*EPF402 01/29/2004
White House Strongly Condemns Newest Palestinian Suicide Bombing
(White House Report, Jan. 29: Bombing in Israel, Iraq/WMD, Al-Hurra interview) (740)

White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan denounced the January 29 suicide bombing in Jerusalem that reports say killed ten people and wounded many others.

"We strongly condemn this terrorist attack. These terrorist attacks only undermine the aspirations and hopes of the Palestinian people," McClellan told reporters at his early morning meeting with them, prior to accompanying President Bush on a day trip to New Hampshire and Connecticut.

"We continue to call for a Palestinian prime minister and cabinet that is dedicated to fighting terrorism and dismantling terrorist infrastructure," he said.

"That is the foundation of the president's two state vision. We continue to urge the Palestinian cabinet to take steps to dismantle the terrorist infrastructure. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the victims, this is a terrible terrorist attack, and all parties have a responsibility to fight terrorism and do everything they can to prevent attacks from happening."

"The road map is still the framework for moving forward on the president's two state vision. We will engage with all parties in the region to move forward on the two state solution," McClellan said.

WHITE HOUSE RESPONDS TO KAY TESTIMONY

Asked about David Kay's testimony January 28 before a Senate committee on the inability of the Iraq Survey Group (ISG) to find evidence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, McClellan reminded reporters that the ISG is continuing its investigation.

"Dr. Kay said that the search must continue," McClellan said. Kay resigned as ISG head recently and has been replaced by Charles Duelfer.

"We look forward to the Iraqi Survey Group completing its work and drawing as complete a picture as possible, that is important to the president," McClellan said.

"From the very start of the group, the president has made it clear that the Iraq Survey's Group's Mission is to find the truth the president wants to know as much as possible about what we can learn about Iraq," McClellan said.

"What we do know is that Saddam Hussein's regime had weapons of mass destruction and that he used chemical weapons on his own people. He used chemical weapons on his neighbors. He had a long history of concealment and deception," McClellan said.

"I think that if you look back at Dr. Kay's testimony," McClellan said, "Iraq was in clear violation of the terms of (U.N.) Resolution 1441" that "required that Iraq report its activities," he said. In addition, he said, "we have discovered hundreds of cases, based on both documents, physical evidence, [and] testimony by Iraqis of activities prohibited under the initial U.N. Resolution 687.

"What was known before the war was that Saddam Hussein was a gathering threat and he had a long history of defying the international community and a long history of concealment and deception. He had a long history of weapons of mass destruction and weapons of mass destruction programs," McClellan said.

"Given the history of Saddam Hussein and the events of September 11, we could not afford to rely on his good intentions. Dr. Kay said, 'If you read the total body of intelligence from the last 12 to 15 years on Iraq, I quite frankly think that it would be hard to come to a conclusion other than Iraq was a dangerous and growing threat to the world with regard to WMD,'" McClellan noted.

BUSH GIVES INTERVIEW TO NEW U.S.-SPONSORED ARABIC TV STATION

President Bush was to participate January 29 in an interview with al-Hurra, the new U.S. government-sponsored Arabic language satellite television station, McClellan told reporters at his early morning meeting with them, shortly before the interview was to take place.

The first segment of the interview, he said, will be broadcast February 14, the day the new Arabic language station goes on the air. A transcript of the interview will not be released until after it is broadcast, McClellan told reporters.

The interview, McClellan added, would give President Bush "an opportunity to talk about his commitment to spreading freedom and democracy in the Middle East."

Al-Hurra "helps Americans reach out to audiences in the Arab World and is the newest outlet in the broadcasting board of governors, the organization that runs the Voice of America," McClellan said.

(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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