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DATE=4/12/2000 TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT TITLE=U-S / COLOMBIA PLOT (L ONLY) NUMBER=2-261191 BYLINE=DEBORAH TATE DATELINE=WHITE HOUSE CONTENT= VOICED AT: /// See also 2-261186 /// INTRO: The head of U-S drug control operations says Colombian paramilitary groups are plotting to assassinate Colombia's President Andres Pastrana in retaliation for the government's crackdown on their activities. Mr. Pastrana - visiting Washington Tuesday - is playing down the alleged plots. Correspondent Deborah Tate reports from the White House. TEXT: The U-S Drug Czar, Retired General Barry Mcaffrey, speaking to reporters after a meeting with Mr. Pastrana at the White House, said right-wing paramilitaries in Colombia may be - in his words - `the most vicious and violent' in that country today. He says these groups are battling Colombian rebels in a fight over controlling proceeds from drug trafficking. He says paramilitary forces have threatened Mr. Pastrana with death in response to a recent crackdown on their activities. /// MCAFFREY ACTUALITY /// The Colombian armed forces and police committed themselves to going after these groups. They have arrested or killed many of them in recent weeks. The paramilitary forces have responded with an assassination plot to kill President Pastrana. /// END ACT /// Mr. Pastrana, speaking later at a news conference with U-S Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, said he has no evidence about such an alleged plot. /// PASTRANA ACTUALITY /// At this moment, we do not have any information. As you remember some months ago there was a plan to kill us, but we do not at this moment have any information regarding a criminal attempt by the paramilitaries to kill the president of Colombia. /// END ACT /// But Mr. Pastrana acknowledges that paramilitary groups are a problem in Colombia, and he appealed to the U-S Congress to approve one-point-six billion dollars in anti-drug assistance for his country - a package that he said would help his government fight paramilitaries and rebel groups involved in the drug trade. (Signed) NEB/DAT/ENE/gm 11-Apr-2000 17:25 PM EDT (11-Apr-2000 2125 UTC) NNNN Source: Voice of America .