Washington - The First Lady, Mrs Clinton, called on her husband to retract his clemency offer to 16 imprisoned members of a Puerto Rican separatist group, because they have failed to renounce future acts of violence, US media reported yesterday.
The US President, Mr Clinton, made the amnesty offer to 16 members of the Armed Forces of National Liberation (FALN) on August 11th. The move had the support of human rights activists, but was opposed by law enforcement and leading New York politicians.
The White House has denied charges by detractors that the clemency offer was calculated to help Mrs Clinton's expected campaign for the Senate in New York State, which has a large Hispanic population.
Now some of those same critics are suggesting that she is urging the president to revoke the amnesty offer to appear tough on crime and terrorism for the benefit of the state's conservative voters.