From garb@teleport.com

REUTER


WASHINGTON (Reuter) - Saying he wanted to lift the veil on government secrecy, President Clinton took the wraps off 25-year-old classified documents Monday and placed a 10-year limit on documents classified in the future.

Responding to pressure from historians who say too much information is branded ``top secret'' for too long, Clinton signed an executive order aimed at keeping information unclassified whenever possible.

``In issuing this order, I am seeking to bring the system for classifying, safeguarding, and declassifying national security information into line with our vision of American democracy in the post-Cold War world,'' Clinton said in a statement issued by the White House.

He said the order strikes an appropriate balance between enabling the government to safeguard the information that it must hold in confidence while sharply reducing the level of secrecy.

The order automatically declassifies information that is 25 years old, unless it falls within one of the narrow exemption categories, such as revealing the identity of a human source.

It slaps a 10-year limit on most newly classified information and instructs classifiers to keep information unclassified when in doubt. It also establishes an Interagency Security Classification Appeals Panel to hear challenges to classification.

Some categories of information need to be maintained, Clinton said in his statement, such as war plans that may be employed or the identities of ``clandestine human assets'' -- that is, spies.

The order will make ``available to the American people and posterity most documents of permanent historical value that were maintained in secrecy until now,'' Clinton said.

The order would also reduce the sizable costs of secrecy, Clinton said, without naming any dollar amounts.

White House press secretary Mike McCurry said the order would ``sharpen up'' the definition of the terms top secret, secret and confidential. He said it would put the responsibility on the classifying officer to justify the classification standard.

``Most importantly of all, it promotes openness and really encourages declassification and encourages nonclassification in cases where you cannot justify keeeping something secret,'' McCurry said.

He said historians had been pressing hard to get a relaxation of standards for classification.

``My guess is ... they won't be entirely satisfied with this. But they will see this as an improvement over the current system,'' McCurry said.