This is historical material, "frozen in time." The web site is no longer updated and links to external web sites and some internal pages will not work.

THE WHITE HOUSE

                  Office of the Press Secretary
                         (Lyon, France)
__________________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release                                June 27, 1996

                  REMARKS BY PRESIDENT CLINTON
                 AND PRESIDENT CHIRAC OF FRANCE 
                      IN PHOTO OPPORTUNITY

                         The Prefecture
                          Lyon, France

3:00 P.M. (L)

Q Mr. President, is there any way the tragedy in Saudi Arabia could have been avoided given the history of terrorism in the Middle East, especially in the aftermath of the '83 bombing in Beirut? Why weren't those airmen protected?

PRESIDENT CLINTON: Well, as you know, they were behind a fence that gave them a 35-yard cushion, and the bomb was just bigger than anyone calculated could be gotten in that close to the building.

So I think the casualties were far smaller than they would have been had not the security precautions been taken. But you may be sure that the Defense Department and the others who are in charge of this are reviewing the security operations to see what else should be done, to see if we can even do better in the future.

Is there any indication yet who is responsible for that?

PRESIDENT CLINTON: We're working on it, but I don't want to -- I don't want to announce a conclusion until I know what the facts are. We're working very hard, and so are the Saudis. And I want to thank, I might say if I could, I'd like to thank President Chirac for his expression of condolences and support for the United States. And he said to me -- and I hope that you will have some statement coming out later today.

PRESIDENT CHIRAC: I just want to say to the American press how deeply horrified the French people were at this barbaric act that has been perpetrated in Saudi Arabia. And I can assure you that you have the heartfelt condolences of France to the families of the victims and those who have been wounded and to the American people.

END 3:07 P.M. (L)