U.S. seeking more money to help Colombia combat kidnappings

WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration is seeking more money from Congress to enhance Colombia's ability to combat terrorist kidnappings and to make police stations less vulnerable to armed attack, a senior official says.

The spending request is part of a plan to broaden American security assistance to Colombia beyond counternarcotics efforts. The cost of the new programs has not been disclosed.

Colombia is the world's kidnapping capital, with more than 3,000 abductions annually. Most are carried out by two leftist rebel groups, the FARC and the ELN. About 120 Americans have been abducted over the past two decades; 18 are dead or presumed to have died.

The senior official, who spoke only on condition of anonymity, said the anti-kidnapping program would aim to enhance the investigative and intelligence capability of specialized police and military units so they can anticipate and prevent kidnappings.

He said the administration also hopes to help Colombia build fortress-like police stations and government-run human rights offices, both frequent targets of terrorist attacks.

The facilities would be built where the government has no police presence or in areas largely controlled by rebel groups. They would be able to resist small arms fire and propane tank mortars, the official said.

Some facilities would be built in a Switzerland-sized area of southern Colombia that President Andres Pastrana began seizing from FARC control last month. He had ceded the territory to the group in 1998 in an attempt to spur peace talks.

The extra money sought by the administration also would pay to help relocate police installations that are near schools and other facilities.

According to the official, the FARC recently placed a car bomb near a police station across the street from an elementary school. The bomb did not go off.

The official disclosed the plans as the administration has been moving to eliminate restrictions that now limit U.S. military aid to Colombia to fighting drugs.

A series of guerrilla-sponsored terrorist acts this year has made many lawmakers far more receptive to the notion that more should be done to help Colombia cope with a myriad of security threats.

But Rep. Ike Skelton of Missouri, the leading Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, is wary about the administration's plan.