Albright Says No Greece, Pakistan Sanctions

Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said Sunday that concerns about terrorism will not lead to sanctions against Greece and Pakistan, no matter what a new congressional report may say.

A congressional panel recommends the United States change the way it tackles terrorism by taking several measures, among them threatening sanctions against states such as Greece and Pakistan and increasing the power of the CIA and Army to act in the United States.

Albright said no sanctions against Greece and Pakistan were on the table. “We are pressing them on” terrorism, she said. “But we are not considering sanctions.”

The National Commission on Terrorism, set up by Congress two years ago in response to bombings of U.S. embassies in East Africa, also suggested relaxing restrictions on the CIA and monitoring all foreign students.

“I obviously haven’t seen the commission report and obviously we are very concerned with terrorism,” Albright said on CNN’s “Late Edition.” “But I think that in looking at how we fight it, we have to remember what kind of a society we are.”

The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee said that while it was concerned about terrorism, “such concerns cannot justify violating basic constitutional rights.” It said the panel’s recommendations, if adopted, “would severely damage civil liberties and facilitate abusive behavior by the government” but might not increase security.

The report, to be released today, calls for more anti-terrorism spending and putting pressure on foreign countries for cooperation. It also criticized the CIA’s policy of having senior officials approve the recruitment of informants who may have committed serious crimes such as human rights violations.

“The CIA has created a climate that is overly risk-averse,” the commission wrote, adding that regulations forced the CIA to rely too much on foreign intelligence services.

The report also suggested that U.S. allies Greece and Pakistan should be designated as “not fully cooperating” against terrorism--a move that would bar them from buying U.S. military equipment.