Bryan off to Africa on security survey

Tuesday, Jan. 4, 2000 | 9:51 a.m.

Bryan, D-Nev., accompanied the committee's chairman, Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., on the trip, which is to include stops in Egypt, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, Madagascar, Botswana, South Africa and Namibia.

In Kenya and Tanzania, the senators are expected to assess security precautions the United States has put in place since the U.S. embassies in those countries were bombed on Aug. 7, 1998. The terrorist action killed 257 people including a dozen Americans.

U.S. personnel security is likely to come up in discussions with officials at other stops as well, Bryan spokesman Dave Lemmon said Monday.

Lemmon said the senators generally will be briefed on U.S. capabilities in Africa, although a more detailed itinerary of the intelligence-gathering trip is not being made public.

A member of the Senate Intelligence Committee since 1993, Bryan will be vice chairman for only a year. He's retiring at the end of the 2000 session.

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