Paraguay official says U.S. agents in his country The Associated Press 9/19/01 7:48 PM

ASUNCION, Paraguay (AP) -- Forty FBI agents have traveled to a Paraguan city in a border area that has fallen under suspicion as a transit point for shadowy groups, Paraguay's foreign minister said Wednesday.

Jose Antonio Moreno said the agents arrived the last two days to conduct inquiries. He didn't elaborate further, but Paraguay has expressed solidarity with the U.S. government after last week's terrorist attacks in the United States and offered its support.

Moreno said the agents traveled to Ciudad del Este, on Paraguay's eastern border with Brazil, a major trading point 240 miles east of the capital of Asuncion.

The city is in a border region with Argentina and Brazil. Community leaders have vehemently rejected allegations that criminal groups or mafias might have sought shelter or financial support there.

Ciudad del Este bustles with shops and businesses, many operated by people of Asian or Arabic descent.

http://www.nj.com/newsflash/index.ssf?/cgi-free/getstory_ssf.cgi?a0841_BC_Attacks-Paraguay&&news&newsflash-international

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), September 20, 2001