Clinton said there was ``an honest disagreement'' between the United States and Canada; the United States has tried to isolate Cuba economically while Canada enjoys flourishing trade and tourism ties with Cuba.
After acknowledging ``an honest disagreement'' between the two countries on the question, Clinton smiled and said: ``Since there hasn't been appreciable change in the Cuban regime, neither of our policies can claim success. . . . We have the same objective. We disagree about how to pursue it.''
Speaking to reporters in the White House Rose Garden after their meeting, Chretien did not mention Cuba by name but acknowledged that ``sometimes our approaches are different. Sometimes in foreign policy it is a matter of different means of achieving common goals.''
On another subject, Clinton said he was satisfied with Canada's handling of the case against a Saudi man suspected in last year's deadly bombing at a U.S. military barracks in Saudi Arabia.
Asked if he had requested extradition of the man, Hani Abdel Rahim Sayegh, Clinton said the case was being ``handled in accordance with Canadian law. . . . We are fully satisfied with our cooperation with Canada at this point and I think we have to let the Canadian legal process play itself out.'' The bombing killed 19 Americans.
Copyright © 1997 The Miami Herald