WASHINGTON, USA (SEPTEMBER 10, 1978) (REUTERS)

CU Sign: 'State Department' - PAN to building
SCU McCloskey talking to press
LV White House
SCU Ziegler speaks

TRANSCRIPT:

MCCLOSKEY: "We have said repeatedly here over the last several days, that the policy of the United States Government is to support the release of all the hostages. We have particularly condemned what we regard as discriminatory treatment against those of the Jewish faith who are held in Jordan. It is our understanding that some wives and children are among those still held on the aircraft, and we presume that has to do with the fact that they are Jewish. All other wives and children, we understand, have been removed from the aircraft and are in the relative safety of the hotels in Amman. There is no justification, whatever, for any interpretation that the United States Government stands for anything less than the release of all the hostages."

ZIEGLER: "The President and many of us in the Federal Government have been intensely involved, during these recent days, in efforts to obtain the release of passengers involved in the hijackings. We have also been involved, together with the President, in considering steps which can be taken to be able to announce a comprehensive plan of action in the near future. In the meantime, I would like to express on behalf of the President, his deep concern for the innocent victims who are now going through a terrible ordeal in the Jordanian desert. I would like to express, on behalf of the President, his sympathy for the apprehensive families. The President joins the countless other concerned people around the world who hope and pray for their early and safe return.

Initials PAF/BOB/ES
Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
Background: State Department spokesman Robert McCloskey and White House Press Secretary Ronald Ziegler yesterday (Thursday 10 September) told newsmen the official United States policy on the recent hijackings by guerrillas of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. The United States Policy, they said, was still to support, without qualifications, the release of all the passengers being held in the Jordan desert.