ACCESSION NUMBER:00000
FILE ID:96040201.txt
DATE:04/02/96
TITLE:02-04-96  WHITE HOUSE REPORT, TUESDAY, APRIL 2

TEXT:
(China sanctions, Peres/Mideast, Sister Ortiz)  (570)

NEWS BRIEFING -- Press Secretary Mike McCurry covered these topics:

CHINA MOVE NEAR

McCurry said Secretary of State Warren Christopher is in "the final
stages" of determining the facts about China's asserted transfer of
specialized magnets to Pakistan. The magnets can be used in production
of nuclear fuel for warheads. Under terms of U.S. nuclear
nonproliferation law, economic sanctions could be imposed against
China if Christopher determines such a transfer was made.

McCurry noted the issue has been under consideration inside the
national security community to determine whether Clinton should choose
a particular option once Christopher's finding of fact reaches his
desk. McCurry said Clinton could receive from his national security
team a recommendation to waive imposition of sanctions, but he gave no
indication of what action Clinton might take. He suggested whatever
action Clinton takes would be announced contemporaneously with the
Christopher determination.

PERES STEP DISCUSSED

He told a questioner Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres' decision to
put to referendum a final settlement with the Palestinians is a matter
for the parties to determine. "The parties determine how they
adjudicate the final status issues," McCurry said, "how they deal with
that."

Asked -- in light of Palestinian objections to giving the people of
Israel a voice in the settlement -- if the Peres decision does not
"complicate" the process, McCurry replied: "I don't want to comment on
the process the parties use to arrange" a final resolution.

NUN OFFERED SUPPORT

He said the Ursuline nun tortured and raped by the Guatemalan military
met twice with Nancy Soderberg, President Clinton's deputy assistant
for national security affairs. McCurry said the White House again
pledged to provide to the public all available information about her
case and those of Michael DeVine and Efraim Bamaca.

According to news reports, Sister Dianna Ortiz, 37, is holding a
21-hour a day vigil in Lafayette Park seeking information about U.S.
knowledge of her 1989 kidnapping, torture and gang rape by Guatemalan
death squads. Ortiz, an American citizen, says a man speaking American
English and broken Spanish supervised the episode.

"We are her advocates," McCurry said. "We are on her side." He noted
the administration "is dealing with the actions of a prior
administration." Clinton has assigned the Intelligence Oversight Board
(IOB) to examine the three cases; McCurry said its final report is
expected in the first half of this year.

He said Ortiz met April 1 with board members as well as with Ms.
Soderberg, who also conferred with Ortiz in Lafayette Park. "We've
made it very clear to her that we are on her side," McCurry said,
adding that additional meetings with the nun are to take place this
week. "The president," McCurry said, "is determined to get to the
bottom of her case" as well as those of DeVine, an American citizen
executed by the Guatemalan military, and Bamaca, whose widow, Jennifer
Harbury, staged a series of hunger strikes to gain information about
his death.

Asked why the nun apparently does not believe the assurances, McCurry
said, "I don't know that she disbelieves. She wants to make sure that
those responsible for what she alleges occurred to her are brought to
justice. Her presence in Lafayette Park is testimony to the strength
of her conviction that justice needs to be pursued and the president
shares that conviction."
NNNN