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DATE=9/2/1999 TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT TITLE=PANAMA DRUG BASE (L ONLY) NUMBER=2-253392 BYLINE=GREG FLAKUS DATELINE=PANAMA CITY, PANAMA CONTENT= VOICED AT: INTRO: The new president of Panama, Mireya Moscoso, who was sworn in on Wednesday, has shown little enthusiasm for allowing the United States to maintain an anti-drug-smuggling operation in her country to fill the vacuum left by the departure of the US military from bases in the former canal zone. As V-O- A's Greg Flakus reports from Panama City, however, a small-scale operation may still be considered. TEXT: In her comments to reporters earlier this week, Mireya Moscoso denied having had any talks with U-S officials about maintaining a multilateral drug interdiction center in Panama. She said that if such an agreement did come about, it would have to be approved by Panamanian voters in a referendum. President Moscoso met briefly with U-S Attorney General Janet Reno Thursday but the matter did not come up in their discussion. Before departing, Ms Reno, who was the official U-S representative at the inauguration on Wednesday, issued a statement that said only that the United States and Panama will maintain and deepen their cooperation on law enforcement issues. But one top cabinet officer in the Moscoso government, Minister of Government and Justice Winston Spadafora, has indicated that there is, at least, some possibility of allowing a US operation in Panama to combat drug trafficking. He has stressed, however, that there have been no negotiations yet and it is too early to speculate on what kind of facility might be developed. U-S officials have also made clear that there will be no change in current plans for U-S military withdrawal from Panama. People close to the new government, however, say that one idea that might be considered would be what the U- S military refers to as a forward operating location, or F-O-L. This would consist of an air strip maintained by no more than a dozen military personnel. They would dress in civilian clothes while off site and would stay in local hotels as opposed to living in permanent homes. Flight crews and planes would be brought in from other sites for rotational tours of no more than two or three months. U-S officials have been exploring the possibility of establishing a F-O-L in some other part of Central America because they see the departure from bases in Panama as leaving a large gap in the effort to curtail drug trafficking in the region. /// REST OPTIONAL /// Under the 1977 Panama Canal treaties all of the U-S bases are to be turned over to Panama by the end of this year and most, in fact, have already been turned over. There are currently only a few hundred US military personnel left in Panama, mostly involved in administrative duties related to the transition. US officials failed in efforts to negotiate an agreement with the previous government of President Ernesto Perez Balladares to maintain a small US anti- narcotics base in Panama. The planes that once flew out of Panama bases to patrol for drug smugglers are now operating out of F-O-Ls established in Aruba, Curacao and Ecuador. (Signed) NEB/GF/TVM/gm 02-Sep-1999 16:27 PM EDT (02-Sep-1999 2027 UTC) NNNN Source: Voice of America .