10 August 1998

ALBRIGHT TO ESCORT HOME THE AMERICAN DEAD OF THE NAIROBI BOMBING

(SecState offers $2 million reward for leads to bombers)  (760)

By Jane A. Morse

USIA Diplomatic Correspondent



Washington -- Secretary of State Albright paid tribute to the 12 US
Embassy employees killed in the August 7 bombing of the Embassy in
Nairobi, Kenya and said she will fly to Germany to escort home the
bodies of the Americans killed in the blast.


The Secretary said she will also visit the injured now hospitalized in
medical facilities in Germany.


Speaking August 10 to State Department employees in the Dean Acheson
Auditorium, Albright said the immediate focus of US efforts will be to
aid the survivors and their families and to comfort the families of
the dead.


But the Secretary also vowed that the "despicable cowards" responsible
for the bombings would eventually be found, and she announced a reward
of up to $2 million for information leading their arrest and
conviction. She noted that President Clinton has made it "absolutely
clear" that the United States "will not rest" until the perpetrators
are caught.


(A State Department official later told reporters that Albright will
leave for Germany the morning of August 12 and return to Washington on
the same plane with the bodies of the Americans on August 13.
Ceremonies for the deceased will be held at Andrews Air Force Base on
August 13. Albright intends to visit both the Americans and Kenyans
still hospitalized in Germany.)


In honoring these "dedicated professionals," Albright noted that
foreign policy is "not an abstraction carried out by acronyms. She
said that in the final analysis, it is conducted not by nations,
departments or ministries, but by people -- people who go where
comforts are few and dangers are many. By people who promote our
ideals, manage our relationships, distribute our aid, and protect our
citizens. By people who take pride and joy in the challenge and
adventure of representing America to the world."


Albright said she will, at a later date, visit both Kenya and
Tanzania, where the virtually simultaneous blasts killed hundreds of
people and injured thousands more. "We will work with the people and
governments of Tanzania and Kenya to help them deal with their losses,
which we must remember are even greater than ours," the Secretary
said.


Albright praised those "dedicated professionals" who serve American
interests around the world. She speculated that the attacks could have
been motivated by the good done by a country "that is the world's most
powerful defender of freedom and justice and law." Acknowledging the
imperfections of the United States, Albright emphasized that the
United States "stands for the values of tolerance and openness and
pluralism."


Despite the tragedy of the bombings, the United States will not be
intimidated, Albright said. "We will redouble our efforts to build
peace and fight intolerance. We will meet our responsibility to stay
engaged in the world, to keep standing up for values that the
peacemakers cherish and for the future that the bomb throwers fear."


Albright said the Clinton Administration is working on a budget
request to rebuild the damaged embassies and upgrade security at US
posts around the world. But she warned against a "bunker mentality."
Isolation, she said, prevents American diplomats from doing their job.


"What we will do is take all necessary precautions and have our
embassies at the right security levels for the country that they are
in," she said.


There were no Americans killed in Dar es Salaam. The 12 Americans
killed in Nairobi are: Consul General Julian Bartley and his son, Jay
Bartley; Molly Hardy of the Administrative Office; Prabhi Kavaler and
Michelle O'Connor, both of the General Services Office; Tom Shah, of
the Political Section, Jean Dalizu and Army Sergeant Kenneth Hobson,
II, both of the Defense Attache's Office; Arlene Kirk and Air Force
Senior Master Sergeant Sherry Lynn Olds, both of the Military
Assistance Office; Marine Sergeant Jesse N. Aliganga of the Marine
Security Guard detachment, and Louise Martin, of the US Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention.


Edward Gnehm, Director General of the Foreign Service, also spoke at
the August 10 event. He noted that US medical personnel and equipment
were at the sites within hours of the explosions to help both American
diplomats and Foreign Service Nationals (FSNs) employed by the
embassies. A special fund is being established to help FSNs hurt in
the blasts, he said.


Gnehm said the families of the deceased will be brought to Washington,
D.C. to participate in ceremonies to take place with the arrival of
their loved ones.

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