Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, July 17, 1995 TAG: 9507180016
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
Traveling to Iraq with no official marching orders from the White House, Richardson clearly went with President Clinton's blessing nonetheless.
On Sunday, Saddam Hussein delivered David Daliberti and William Barloon into Richardson's custody after the congressman appealed for their release on what he called ``purely humanitarian grounds.''
``I am bringing them home,'' Richardson proudly announced, hastening to steer credit toward Clinton's ``quiet but firm diplomacy.''
It was only the latest case in which Richardson has advanced U.S. interests around the world through hard work, good luck and an affinity for other cultures.
``He's been in the hot seat before,'' said Richardson spokesman Stu Nagurka.
Richardson's involvement in foreign affairs is an outgrowth of his position on the House Select Committee on Intelligence and his bicultural upbringing as the son of a Mexican mother and American father.
``He recognizes that our world is a very small place and you can't operate within a vacuum, within just the confines of our country,'' Nagurka said.
In December, the seven-term congressman arrived in North Korea for a one-day visit to nuclear sites just as word came that a U.S. helicopter pilot had been downed after crossing into North Korea and his co-pilot killed.
The White House immediately enlisted Richardson's help. After five days of difficult negotiations, he accompanied the reddish-brown coffin bearing the remains of Chief Warrant Officer David Hilemon to the truce village of Panmunjom and helped pave the way for Chief Warrant Officer Bobby Hall to return home.
In an understatement of the tensions at play, Richardson told reporters when he got home, ``The North Koreans are very sensitive. They get easily rattled.''
This year, he went to Vietnam, where officials eager to gain diplomatic recognition for the United States gave him about 100 pages of information on servicemen killed or captured during the war.
Richardson suggested he just happened to be in the right place at the right time: ``I don't think this was timed for my visit.''
His travels have often put him in the delicate position of working independent of the White House yet having his actions scrutinized for signs of administration policy.
Last July, he tried to persuade Haitian military dictator Raoul Cedras to surrender power. Clinton was adamant that there be no new negotiations but he eventually dispatched a diplomatic mission led by former President Carter - and backed up by U.S. troops - that led Cedras to withdraw.
by CNB