Pubdate: Fri, 30 Jun 2000 Source: New York Times (NY) Copyright: 2000 The New York Times Company Contact: 229 West 43rd Street, New York, NY 10036 Fax: (212) 556-3622 Website: http://www.nytimes.com/ Forum: http://www10.nytimes.com/comment/ Author: Larry Rohter COLOMBIA: REBEL TALKS Delegations representing 21 nations, including European and United Nations diplomats, began two days of meetings with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, the country's main left-wing guerrilla group, in a demilitarized area controlled by the rebels. The topic of the conference is drug trafficking: the guerrillas are heavily involved in the cocaine trade but say they would favor alternative crop-substitution programs. The United States did not take part because of a ban on official contacts with the group. - --- MAP posted-by: greg