Panama rules out U.S. role to stem Colombian rebel incursions Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit source - dgrammen@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu Jun 3, 1999 [NOTE: "Panama has no army"! Thanks to the U.S., that is. Now the Panamanians can contract out their security needs to the U.S. Southern Command. -DG] Wednesday, 2 June 1999 Panama rules out U.S. role to stem rebel incursions PANAMA CITY, Panama -- Panama on Wednesday ruled out any role for the United States military to stem Colombian guerrilla incursions into Panama, Panama's Foreign Minister Jorge Ritter said on Wednesday. Instead Panama and Colombia will coordinate efforts to deal with the rebel crossings into Panamanian territory, which have forced hundreds of Panamanians to flee their homes and raised concerns that they could be a pretext for U.S. military action. ``What each of the two countries must do is protect its borders in a way that must be coordinated, but without resorting to joint action, and certainly without resorting to the collaboration or intervention of other countries,'' Ritter told a press conference. Several hundred guerrillas from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) are believed to be hiding in the jungles of the Darien Gap, about 150 miles (250 km) southeast of Panama City on the geographic border between Central America and South America. Villagers have fled recently for fear of clashes between the rebels and Colombian paramilitary forces, who are believed to be offered bounties by private landowners for capturing guerrilla soldiers. Ritter said a plan developed during the Colombian foreign minister's visit to Panama last month had been put into effect on Wednesday. Meetings will be held in each country attended by police, government officials and other organisations, with the respective vice-ministers of foreign relations coordinating the results. The heightened tension in the border region has once again raised questions over the withdrawal of the 96-year United States presence in Panama, which is due to end on Dec. 31 under terms of the Panama Canal treaty. As uncertainty mounts, there have been calls in the local press for United States forces to stay or form part of a three-way committee addressing the issue, but Ritter categorically denied this was a possibility. Panama has no army. The minister added that the guerrilla presence was not a situation Panama could tolerate. ``Panama's interest can never be in tolerating unauthorised incursions into our territory ... that would be to accept that there is no rule of law there, and the Panamanian government will not accept that,'' he said. Copyright 1999 Reuters Limited ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org ================================================================= nytcamer-06.04.99-09:11:55-30418