ACCESSION NUMBER:382678

FILE ID:PO1502

DATE:03/10/95

TITLE:WHITE HOUSE REPORT, FRIDAY, MARCH 10 (03/10/95)

TEXT:*95031002.PO1

WHITE HOUSE REPORT, FRIDAY, MARCH 10

(Bosnia, Mexico, Mubarak) (500)

NEWS BRIEFING -- Press Secretary Mike McCurry discussed the following

topics:



CLINTON NOT SWAYED BY CIA REPORT ON BOSNIA

McCurry replied, "No," when asked if the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)

report on Serb atrocities in Bosnia had given Clinton second thoughts about

granting concessions to Belgrade.



"It has underscored his determination," McCurry said of the report, "that

these crimes be prosecuted by the International War Crimes Tribunal."  The

report attributed 90 percent of the ethnic cleansing in Bosnia to Serbs in

Pale and Belgrade, saying the "systematic nature of the Serbian actions

strongly suggests" that Serbs in Bosnia and Serbia "exercised a carefully

veiled role in the purposeful destruction and dispersal of non-Serb

populations."  It said there is no "conclusive evidence" of involvement by

Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic or Bosnian-Serb leader Radovan

Karadzic.



McCurry said the report stiffened Clinton's determination to accelerate and

invigorate the "diplomacy that can bring this conflict to an end.  That was

the purpose of Assistant Secretary (Richard) Holbrooke's visit with

Milosevic recently, and it is the reason why we continue to press for

measures that would get Milosevic and Serbia-Montenegro on the side of the

kinds of solutions about the conflict" that have been outlined by the

Contact Group.  The group has proposed conditional lifting of some

sanctions against Belgrade if Milosevic recognizes the territorial

integrity of Bosnia.



MEXICAN AUSTERITY PLAN BACKED

McCurry told a questioner that Washington welcomes "the tough monetary and

fiscal measures that were announced by the government of Mexico last night.

 They demonstrate Mexico's resolve to restore financial stability and to

restore  confidence in the markets.  The measures demonstrate Mexico's

willingness to take necessary -- although we acknowledge painful -- steps

to put itself back on the road to long-term economic health.  We believe

our help and that of other international financial institutions will be

critical to Mexico's economic recovery."

1

Noting that Mexico was authorized to draw on $3,000 million from the

Treasury Department immediately, he added, "It is in our interest that

Mexico, with this assistance, move forward with plans and reforms that can

contribute to long-term stability."



MUBARAK VISIT PLANNED

McCurry said Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak will come to Washington in

early April for discussions with President Clinton on the Middle East peace

process as well as bilateral and regional issues.



He said among other things the two presidents will discuss the U.S.-Egypt

Joint Committee for Economic Growth, which the vice president will

inaugurate during his March 19-24 trip to the Middle East.



Gore and Mubarak will participate in the committee's first meeting, in

Cairo.  Formation of the group was announced last September.  It aims to

become "a high-level vehicle for deepening the focus" of the

Washington-Cairo partnership for sustainable development.  Gore intends to

visit Jordan, Israel, Saudi Arabia and Oman, and to meet with Yasser Arafat

of the Palestine Liberation Organization.



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