DATE=11/30/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=CLINTON - RUSSIA (L)
NUMBER=2-256675
BYLINE=DEBORAH TATE
DATELINE=WHITE HOUSE
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:


INTRO:  President Clinton says he does not believe U-S 
policy toward Moscow should be affected by new 
allegations of espionage in the United States and 
Russia.  Correspondent Deborah Tate reports from the 
White House.

TEXT:  A day after U-S officials charged a Navy petty 
officer passed classified information to Russia, 
Russian authorities say a U-S diplomat in Moscow was 
detained for illegally gathering secret military 
information.

Mr. Clinton responded to the latest allegation of 
espionage after delivering a statement to a group of 
parents and children about a plan to assist families 
with the birth a child.

            // CLINTON ACT //

      We should investigate this case, as we do all 
      others, but I do not think we should stop our 
      efforts to try to drastically cut nuclear 
      weapons, or end corruption in Russia, or do all 
      the other things we are supporting.

            // END ACT //
 
U-S officials say Petty Officer First Class Daniel 
King, who had been assigned to the Navy's 
communications decoding unit at Fort Meade, Maryland, 
is awaiting a military hearing after admitting he had 
passed secrets to the Russians in 1994.

In Moscow, the second secretary in the U-S Embassy's 
political section, Cheri Leberknight, was briefly 
detained Monday after what Russian officials say was 
an effort to obtain classified information from a 
Russian citizen.   (SIGNED)

NEB/DAT/RAE



30-Nov-1999 13:28 PM EDT (30-Nov-1999 1828 UTC)
NNNN

Source: Voice of America
.