U.S. Vents Its Frustration Over Saudi Bombing Probe

WASHINGTON â€”  Months of U.S. frustration over Saudi Arabia’s failure to cooperate with U.S. investigators in the June bombing of an American military complex in Dhahran burst into the open Thursday as Atty. Gen. Janet Reno accused the kingdom of withholding crucial information.

“The Saudi government has not furnished us with some very important information,� Reno said at her weekly news conference. “It’s important in any investigation to have full information in order to assess what action should be taken.�

Reno’s remarks, echoing similar comments by FBI Director Louis J. Freeh on Wednesday, were calculated to turn up the pressure on the Saudis by making the dispute increasingly public.

U.S. law enforcement officials have complained about Saudi investigative methods since shortly after the blast that killed 19 U.S. service personnel.

But before this week, the Clinton administration had scrupulously avoided public criticism of the kingdom, which is a crucial U.S. ally in the strategic Persian Gulf region.

Although the White House continued to refrain from comment Thursday, a State Department spokesman emphasized that Reno and Freeh were speaking for the administration.

“They both spoke for the U.S. government,� spokesman Nicholas Burns said.

At the Pentagon, spokesman Kenneth Bacon said the U.S. view of the case was “expressed very clearly by the director of the FBI.�

Reno said Freeh has been repeatedly rebuffed in his attempts to get complete information out of the secretive Saudi police establishment.

Freeh traveled to the kingdom three times last year to discuss the case with Saudi officials. Although he received some evidence each time, Reno said, the cooperation fell far short of what was needed.

Freeh struck the first blow Wednesday when he told editors and reporters at the Washington Post: “I don’t have enough information to make strong findings or conclusions.�

Although neither Reno nor Freeh would specify the missing information, other U.S. officials said the FBI wants to conduct independent interviews with about 40 suspects detained by the Saudis.

Access to Saudi suspects has been a sensitive issue between the two countries since late 1995, when Saudi police obtained confessions from four Saudi citizens accused of a car bombing in Riyadh that killed five Americans and two Indians.

The four were beheaded before FBI agents were allowed to talk to them, creating suspicions that the men might have been railroaded to allow the Saudi authorities to close the case.

The suspects in the June bombing of the Khobar Towers military housing block are described as Saudi Shiites with close ties to Iran.

Administration officials have suggested strongly that, if the Iranian government was involved in the attack, Washington would retaliate in military fashion. But the United States would need conclusive proof before using force.

U.S. officials have also said privately they are concerned the Saudi government might try to link the bombing to a foreign government to avoid having to acknowledge that Saudi dissidents are well enough organized to have carried it out.

At the White House, Press Secretary Mike McCurry sought Thursday to avoid an open break with Saudi Arabia.

“The important thing here is to continue working with the Saudi government on an investigation that matters to the president and matters to the American people,� he said.