Pubdate: Sat, 08 Jul 2000 Source: San Jose Mercury News (CA) Copyright: 2000 San Jose Mercury News Contact: 750 Ridder Park Drive, San Jose, CA 95190 Fax: (408) 271-3792 Website: http://www.sjmercury.com/ FOREIGN DONORS PLEDGE MILLIONS TO DRUG FIGHT International donors pledged $621 million on Friday to help fund Colombia's multibillion-dollar project to combat cocaine production and revitalize the country's economy. Colombia is trying to gather $3.5 billion from foreign donors to add to its own contribution of $4 billion to the project, which includes plans to beef up military action against the drug trade, protected by Colombia's powerful rebel movement. The pledges from the one-day conference, which gathered 27 nations and several international agencies in Madrid, Spain, ``forms the first contribution from the international community to the peace process'', said Enrique Iglesias, head of the Inter-American Development Bank, which is presiding over the Colombia Plan. - --- MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart