Pubdate: Sun, 29 Apr 2001 Source: Wall Street Journal (US) Copyright: 2001 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. Contact: http://www.wsj.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/487 Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?172 (Peruvian Aircraft Shooting) U.S. SENDS DELEGATION TO PERU FOR TALKS ABOUT THE DOWNING OF MISSIONARY PLANE WASHINGTON (AP) -- A U.S. delegation traveled to Peru over the weekend and is expected to meet Monday with Peruvian officials for discussions about the downing of an American missionary plane in an effort to find ways to prevent similar incidents in the future. Assistant Secretary of State Randy Beers, who heads the State Department's counternarcotics bureau, leads the delegation, spokesman Philip Reeker said Friday. Mr. Reeker said the talks will center on causes of the incident and on measures to prevent a recurrence. Other officials said the delegation also includes representatives from the Pentagon, the CIA and perhaps other agencies, whose identities haven't been disclosed. The talks are expected to start Monday in Lima, said the officials, asking not to be identified. Four senators sent a letter Thursday to Secretary of State Colin Powell asking that discussions with the Peruvians begin as soon as possible. "Otherwise, memories of the participants may begin to fade," they said. "We must take all necessary steps to make certain that such a tragedy does not happen again." The letter was signed by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman, Sen. Jesse Helms (R., N.C.), Sen. Lincoln Chafee (R., R.I.), Sen. Joseph Biden (D., Del.), and Sen. Christopher Dodd (D., Conn.). On April 20, a Peruvian military plane shot down the missionary craft after mistaking it for a drug flight. A U.S. surveillance flight had tracked the single-engine Cessna and alerted the Peruvian Air Force. The Bush administration has said the surveillance plane urged the military craft not to open fire on the Cessna because accumulating evidence suggested that the plane was on an innocent mission. American missionary Veronica Bowers and her seven-month-old daughter were killed when the jet was shot down. Her husband and their six-year-old son survived, as did pilot Kevin Donaldson, who was wounded and has undergone surgery on both legs. The Bush administration has suspended the surveillance flights while the two countries seek ways to avoid a repetition of the incident. - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D