Pubdate: Fri, 07 Sep 2001
Source: Chicago Tribune (IL)
Copyright: 2001 Chicago Tribune Company
Contact:  http://www.chicagotribune.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/82
Author: Items compiled from Tribune news services

RE-EXAMINE DRUG WAR, PASTRANA URGES

BOGOTA, COLOMBIA -- President Andres Pastrana called Thursday for a review 
of the global war against drugs, saying it should extend beyond the 
U.S.-backed spraying of drug crops.

Pastrana, who is to meet here with Secretary of State Colin Powell next 
week, also said Washington's suspension of joint interdiction of drug 
flights with Colombia and Peru "has allowed a lot of drugs to pass over our 
territory because there is no control of our airspace."

The program was suspended after a U.S. missionary plane was accidentally 
shot down over the Peruvian Amazon in April.

Pastrana urged the United States and its allies to establish a policy on 
interdiction.

"I think we can truly hit the heart of the [drug] business, through 
interdiction and not simply through fumigation," Pastrana told a small 
group of foreign reporters.
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MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager