Pubdate: 15 Oct 1997 Source: Reuters U.S. sees agreement with Panama on antidrug center By Anthony Boadle WASHINGTON (Reuters) The United States and Panama resumed talks Wednesday on creating a multinational antidrug center that would allow U.S. troops to remain after control over the canal passes to Panama at the end of 1999. The State Department said negotiations had advanced but important differences have yet to be ironed out. ``We are cautiously optimistic that an agreement can be reached, but there are still some important questions that need to be worked out,'' State Department spokesman James Rubin said at a daily news briefing. ``We are hoping to achieve an agreement by the end of the year,'' Rubin said. Under Secretary of State for Political and Military Affairs Thomas McNamara is representing the United States at the talks, which will continue Thursday in Washington. U.S. officials said both countries believed the creation of a multinational counternarcotics center would be mutually beneficial. ``The idea is to keep a counternarcotics presence in Panama, because the U.S. bases there have been used for counternarcotics operations, and Panama and other Latin American countries would like to see that go on,'' a State Department spokesman said. ``It is merely a question of how that can be construed and built,'' he added. The initial idea of a multinational antidrug force has been discarded in favor of a coordination center where intelligence on trafficking would be shared and processed. Another plan under discussion is creation of a separate academy for training law enforcement agents from the entire region. The participation of other Latin American nations in the antidrug center would be worked out once agreement has been reached with Panama, U.S. officials said. Under the 1977 Panama Canal Treaties, the United States is to hand over full operational control of the Panama Canal and to withdraw all its troops from the country by Dec. 31, 1999. U.S. officials have estimated it would take about 2,000 soldiers to run and protect the antinarcotics center. Following last month's withdrawal of the U.S. Southern Command to Miami, less that 5,000 U.S. troops remain in Panama, mainly at Howard Air Force Base and Fort Clayton. Copyright 1997 Reuters