Index

Attorney General Reno's Weekly Press Conference, Dec. 7


Q: Ms. Reno, do you know how U.S. law enforcement will - what their
involvement or noninvolvement will be in monitoring the trial in Yemen
of the defendants there? I mean, is there anything in the Memorandum
of Understanding that you know about that provides further access to
this trial or anything like that?

ATTY GEN. RENO: I think it would be more appropriate for the people
who were there to comment on the ground.

Q: How closely are you involved in decision-making as it relates to
Yemen?

ATTY GEN. RENO: I follow it daily.

Q: You follow it, but are you - do you call the shots; or does the
Bureau call the shots in this investigation, or how does it work,
given that it's an international --

ATTY GEN. RENO: What we try to do in situations like this is recognize
that the chief of mission, the Ambassador, is the person representing
the government in the country involved; that the FBI works closely
with the Ambassador; that where decisions involving issues that the
Attorney General should confront, I address those, but that it is a
State Department issue with respect to the Ambassador and a law
enforcement issue with respect to the Bureau.

Q: But with respect to the trial, wouldn't it be a Justice Department
issue to determine whether or not prosecutors would be - whether you
would seek to have him sit in on the trial; whether you would seek to
have them participate in a Yemeni trial?

ATTY GEN. RENO: Again, these are matters that the Ambassador should
comment on. And we want to try to work together with everybody to make
sure that we - to make sure that people are brought to justice
appropriately.