Mr. Marulanda suggested that the two speak about the government's efforts against right-wing death squads, the state of the peace talks and the large United States aid package aimed at curtailing Colombia's coca crop, Mr. Cano told reporters.
Michael Shifter, a Colombia expert at the Inter-American Dialogue, a research group in Washington, said administration officials' insistence on the immunity issue was jeopardizing relations with a nation that received more than $2 billion in United States aid over the last three years, becoming the third-largest recipient in the world.
Mindful of Egypt's status as the second leading recipient of United States aid, after Israel, Mubarak reaffirmed his country's commitment to the 1979 peace treaty with Israel and set to work behind the scenes as a mediator in the continuing quest for Middle East peace.
The Americo-Liberian elite that ruled the country long enjoyed a special relationship with the United States, sending their young to attend school in this country, welcoming American business interests, benefiting handsomely from United States aid.
A United States aid contractor is to go on trial Friday for crimes against the state in a case that could put him in prison for 20 years.
Myanmar remained ineligible for most forms of United States aid.
The amount is largely symbolic, since Colombia receives about $800 million in United States aid.
United States aid dollars increasingly go to countries that use them and don't blow them.
Washington has obtained such deals from 21 nations, mainly poor countries dependent on United States aid.
Some 24,000 civilians have gathered in the bush in Lakes States, aid workers said.
American troops were sent recently to the Philippines, whose armed forces depend on United States aid.
