07/30/96
FACT SHEET: AMERICAN LEADERSHIP IN COMBATING TERRORISM
(Clinton has led the campaign to combat terrorism) (670)

Paris -- A Fact Sheet from the July 30 ministerial meeting of the P-8
(the industrialized nations of the world plus Russia) notes that
President Clinton for three years has led an international campaign to
combat terrorism in concert with the P-8 as well as with allies in the
Middle East and elsewhere.

Following is the official text of the Fact Sheet:

(Begin text)

For three years, President Clinton has led an international campaign
to combat terrorism in concert with other leaders of the member
countries of the Eight (the United States, Britain, Canada, France,
Germany, Italy, Japan, and Russia), as well as with allies in the
Middle East and elsewhere.  The president has directed that U.S.
counter-terrorism policy be based on three tenets.  First, the United
States will make no deals with terrorists or submit to blackmail. 
Second, we will treat terrorists as criminals.  Third, we will work to
prevent terrorist acts by bringing maximum pressure on states that
sponsor terrorists through sanctions, by urging other states to do the
same, and by creating a robust anti-terrorism capability.

At home:

-- President Clinton has introduced significant new domestic
counter-terrorism legislation.  The Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death
Penalty Act -- enacted in April -- strengthens our ability to prevent
terrorist acts, identify those who commit such acts, and bring them to
justice.  This year, President Clinton renewed an executive order
blocking assets in the United States of terrorist groups, making it
more difficult for them to finance terrorism.

-- The president announced on July 25 increased security measures at
U.S. airports with a special focus on international flights.  Steps
being taken immediately include more intensive passenger screening on
international flights, and more intensive screening of carry-on
baggage on international and domestic flights.  The Federal Aviation
Administration will implement a number of additional steps, among them
the deployment of state-of-the-art explosives detection systems in
some airports.

At the United Nations:

Last October, at the 50th U.N. General Assembly, President Clinton
called on all nations to join in the fight against the threats to
their citizens' security posed by terrorism, crime, narcotics
trafficking, illicit arms trafficking, and the smuggling of nuclear,
biological and chemical weapons.  The following steps already have
been taken in response to President Clinton's call:

-- In June, the U.N. Crime Commission passed a U.S. co-sponsored
"International Declaration on Crime and Public Security."  The
president proposed this declaration in his speech before the U.N.
General Assembly last October.  If adopted at the U.N. General
Assembly this fall, this declaration would extend world-wide the goals
of regionally-adopted anti-crime and counter-terrorism measures.

-- Regional efforts, which are already bringing results, were launched
at meetings such as the Summit of the Americas (Miami, December 1994)
and the U.S.-EU New Transatlantic Agenda (Madrid, December 1995). 

With Other States:

-- President Clinton imposed an embargo against Iran in May 1995,
depriving it of the benefits of trade and investment with the United
States until it changes its unacceptable behavior.  The administration
continues to work to convince our allies to adopt similar policies,
which will deny Tehran the revenues it needs to finance its support
for terrorism.  Congress has approved Iran/Libya sanctions
legislation, which President Clinton will sign into law shortly.

-- Twenty-nine delegations, including Israel, most Arab countries, and
our European and Japanese allies, pledged support against terrorism at
the "Summit of the Peacemakers" co-hosted by President Clinton and
President Mubarak at Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt in March.

-- Following the Sharm el-Sheikh summit, President Clinton and
then-Israeli Prime Minister Peres signed an agreement in which our two
nations agreed to cooperate on a range of counter-terrorism efforts. 
That agreement called for the formation of a joint counter-terrorism
group, which will bring together policymakers and experts to consider
practical steps to formalize cooperation.

(End text)
NNNN