Americans Feared Held By Rebels
Hundreds of Colombian soldiers and U.S.-donated Black Hawk
helicopters scoured rebel territory Saturday for three Americans
allegedly kidnapped by a rebel group after their plane crashed
while on an intelligence-gathering mission, the army said.

Rebels shot and killed a fourth American and a Colombian army
sergeant who were also on the plane, according to Gen. Jorge Mora,
the country's top military commander.
The American aircraft, A Cessna Caravan 695, was on an
reconnaisance mission when it went down Thursday in a
drug-producing area of Colombia crawling with fighters from the
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). The pilot of the
large, single-engine airplane reported engine trouble shortly
before the crash.
Casualties Of The War On Drugs?
The United States has pumped almost $2 billion in mostly
military aid into Colombia in the past three years, support the
FARC calls an act of war. The rebels have recently threatened to
target American officials and interests.
Colombia's government has long favored a stronger U.S. role
here. Analysts speculated Saturday that officials may use the
killing and kidnapping of the Americans - along with two deadly
bomb explosions blamed on the rebels - to lobby for even more help
from Washington.
The State Department said it had "reliable information" the FARC
had kidnapped the three surviving Americans from wreckage of the
Caravan. The 16,000-strong rebel group is waging a 38-year civil
war against the Colombian government.
Soldiers, Helicopters Join The Search
On Saturday, 1,000 Colombian soldiers assisted by
American-made helicopter gunships (right) - normally reserved
for drug-fighting missions - searched for the Americans near the
village of Doncello in Caqueta province, 210 miles south of the
capital, Bogota, according to army commander Gen. Carlos Alberto
Ospina.
U.S. officials were also nearby, giving Colombian authorities
logistical support and intelligence information in hopes of finding
the downed crewmen, said Ospina.
The names of the Americans have not been released. An official
at the American Embassy declined to comment on the search.
A Harbinger Of The Battle To Come?
Most of the U.S. military aid has been aimed at fighting the
drug trade, which provides a huge source of income for both rebels
and rival right-wing militias. Restrictions on that aid were
recently lifted, allowing Colombia to use it to fight the
rebels.
Washington stepped up its involvement in the country's civil
conflict last month, sending U.S. Army special forces soldiers to
train Colombian troops to fight insurgents in a violent eastern
province.
President George W. Bush recently asked Congress for more than
$500 million in more aid for Colombia. Recent events could bolster
Colombia's argument for more help.
"They'll make the case that this is a critical moment," said
Michael Shifter of the Inter-American Dialogue in Washington.
New Surge Of Violence
In recent days, Colombia has been rocked by some of the worst
violence that country has seen in recent memory. On Feb. 7,
suspected FARC fighters detonated a bomb inside a prestigious
social club in Bogota, killing 35 people and injuring more than 100
others.
Early Friday, 17 others were killed when a bomb
exploded inside a house located under the flight path of planes
landing at the airport in Neiva, about 250 miles south of
Bogota.
FARC fighters had planted the explosives in the house and were
planning to blow President Alvaro Uribe's plane out of the sky when
it landed at the airport for a scheduled visit, authorities
said.
Police were tipped off to the assassination plot and were
searching the house Friday morning when the bomb exploded. It was
not clear what touched off the blast.
After arriving in Neiva around midnight Friday, Uribe (seated,
right) visited with family members of the victims and later called
the rebels "cowards."
"They're not capable of confronting the state head on," said
Uribe. "They continue with this cowardly terrorism."