Caqueta region.

Washington has not said how many U.S. citizens were involved in the rescue 
operation, but the incident raised fears of U.S. citizens getting involved 
in Colombia's 37-year-old rebel conflict.

The war, which pits rebel groups against the army and outlawed right-wing 
paramilitary groups, has killed nearly 40,000 people -- mostly civilians -- 
in the last 10 years.

The United States is committing $1 billion to stamp out the cocaine 
industry in the Andean nation, the world's largest producer of the drug. 
The funds are mainly going for combat helicopters and to train Colombian 
anti-narcotics battalions for operations against rebel-held crops in 
southern Colombia.

Some 200 U.S. military personnel are involved in the training of Colombian 
army battalions for the anti-drug push, and U.S. officials have repeatedly 
said that the American troops will not be involved directly in the war.

About 30 American civilians are involved in counter-narcotics missions in 
Colombia, hired by DynCorp, a major Pentagon contractor based in Reston, 
Virginia, that provides crop duster and helicopter pilots, mechanics and 
paramedics as part of the U.S. aid package.
- ---
MAP posted-by: GD