USA: ALBRIGHT & COHEN AFRICAN BOMB ATTACKS PRESS CONFERENCE

(9 Aug 1998) English/Nat The United States on Sunday displayed a united and determined front amongst its political big guns, vowing to hunt down those responsible for Friday's bomb attacks on U-S embassies in Africa. The U-S secretaries of State and Defence both said the U-S will not rest until those responsible are brought to justice for the deaths and injuries that occurred in Kenya and Tanzania. Bill Clinton's tough talking National Security Advisor Sandy Berger said America does not "forgive or forget". U-S Secretary of State Madeleine Albright reaffirmed U-S commitment to bringing to justice those responsible for the car bomb attacks on the American embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam. Survivors continue to be unearthed from the rubble, but the death toll in Nairobi has reached 190, with an estimated four thousand people injured. She refused to speculate on the identities or nationalities of those who carried out the attacks, but said the United States was determined to bring the perpetrators to justice no matter how long it took. SOUNDBITE: (English) "Terrorism is a global threat. We are all subjected to it in some form or another. The international community is united in dealing with the threat of terrorism and we will investigate, the memory of the United States is long and our reach is far and we will bring to justice those who have perpetrated these horrendous acts" SUPER CAPTION: Madeleine Albright, US Secretary of State The U-S investigation of the bombings began right away and involved F-B-I teams that arrived in Africa on Saturday. The intelligence operation, headed by the U-S, is being conducted in cooperation with various other countries. While there are many rumours as to who carried out the devastating attacks, the U-S Secretary of Defence would not be drawn on who might be behind the terrorist acts. He did however echo Madeleine Albright's determination to catch the terrorists responsible. SOUNDBITE: (English) "I really can't comment on suspects at this point. We're following all information that we have available. As President Clinton has indicated we are going to conduct an intensive, unending and unyielding investigation to bring the perpetrator to justice" SUPER CAPTION: William Cohen, US Secretary of Defence The National Security Advisor Sandy Berger admitted that it was impossible to foil such daring and spectacular terrorist attacks, but said improvements to U-S foreign facilities would help. He made reference to an apparent lack of funding in this area but declined to elaborate. He cited the successful four year man hunt for a man who killed two C-I-A agents as an example of American zeal and commitment. SOUNDBITE: (English) "Well there is no perfect deterrent certainly, obviously the security of our facilities is important, we've tried to increase security at our facilities, if we had more money we would do more, but we've done a great deal, but I think when individuals see that after, for example, after four years, Mr Kansi (Mir Amal Kansi), who murdered two CIA agents out of Virginia, was tracked down half way around the world and brought back to justice, they'll understand there is no place to hide. We don't forgive and we don't forget" SUPER CAPTION: Sandy Berger, National Security Advisor The combined efforts of all U-S security services, and the input from foreign governments represents an unprecedented hunt for the terrorists responsible for the embassy bombings. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...