Terrorist victims say White House won't return calls

WASHINGTON -- Victims of terrorism say the Clinton administration has over the last month increased efforts to stop them from collecting multimillion-dollar judgments from state sponsors of the attacks they underwent.

The victims said the administration stopped returning phone calls and arranging meetings with the victims since the U.S. drive to improve relations with Iran, regarded as a key sponsor of terrorism. A 1996 law allows victims of terrorist acts to sue the alleged state sponsors.

''The Clinton administration has continued to object to every practical proposal we have made,'' said Terry Anderson, a former journalist who a $341 million federal court award against Iran last month.

So far, nobody has been able to collect from the judgements. The administration has blocked efforts to seize frozen foreign assets. The victims said administration officials stopped cooperating after the United States launched a drive to reconcile with Iran last month.

''We got hit over the head with a hammer," said Stephen Flatow, whose daughter Alisa was killed in a 1995 Islamic Jihad bombing. Jihad is sponsored by Iran.

''The Iranians are still in the terror business and our own government has the dubious distinction of keeping them in it,'' Flatow told the House Judiciary Committee.

Rep. Bill McCollum and Senators Connie Mack and Frank Lautenberg are sponsoring a bill that would make it easier for plaintiffs to move against frozen assets. The administration opposes the bill.

"It is time to send a strong message to terrorists and their state sponsors that they cannot get away with murder," McCollum said.