U.S. President George W. Bush will ask Congress to continue the support to Plan Colombia in 2008, Thomas Shannon, visiting U.S. Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs, said on Wednesday.

Shannon, who started a visit to Colombia on Monday to discuss the future of U.S. aid, said that the Bush administration would like to continue supporting the program with the same level of funds.

Plan Colombia is a package deal of assistance, which was reached by the U.S. and Colombian governments in June 2000, aimed at helping Colombia stamp out drug dealing in the country. It was then extended to military fields to suppress Colombia's rebel guerillas.

"We will present the 2008 proposal to Congress with a figure of 600 million U.S. dollars, because our aim is to continue sending that amount of money, recognizing that it is up to Congress to approve the budget," he said.

On Tuesday, Colombian President Alvaro Uribe asked the U.S. to maintain Plan Colombia and urged the European Union and other Latin American nations to join the project.

"Colombia needs U.S. help as an expression of joint responsibility in destroying drugs," Uribe said.

Source: Xinhua