Pubdate: Mon, 18 Jun 2001 Source: Reuters (Wire) Copyright: 2001 Reuters Limited U.S. TO REVIEW DRUG PROGRAM AFTER PERU CRASH WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States has expanded an inquiry with Peru into the downing of a plane carrying U.S. missionaries mistaken for drug traffickers to a review of its aerial narcotics interception program in Peru and Colombia, a U.S. official said on Monday. ``We need to make sure that every possible safeguard is in place to prevent the accidental loss of civilian life as a result of our counterdrug air interdiction operation in the Andes,'' the State Department official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. ``The review will draw upon the findings of the Peru investigation report, examine safeguards and procedures in both countries and make any necessary recommendation on measures to take to prevent a repeat of the tragic events,'' she added. She said the review would be over and its findings released in July, along with the results of the investigation into how missionary Veronica Bowers, 35, and her newly-adopted baby Charity, 7 months, were killed in a hail of bullets that sent their single-engine Cessna crashing into the Amazon jungle. U.S. pilot Kevin Donaldson, 42, and Jim Bowers, who lost his wife and daughter, and remaining family member 6-year-old Cory survived the attack by a Peruvian air force plane. A CIA surveillance plane was flying nearby providing data on the suspect plane as part of a joint program to help Peru's air force stop traffickers. A similar program exists in Colombia, which also has a policy of shooting down suspected traffickers. U.S. surveillance flights in both states have been suspended pending the inquiry. The CIA plane carrying three American crewmembers and a Peruvian liaison officer initially suspected the missionary plane was smuggling drugs and alerted the Peruvian military. U.S. officials say the Americans, all hired from an outside contractor, subsequently told the Peruvian officer they doubted the plane was running drugs. They tried to get him to call off the Peruvian air force jet which fired on the single-engine Cessna plane 4,000 feet (1,200 meters) above the ground. - --- MAP posted-by: Doc-Hawk