BIRMINGHAM, Ala., July 25 (Reuters) - A jury retired to consider its verdict on Wednesday in the trial of U.S. coal company Drummond charged with paying right-wing paramilitaries to kill three union leaders at a mine it operates in Colombia.

The case could set a precedent for U.S. companies accused of human rights violations abroad. It is based on a 1789 law that has been revived to sue transnational companies for rights abuses.

"Drummond equated the union with guerrillas. The defendants gave paramilitaries safe haven ... vehicles ... (and) gas. The defendant denied safe haven for the workers," plaintiff's attorney Rusty Johnson told the court on Wednesday.

Johnson said Drummond had a motive for the killings since it believed its trains in northern Colombia were bombed repeatedly by forces allied to the unions.

The privately held Drummond Company Inc., which is based in Alabama, has denied involvement in the 2001 deaths of the three union leaders near the sprawling open pit mine it operates in Colombia.

Drummond gave no support to paramilitaries and was not involved in the killings, said lawyer William Jeffress who disputed testimony presented by the plaintiffs in the trial, which began July 9.

The lawsuit was filed by the International Labor Rights Fund and Pittsburgh-based United Steelworkers union in March 2002 and seeks unspecified damages on behalf of the dead union leaders' families.

The families' lawyers contend that Drummond hired the masked gunmen who killed Colombian union leaders Valmore Locarno and Victor Orcasita in March 2001 and Gustavo Soler seven months later. The three Drummond employees had argued with the mining company over wage and safety issues.

The paramilitary death squads were formed in the 1980s by cattle ranchers and other rich residents of the Andean nation looking for protection from leftist rebels.

They were believed responsible for killing most of the more than 4,000 Colombian union leaders and activists gunned down since 1986. More than 31,000 paramilitaries turned in their guns in the past three years as part of a deal with the government.

Earlier this year, U.S. banana giant Chiquita Brands International Inc. pleaded guilty to paying $1.7 million in protection money to Colombian paramilitaries between 1997 and 2004. That case never went to trial.

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