23 August 1999 

State Department Report, August 23, 1999 

(Colombia, East Timor)  (520)

State Department Deputy Spokesman James Foley briefed.

U.S. TO HELP COLOMBIA "IN ANY WAY WE CAN" TO COMBAT DRUG-FINANCED
REBELS

The United States will help "in any way that we can and in any way
that we're asked to help" in Colombia's fight against a rebellion
financed in large part funds from narcotics traffickers, Foley said,
but help will depend on the Colombian government coming up with a
comprehensive strategy.

Long-standing U.S. consultations with the Colombian government
regarding this crisis have intensified in recent weeks with visits to
that country by White House Drug Policy Director Barry McCaffrey and
Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Thomas Pickering.

Foley said Colombia's needs in its battle against the
narcotics-financed rebels are "critical," but he refused to speculate
about what kind of aid the Clinton Administration might provide.

"We're considering a wide gamut of possible areas of assistance, but
any assistance package we do come up with will be heavily weighted
towards counternarcotics," Foley said.

He denied reports that the United States will refuse to pay for
Colombian plans with which it disagrees in that country's efforts to
control the insurgency. "The idea that we're going to try to
micromanage the Colombian Government's counterinsurgency strategy is
wrong," Foley said. "Those are decisions for the Government of
Colombia to make."

Colombia is the third-largest recipient of U.S. aid after Israel and
Egypt. It produces 80 percent of the world's cocaine and about 70
percent of the heroin sent to the United States.

U.S. REMAINS CONCERNED ABOUT SECURITY OF EAST TIMOR VOTE

With the East Timor referendum on independence just days away, the
United State remains concerned about the security of the August 30
vote and the implementation of its results, Foley said.

"We want the vote to be a free and fair vote, an honest reflection of
the will of the people of East Timor, but we want that vote then to be
followed up by a period of peaceful implementation of the results of
that vote," Foley said.

But violence and intimidation by militias remain an ongoing problem,
he said. The United States and the United Nations are urging the
Indonesian Government to provide credible security, Foley said.

The UN Mission in East Timor is authorized to have 280 civilian police
and 50 military liaison officers, the deputy spokesman said. UN
Secretary General Kofi Annan has requested that the civilian police be
increased to 460 and the military liaison officers to 300 strong until
November 30. The United Nations Security Council will vote on his
recommendations on August 27.

"As a practical matter," Foley said, "we don't believe that the
dispatch of armed UN peacekeepers before August 30 is possible at this
point." He added, "in a more fundamental sense, we believe this is the
responsibility of the Government of Indonesia." The United Nations is
in East Timor as the "eyes and ears of the world" and as a sign of
international support for a peaceful election, he said.



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