Panama Rejects Border Patrol by Foreign Forces

Panamanian President Mireya Moscoso said Friday that it is not necessary for foreign military forces to patrol the country's border with Colombia, press reports said on Saturday.

The National Police is taking care of the border with utmost responsibility and it is not necessary to ask for the collaboration of foreign military forces, Moscoso was quoted as saying.

She said some 1,000 policemen will be sent to the border with Colombia to reinforce vigilance in the tense Darien jungle region, where Colombia's guerrilla, paramilitary, drug dealing and criminal groups ransacked and attacked some Panamanian peasant communities in the border area.

The president also confirmed that there were talks with the United States on the establishment of a "legal framework," which will allow "visiting U.S. military forces" to be present in this Central American country.






People's Daily Online --- http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/