Colombia's newly appointed ambassador to the United States said Tuesday he will ask Washington for more aid to combat drug trafficking and warned that Colombian cocaine cartels are forging ties with terrorist groups around the world.

Former President Andres Pastrana insisted global terrorism cannot be defeated until authorities remove one of its biggest sources of funding: "Terrorism around the world is financed by drugs."

Colombian drug traffickers have formed alliances with mafia organizations in Russia, Spain and other European countries, he said in an interview with The Associated Press at his Bogota offices, a day after he was named his country's next envoy to Washington.

The former president added that he has no evidence of a direct link between Colombian traffickers and Islamic extremist groups, such as al-Qaida.

As Colombia's president from 1998-2002, Pastrana secured a $4 billion military aid package in 2000 from the United States to wipe out cocaine and heroin production and crush a 41-year-old leftist insurgency largely fueled by the narcotics trade.

Nearly five years later, he described the results of the so-called Plan Colombia as "very successful" and said he was confident the U.S. Congress will provide more funds.