THE WHITE HOUSE

                     Office of the Press Secretary
________________________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release                                   October 13, 2000


                             PRESS BRIEFING
                                   BY
                              JAKE SIEWERT


                    The James S. Brady Briefing Room


1:27 P.M. EDT

     Q    Jake, is the United States ruling out retaliation if the
perpetrators of the U.S.S. Cole act can be found?

     MR. SIEWERT:  No.  The President said if we determine who is
responsible, they will be held accountable.

     Q    Can you define "held accountable"?

     MR. SIEWERT:  No.

     Q    And are you it a terrorism act?

     MR. SIEWERT:  That's something that we're still in the process.
We're operating under the assumption that this was a terrorist act.  But
there are investigators in the region who are looking exactly at that
issue and trying to determine who's responsible.

....

     Q    Jake, there's a group that supposedly is claiming some credit
for the Cole?

     MR. SIEWERT:  We've seen those reports.  We'll make our own
determination.

     Q    Are they even credible?  Is it even possible, this group?

     MR. SIEWERT:  I'm not going to speculate on who's responsible and
who's claiming credit until we make our own determination.

                        END        1:47 P.M. EDT