BOGOTA – The Colombian government said Thursday that a basing accord between Bogota and Washington can be signed without congressional approval because it does not involve the movement of foreign troops over national territory for offensive purposes.

The argument was made by Foreign Minister Jaime Bermudez and Justice Minister Fabio Valencia during a meeting with leaders of the Senate and the lower house in Bogota.

Though he was scheduled to take part, Defense Minister Gabriel Silva was not present.

The speaker of the lower house, Edgar Gomez, said at the end of the meeting that President Alvaro Uribe’s government believes “the accord does not affect the neutrality of the state, does not imply the movement of (foreign) troops, does not contemplate the passage of military personnel (over national territory) for offensive purposes.”

Therefore, Gomez said, the administration’s stance is that it is not necessary for the accord to be subject to discussion and approval by the legislative branch.

Manuel Vives, chairman of the foreign affairs committee in the lower house, said the basing pact does not require congressional scrutiny because it is merely “the expansion of an already existing accord,” referring to a 1974 treaty on military cooperation.

The government’s position runs counter to the view of the Council of State, a high court that – in a non-binding opinion requested by Uribe and leaked to the press – concluded that the military accord should be reviewed by Congress.

Opposing the basing accord are Colombia’s main opposition parties, the Liberals and the leftist PDA.

The accord – under which the United States will have access to at least seven Colombian military bases, helping its close ally fight drug trafficking and “terrorism” perpetrated by the Andean nation’s leftist rebels – is to be signed Friday in Bogota.

Silva made the announcement in Washington, where he had traveled to meet with U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

Meanwhile, the U.S. ambassador to Colombia, William Brownfield, told reporters that the White House is legally required to send every executive agreement it signs to the foreign relations committees of the Senate and House of Representatives.

He also said the agreement “exclusively” involves bilateral cooperation between Colombia and the United States and that therefore U.S. troops’ actions and missions will pose no threat to other nations’ sovereignty.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gave assurances in this regard in a recent letter sent to her counterparts in South America, Brownfield said.

Since the start of negotiations on the basing deal, other countries in the region – particularly Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia and Brazil – have raised concerns about its potential impact on the sovereignty and security of Colombia’s neighbors.

Venezuela’s socialist leader, Hugo Chavez, a socialist and outspoken critic of U.S. “imperialism,” has gone as far as to say it could spark a war in the region.

But Colombia and the United States say other countries have nothing to fear and that the agreement is necessary after Ecuador this year refused to renew Washington’s lease on an air base used for counter-narcotics operations. EFE