Filed at 5:56 p.m. EST

By The Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) -- With Italy in an uproar over the acquittal of a Marine pilot, Prime Minister Massimo D'Alema stood next to President Clinton and demanded justice Friday for the cable car accident that killed 20 people. Clinton expressed profound regret and declared, ``The United States is not trying to duck its responsibility.''

Clinton and the Italian leader met a day after a military jury in North Carolina delivered a not-guilty verdict for the pilot of the Marine jet that sliced through a ski gondola cable in an Italian alpine valley and sent its passengers plunging to their deaths.

The ruling outraged Italians and immediately became topic No. 1 at the president's meeting with D'Alema, which had been scheduled for weeks.

The two leaders posed stiffly for photographers in the Oval Office. There was no handshake, as there often is for the cameras. Later, Clinton and D'Alema leaders held a joint news conference and spoke solemnly about the gondola tragedy.

D'Alema said he and the Italian people were ``personally shocked'' by the verdict and said it was ``neither normal nor acceptable'' for the jet to roar through a valley at 300 feet or so above the ground.

``We shall say we are satisfied when whoever is responsible for what happened is found guilty and punished,'' the prime minister said. ``With so many casualties, with so many deaths, you can hardly ever say you are satisfied. It is a word I cannot use.''

He said he was confident that the responsible person would be punished ``through a fair trial.''

``We are not asking for a scapegoat,'' the prime minister said.

D'Alema expressed appreciation for Clinton's remorse and said the president had shown ``great human sincerity ... with no arrogance, with no sense of detachment.''

``We are profoundly regretful and apologetic,'' Clinton said. He said it was important to ``do what is appropriate by the families'' in terms of legal claims and settlements.

The president said he wanted to assure the victims' families and the people of Italy that ``the United States is not trying to duck its responsibility and that we are heartbroken and horrified by what happened. And we're going to do our best to make sure that nothing like that ever happens again.''

The president said he could not speak to the verdict itself because the pilot, Capt. Richard J. Ashby, still faces an obstruction of justice charge even though he was acquitted of involuntary homicide and manslaughter. His navigator, Capt. Joseph Schweitzer, also faces charges. Clinton said he did not want his remarks to have any impact on those cases.

The squadron commander was relieved of command, and the squadron's director of safety standardization received a reprimand letter that effectively ends his military career.

``To me, the most important thing now is that the United States must clearly and unambiguously shoulder the responsibility for what happened,'' Clinton said.

The president said the U.S. and Italian defense chiefs would review operational and safety measures to assess their adequacy and determine whether additional measures should be adopted. The United States, in the wake of the accident, already has taken steps to improve safety, he said.

The United States provided a ``modest'' cash settlement to the victims' relatives after the accident to help them deal with immediate expenses, Clinton said. The families now can file claims, and the United States will pay the lion's share of any settlements, he said.

However, he said, ``I don't know that my words could ever ease the pain of someone who lost a child or a parent or a sibling or a spouse in that terrible accident.''