Pubdate: Mon, 18 Feb 2002
Source: Associated Press (Wire)
Copyright: 2002 Associated Press
Author: Jared Kotler, Associated Press Writer

DRUG FIGHTER PROPOSED FOR U.N. POST

BOGOTA, Colombia -- A former national police chief who fought against 
Colombian drug cartels is heading to Washington to boost his candidacy for 
the top U.N. counterdrug post.

Retired Gen. Rosso Jose Serrano said Monday he's honored that a group of 
U.S. lawmakers and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration are proposing 
he be Washington's candidate to head the United Nations Office for Drug 
Control and Crime Prevention.

"I think it would be a great honor, not just personally but for Colombia," 
Serrano told The Associated Press.

Serrano, who retired two years ago after a 40-year police career, was the 
head of the Colombian National Police when it dismantled the powerful Cali 
cocaine cartel in the mid-1990s.

The Bush Administration has not said whether it will support Serrano's 
candidacy. The post was vacated in January by Italy's Pino Arlacchi.

Serrano said expects to meet in Washington starting Tuesday with lawmakers, 
friends and counterdrug officials at the State Department.

The Vienna-based U.N. agency faces major challenges in confronting drug 
production around the world, from Colombia to Afghanistan.

In a letter last week to Secretary of State Colin Powell, U.S. DEA chief 
Asa Hutchinson said he supported Serrano for the U.N. job. A group of 
Republican U.S. lawmakers first put Serrano's name forward in December.

"He is a good friend of the United States and a long time ally in the 
worldwide fight against illicit drugs and crime," wrote Reps. Benjamin 
Gilman, R-N.Y., and Dan Burton, R-Ind. in a letter to John Negroponte, the 
United States Ambassador to the United Nations.

"He is the right man at the right time for the job," they added.

Sen. Jesse Helms of North Carolina has also sent a letter supporting 
Serrano's candidacy.
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