BOGOTA (Reuters) -- Colombia's peace process could collapse and open
                  the way to all-out civil war if the government draws on more military aid
                  from the United States, powerful Marxist rebel chieftains said on Sunday

                  The communique came as President Andres Pastrana travelled to New
                  York to address the United Nations and lobby U.S. officials, increasingly
                  worried by a surge in the long-running insurgency, for more anti-drug and
                  military assistance.

                  The statement by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC),
                  Latin America's largest surviving 1960s rebel army, appeared to rebuff
                  Pastrana's latest bid over the weekend to kick-start peace negotiations,
                  stalled since mid-July. Before departing for New York, Pastrana dropped
                  his demand for the creation of an international team of monitors to oversee
                  talks -- a condition the FARC had fiercely opposed.

                  "The alliance between Pastrana and the United States to step up the war
                  against the FARC, under the pretext of fighting drug trafficking, casts doubt
                  on the government's will for peace," said the statement signed by the
                  FARC's ruling seven-man general secretariat, a copy of which was obtained
                  by Reuters.

                  "These factors are not signs of the government's commitment to a
                  long-lasting peace but of a warlike attitude that could lead to a civil war of
                  unforeseeable consequences," it added.

                  Pastrana was due to meet U.S. President Bill Clinton in New York on
                  Tuesday and hold talks with an array of U.S. officials on the sidelines of the
                  U.N. general assembly on Monday.

                  U.S. officials have repeatedly accused the FARC of stalling tactics in the
                  peace process that was launched without any prior ceasefire deal in January.
                  They have urged Pastrana to use a "carrot and stick" approach to end the
                  guerrilla uprising that has claimed 35,000 lives in the last 10 years.

                  Pastrana pledged to build up the army, weakened by a series of devastating
                  guerrilla strikes over the last three years, and prepare it for peace or war. He
                  requested some $500 million in military aid for that purpose.

                  Washington, however, called for Pastrana to present an integrated economic
                  and political strategy to pull Colombia out of its worst recession in more than
                  50 years and bring an end to the civil conflict before it contemplates an
                  increase in aid, already set at $280 million this year.

                  Many U.S. officials have signalled alarm at the FARC's growing military
                  strength and their close links to the drug trade. White House anti-drug
                  director Barry McCaffrey urged a sharp increase in U.S. aid to South
                  America in 2000 and indicated some $600 million could be donated to
                  Colombia.

                  In its eight-point document made public on Sunday, the FARC said
                  Pastrana's failure to crack down on illegal, ultra-right death squads or to cut
                  a deal to release jailed guerrillas were also obstacles to restarting peace
                  negotiations.

                  Pastrana said on Saturday he hoped peace talks could restart soon after he
                  dropped his insistence on a so-called international verification committee to
                  oversee negotiations. In late July Pastrana described talks without
                  verification as a "sterile exercise."

                  Critics were likely to interpret the move as Pastrana's latest climbdown in a
                  series of sweeping concessions that failed to force the FARC to soften its
                  stance.

                  According to recent opinion polls, most ordinary Colombians believe
                  Pastrana was mishandling the peace process and doubt talks will encourage
                  the FARC to end its radical demands for a socialist regime.

                  Military authorities said the FARC was using a Switzerland-sized zone in the
                  southeast, which Pastrana cleared of security forces as a forum for talks, as
                  a springboard for attacks around the country and as the centre of a
                  drugs-for-arms smuggling racket.

                  The FARC itself has said it will try to take power by force if it fails to win its
                  demands at the peace table.