ATHENS, Greece -- A day after violent anti-American protests, President Clinton sought to heal old wounds Saturday by acknowledging the United States failed in its "obligation to support democracy" when it backed Greek's harsh military junta during the Cold War.The president's words came as a concession to long-standing Greek sensitivities and to tens of thousands of demonstrators who take to the streets each year on Nov. 17 to denounce the United States and mark the anniversary of a bloody crackdown against student demonstrators in 1973 by the old military regime.
"When the junta took over in 1967 here," Clinton said, "the United States allowed its interests in prosecuting the Cold War to prevail over its interest, I should say its obligation, to support democracy, which was, after all, the cause for which we fought the Cold War. It is important that we acknowledge that."
His statement, in a speech to business and community leaders, brought a burst of applause. U.S. Ambassador Nicholas Burns had apologized in 1998 for U.S. support of the junta but Clinton's words carried far more weight.
Later Clinton flew to Florence, Italy, by way of Pisa, to attend a dinner with five European leaders and Brazil's president, Fernando Henrique Cardoso, at Villa La Pietra, a 14th century estate surrounded by gardens, hills and olive groves.
On the flight from Athens to Pisa, Secret Service agents asked all aboard Air Force One to check their carry-on luggage for "anything suspicious." White House spokesman Joe Lockhart said the extra precaution was taken in response to a security threat, which he would not describe. A senior official traveling with Clinton said nothing suspicious was found.
Clinton said his remark about the Greek junta was prompted by thinking about U.S.-Greek history "in both its painful and its proud aspects."
The 1967 coup, led by the late Col. George Papadopoulos, toppled the parliamentary government after years of political instability, which many Greeks blamed on what they saw as U.S. meddling in Greek affairs.
The junta imposed an ultraconservative regime that did not permit political dissent or free expression at a time when much of Western Europe was being transformed by student-led protests and underground movements. The military rulers jailed hundreds of opponents, tortured many and banished others to barren islands
Anti-America protest during Clinton's visit produced a night of mayhem in central Athens. Hooded rioters among a crowd of 10,000 demonstrators set fires and smashed storefronts and banks Friday evening. The protest was aimed against U.S. policy in Kosovo and Bosnia and the American-led bombing of Yugoslavia, a traditional Orthodox Christian ally of Greece.
The president opened the day by climbing the hills of the Acropolis, hand in hand with his daughter Chelsea, to see the ancient temples of the Parthenon.
Asked about Friday's violence, he said simply, "I'm sorry about that."
Later, Clinton elaborated during a joint news conference with Socialist Prime Minister Constantine Simitis. "I deeply regret the Greeks who had their property injured and who suffered losses through these demonstrations," he said.
Clinton said people have the right to demonstrate -- especially in Greece, the birthplace of democracy -- but that "I strongly believe the protests should be peaceful."
Clinton readily acknowledged that "almost all of the people of Greece disagree" with U.S. policy in Kosovo and, before that, in Bosnia. "But that doesn't affect our affection for, and our support for the people of Greece and the government of Greece."
Simitis said Greece is a nation "where everyone can express their opinions." But he agreed that such expressions should be made peacefully.
National Security Council spokesman David Leavy said the president's statement about the old junta was "not intended as an apology. It was intended to chart a forward-looking vision of U.S.-Greek relations."