Source: Chicago Tribune (IL) Contact: http://www.chicago.tribune.com/ Pubdate: Tue, 20 July 1998 CANAL ZONE TALKS WITH U.S. FALTER PANAMA CITY, PANAMA -- The U.S. and Panama probably will abandon plans for an international anti-drug center in the Panama Canal Zone, ending more than 90 years of a U.S. military presence here, political analysts said Sunday. Their observations came a day after U.S. and Panamanian officials said they stalemated on the deal, which would extend a role for U.S. troops beyond Dec. 31, 1999, when Panama assumes full control of the waterway. "I believe they are just letting it down softly, trying to not make a major issue of it," analyst Roberto Eisenmann said. "I believe it is finished because . . . the MCC (Multilateral Counter-narcotics Center) can easily be established in Florida or Georgia and be as effective as it would be in another country," Eisenmann said. - --- Checked-by: (Joel W. Johnson)