DATE=3/22/02

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

NUMBER=2-287885

TITLE=BUSH / PERU OVERNIGHTER (S)

BYLINE=SCOTT STEARNS

DATELINE=MONTERREY

CONTENT:

VOICED AT:

///EDS: THE PRESIDENT'S EXPECTED ARRIVAL TIME IN LIMA IS 2:45 PM ET SATURDAY.///

INTRO: President Bush arrives in Peru Saturday amidst heightened security following a bomb blast in the capital that killed nine people. V-O-A's Scott Stearns reports, Mr. Bush will meet with Andean leaders to discuss expanding free trade.

TEXT: More than 20-thousand Peruvian police are on their highest state of alert ahead of the president's visit. Four Peruvian Air Force MIG-29s will escort Air Force One on its approach to Lima where air space will be restricted during the president's stay.

The extra security precautions follow a bomb blast near the U-S embassy Wednesday that killed nine people and wounded more than 30. Peru's Interior Minister says investigators are considering whether Colombian rebels might be behind the blast.

President Bush says those rebels are part of a terrorist organization, and he is asking Congress to lift limits on U-S military aid to Colombia so it can be used to fight them. That assistance is currently restricted to anti-drug efforts.

Mr. Bush will also discuss Peruvian efforts to stop cocaine smuggling into the United States. There will be no decision on resuming a program to shoot down small planes suspected of carrying narcotics after two Americans were killed last year when their plane was mistakenly fired-on by the Peruvian Air Force. (SIGNED)

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