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.
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