April 5, 1986
First of all, the President is deeply concerned about the increasing number of terrorist incidents that are affecting Americans in Europe and worldwide. He has instructed his top administration officials to stay on top of it, to provide him with an early assessment of the latest outbreak this week and to -- I think that's about all we ought to say. Certainly the President expresses his condolences to the families, and he wants to see that we do everything possible first to apprehend and prosecute those who are responsible specifically and those who perpetrate these types of incidents.
The second thing he wants to do is to take every measure in concert with the allies in order to prevent terrorist incidents. He believes that it is a worldwide problem and that every nation has a stake in this and every nation must do its part to prevent terrorism and to isolate those, condemn them, and to bring an end to these individuals, groups, or nations, in some cases, who sponsor terrorism.
Note: Larry M. Speakes read the statement to reporters at 10:03 a.m. in the Cantina Room at the Sheraton Hotel in Santa Barbara, CA. The bombing occurred at 8:50 p.m. e.s.t. at the discotheque La Belle Club. An American serviceman and a Turkish woman were killed, and 204 persons, including 64 Americans, were injured.