DATE=5/25/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=CLINTON-SIERRA LEONE (L)
NUMBER=2-262813
BYLINE=DAVID GOLLUST
DATELINE=WHITE HOUSE
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: President Clinton is promising vigorous U-S
support for United Nations peacekeeping efforts in
Sierra Leone after the death of two foreign
journalists -- including a university acquaintance of
Mr. Clinton -- in a rebel ambush Wednesday. V-O-A's
David Gollust reports from the White House.
TEXT: Mr. Clinton knew Reuters journalist Kurt Schork
in the 1970's when both were in graduate studies at
Britain's Oxford University and said he is deeply
saddened by the news of his death.
In a talk with reporters here, Mr. Clinton hailed the
bravery of Mr. Schork, a U-S citizen and veteran war
correspondent who was killed along with a Spanish
television cameraman in a rebel attack on government
troops northeast of the Sierra Leone capital,
Freetown.
He said the journalists have joined the long list of
civilian victims of Revolutionary United Front rebels,
whom he condemned for abandoning the Sierra Leone
peace agreement concluded with U-S diplomatic help
last year in Lome, Togo:
/// Clinton Act ///
These are just the last in a long line of their
victims, many of whom were innocent children who
had their limbs chopped off. And they had a
chance to participate in a peace process which
was more than generous to them in terms of
giving them an opportunity to walk away from
what they had done. And they didn't take it.
/// End Act ///
Mr. Clinton said the U-N peacekeeping mission in
Sierra Leone "has to prevail" and that he will do
everything he can to support it.
He welcomed Nigeria's promise last week to contribute
additional troops to the U-N effort, and said the
United States is "aggressively committed" to providing
necessary logistical support for the Nigerians and
others taking part in the operation.
In recent days, the United States has airlifted
Bangladeshi and Jordanian troops to Africa to join the
U-N mission. And last week, Mr. Clinton dispatched
his special envoy for Africa -- civil rights leader
Jesse Jackson -- to the region for talks in several
West African states on how to stabilize the Sierra
Leone situation. (Signed)
NEB/DAG/JP
25-May-2000 12:51 PM EDT (25-May-2000 1651 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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