Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, November 23, 1993 TAG: 9311230111
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Short
Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell, D-Maine, on Monday read from a letter sent earlier this month to members stating that such leaks undermined trust in the Senate and could put lives at risk. The letter, co-signed by Mitchell and Minority Leader Bob Dole, R-Kan., referred to an Oct. 20 CIA briefing for Senate members on Jean-Bertrand Aristide of Haiti.
Details of CIA questions about Aristide's mental stability were published in several newspapers, and became the subject of open debate on the Senate floor.
One day after the briefing, the Senate rejected an amendment by Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C., to deny funds for any U.S. peacekeeping operations in Haiti, and then approved a watered-down version saying the president should seek the approval of Congress before committing troops to Haiti.
Helms, in opposing the Clinton administration's commitment to restoring Aristide to power, said the Haitian was a "psychopath."
Supporters of Aristide also accused anti-Aristide officers in the CIA of leaking negative information about the Haitian leader.
- Associated Press
by CNB