WORLD : U.S. Aid in Colombia Raid Told

NEW YORK — U.S. forces were involved in the December air assault in Colombia that led to the death of fugitive drug lord Jose Gonzalo Rodriguez Gacha, Newsday reported today.

A small U.S. special operations team planned and carried out the raid with an elite Colombian police unit, the newspaper said, citing a congressional source who was briefed on the mission and an unidentified special operations officer familiar with the raid.

The report came one day after President Bush denied that U.S. troops were used in Colombia in the attempt to capture Rodriguez Gacha, one of the leaders of the infamous Medellin drug cartel.

Newsday said three other defense sources and a House aide “confirmed that at least three U.S. military personnel took part in the helicopter assault.”