July 6, 1999

STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT

                              THE WHITE HOUSE

                       Office of the Press Secretary
                         (Clarksdale, Mississippi)


For Immediate Release                       July 6, 1999


                        STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT

     I have signed an Executive Order imposing financial and other
commercial sanctions on the Afghan Taliban for its support of Usama bin
Ladin and his terrorist network.  The Taliban has allowed the territory
under its control to be used as a safe haven and base of operations for
Usama bin Ladin and the
Al Qaida organization, who were responsible for the bombings of our
embassies in Nairobi, Kenya and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania last year,
murdering 12 Americans, nearly 300 Kenyans and Tanzanians and wounding
another 5,000.  To this day, bin Ladin and his network continue to plan new
attacks against Americans, without regard for the innocence of their
intended victims or for those non-Americans who might get in the way of his
attack.  The United States has tried repeatedly, directly and working with
other governments, to persuade the Taliban to expel bin Ladin to the United
States for trial or, if that is not possible, to a third country where he
will face justice for his crimes, and to end the safe haven it gives to bin
Ladin?s network, which lives and trains in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.
These efforts have failed.  The Executive Order I have signed will deepen
the international isolation of the Taliban, limit its ability to support
terrorist networks and demonstrate the need to conform to accepted norms of
international behavior.  The Order does not affect humanitarian aid, food
and medical supplies for civilian use.  It is not aimed at the people of
Afghanistan, but at the Taliban.  Those who nurture terrorism must
understand that we will not stand by while those whom they protect target
Americans.


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