U.S. Troops Not Needed to Battle Drug Traffickers, Colombian Leader Tells Bush

President Virgilio Barco of Colombia told President Bush by telephone Monday night that U.S. troops are not needed to help him fight drug trafficking in his violence-wracked country, the White House said.

Barco indicated that he had read “press speculation about the use of U.S. troops in Colombia,” White House Press Secretary Marlin Fitzwater said in a written statement. He was referring to suggestions by Atty. Gen. Dick Thornburgh that the United States would be willing to deploy troops in Colombia in the wake of the assassination of a leading presidential candidate there.

Fitzwater said that Bush called Barco from his vacation home here at 8:06 p.m. to express condolences over the death of Sen. Luis Carlos Galan, who was gunned down Friday in what was believed to be an attack related to the government’s anti-drug efforts.

Bush was said to have offered Barco U.S. willingness to “render appropriate assistance as rapidly as possible” while expressing admiration for Barco’s efforts “to restore law and order.”

“He (Barco) affirmed to the President that U.S. troops would not be necessary,” Fitzwater said.

Shortly after Galan was assassinated, Barco reinstituted a suspended extradition treaty with the United States in a stepped-up effort to send drug suspects to this country for legal action.

On Saturday, Bush had offered “expeditious” U.S. assistance to Colombia in fighting the narcotics traffickers believed responsible for the slaying. On Sunday, Thornburgh--asked in a television interview about dispatching U.S. troops to help Colombia fight the violent drug cartels--replied:

“Well, that’s an option that certainly has to be considered. We’re rightfully considerate of the sovereignty questions involved--not imposing ourselves on that country. . . . (But) we stand ready to help.

“If in Colombia they feel, hypothetically, that they may have reached the point where they can no longer operate under the rule of law and have to use the rule of force, then they’re going to require all the help they need against internal threats from the drug traffickers.”

Earlier Monday, President Bush completed work on a $7.5-billion to $8-billion proposal to attack the nation’s drug crisis. He also met with John H. Sununu, the White House chief of staff, and Deputy National Security Adviser Robert M. Gates.

The President will disclose details of the anti-drug program at 6 p.m. PDT Sept. 5 in his first televised address to the nation.

Completion of his work on the program, which is said to shift the anti-drug focus to users of narcotics and away from border interdiction programs, will allow officials in Washington to prepare final budgetary aspects of the proposal.

Administration officials, who have portrayed the drug program as a $1-billion increase in current spending for anti-narcotics efforts, have been reluctant to offer details on where the additional funding would be found, although they maintain that the programs will be financed by trimming other areas of federal spending and will not require additional revenues.

After his meeting with the President, Sununu talked to reporters. He declined to comment on reports that the Revolutionary Justice Organization, a pro-Iranian group, has threatened to harm American hostages it says it holds in Lebanon if the United States does not pressure France to pull back warships dispatched to the coast of Lebanon to protect French citizens.

“We are not going to react to each new threat,” Sununu said, adding that the United States wants to avoid drawing attention to the hostages. “We hold the hostage-takers responsible for the safety of all the hostages,” he declared.

Asked about the Administration’s reading of the Cabinet realignment taking place in Iran, the chief of staff said that senior aides chosen by newly elected President Hashemi Rafsanjani are seen as giving the government a more moderate direction.

“There is no clear message as to how that will work out and we want to do nothing that will be considered trying to indicate a preference one way or the other,” Sununu said. “We wait to see what steps will flow from the reorganization.”

Bush played golf Monday for the fourth time in five days. Although his score remained secret, one of his companions, son George W. Bush, reported that after nine holes, the President had shot a 42.