Senators urge Clinton to deny clemency to convicted spy

"I am strongly opposed to the commutation of the life sentence given Jonathan Pollard," Bryan, a member of the panel, said in a letter to Clinton.

"The vast quantity of classified material he compromised resulted in significant damage to our nation's security," he said.

Clinton confirmed last month that he promised Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at U.S.-sponsored negotiations with the Palestinians in October that he would look into Netanyahu's request for leniency for Pollard.

At the talks near Wye Mills, Md., several Israeli officials were convinced Clinton had assured Netanyahu Pollard would be freed. The Clinton administration insisted the president promised only to review the case, as he has several times before.

Bryan said Netanyahu argued that Pollard was spying for a friendly nation and had served long enough in prison.

"Mr. Pollard's release would imply that it is acceptable for an ally to spy against the United States," Bryan said in the letter to Clinton.

"It would also give credence to the claim that espionage is somehow less serious when Americans spy on behalf of a friendly nation for which they are sympathetic," he said.

Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., the committee chairman, said he was encouraging Clinton "to rethink what I understand may be his expected course of action."

Shelby and his vice chairman, Sen. Bob Kerrey, D-Neb., also signed a letter pressing Clinton not to let Pollard go.

White House counsel Charles F.C. Ruff was directed to solicit views of U.S. intelligence and security agencies. Several former U.S. intelligence officials hotly opposed clemency and alleged that Pollard attempted to provide classified information to other countries before striking a deal with Israel.

CIA director George Tenet, who attended the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations in rural Maryland, vehemently opposed Pollard's release and threatened to resign if it happened, an administration official said.

Asked Thursday what was Tenet's position on clemency for Pollard, CIA spokeswoman Anya Guilsher said the agency's recommendations are for the White House, and "we are not going to state it publicly." Clinton and Netanyahu.

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