Sept. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Colombia's President Alvaro Uribe urged the U.S. Congress to maintain support for the Andean nation's war against guerrillas and drug traffickers, saying the government's military and political campaign is making progress.

``We've made huge advances that merit continued U.S. backing for Colombia in the war on drugs,'' Uribe said in an interview in New York at the residence of the country's Ambassador to the United Nations. ``Don't hurt this ally you have in South America.''

Uribe, 55, is seeking to head off challenges to continued war funding in Congress from critics who argue that billions of dollars spent on Plan Colombia, as the aid program is known, have failed to reduce illicit crops and cocaine production. The Andean nation gets more U.S. aid than any country outside the Middle East and Afghanistan.

Uribe said approval by the House Ways and Means Committee of Peru's free trade accord provides ``hope'' for Colombia's and called on Democratic Party leaders to visit. Many U.S. lawmakers say Colombia hasn't made enough progress in reducing violence, including murders of labor union leaders.

``If you just visit Colombia it will dispel any lingering doubt,'' he said. ``We are not yet in paradise, but four years ago we were in hell.''

Fumigation

The debate over Plan Colombia comes as government troops since July arrested two powerful traffickers in the biggest blow to Colombia's drug industry in more than a decade. The military also killed a commander of the biggest drug-financed guerrilla group and critically injured another.

``It's time to support Plan Colombia, not cut it,'' said Daniel Linsker, who heads the Americas desk for Control Risks, a London-based business risk consulting company. ``It has been very successful but people are impatient for results.''

Uribe is seeking about $600 million annually. As well as fumigating coca crops, the funding, which began in 2000 under President Bill Clinton, has helped train special anti-terrorist forces, supplied helicopters to drop forces into Colombia's thick jungles and helped support intelligence gathering, vital to capturing drug traffickers.

Arrests

``Support from the international community is without a doubt fundamental for the fight against the crime of international drug trafficking,'' said Interior Minister Carlos Holguin in response to e-mailed questions. ``The volume of capital that moves in the crime of drug trafficking makes it impossible for any country to confront it with only its own resources.''

Security forces on Sept. 10 captured drug trafficker Diego Montoya, known as Don Diego, one of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's 10-most wanted fugitives. Montoya, found in his underpants hiding in a pile of leaves, was one of the heads of the Norte del Valle cartel in western Colombia and wanted for extradition by the U.S.

That followed last month's arrest in Brazil of Juan Carlos Ramirez Abadia, known as Chupeta, wanted in the U.S. for smuggling more than $10 billion of cocaine into the country.

Colombian officials called the operations their biggest drug war busts since they killed drug baron Pablo Escobar in 1993.

`Improvement'

Since his election in 2002, Uribe has cracked down on drug- funded rebel groups that have terrorized Colombians for more than four decades. The campaign has cut kidnappings by 88 percent and homicides by 60 percent, according to government figures. Improved security on the roads has helped attract foreign investment and boost economic growth to more than 8 percent, the fastest in almost three decades.

``A lot of the money went for training and equipment for security forces, anti-kidnapping units and police forces,'' said Michael Shifter, vice-president for policy at the Inter-American Dialogue in Washington. ``The U.S. doesn't deserve most of the credit but it contributed because it helped underwrite the training of security forces and police.''

Critics of Plan Colombia have called for a reduction in aid and a shift in funding from counter-narcotics to social and economic development they say may better cut coca production.

After seven years of spraying, the coca crop increased in the last two years, rising to 157,200 hectares last year from 136,200 hectares when the program began, according to U.S. government figures. Separate figures by UN count coca crops at 79,000 hectares, down from 163,300 hectares in the same period.

Cocaine Price

Uribe said the price of cocaine in the U.S. has jumped and purity is down in part because of fumigation and manual eradication of the crop.

Holguin said a reduction in outside funding for aerial fumigation would force the government to shift money from social programs to pay for operations.

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, the biggest rebel group, suffered a blow to its drugs funding this month when troops killed Tomas Medina, alias Negro Acacio, after informers reported his location. Acacio, a member of the FARC's high command who controlled the rebels' drug operations was long sought by the U.S. for extradition.

``Morale wise they are weakened significantly after this,'' said Linsker. ``And as far as the U.S. is concerned, it cannot afford to lose Colombian support in Latin America that would be a massive blow to the U.S. in the region.''

To contact the reporter on this story: Helen Murphy in Bogota at hmurphy1@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: September 26, 2007 16:45 EDT