WASHINGTON, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Saturday that he would allow the release of more than 3,000 previously classified files related to former President John F. Kennedy's assassination more than half a century ago.
The U.S. National Archives has said that, pending presidential approval, it would make all the files available on its website in a single day by next Thursday.
"Subject to the receipt of further information, I will be allowing, as President, the long blocked and classified JFK FILES to be opened," Trump tweeted Saturday morning.
"The President believes that these documents should be made available in the interests of full transparency unless agencies provide a compelling and clear national security or law enforcement justification otherwise," the White House said in a statement issued later.
Most of the files are believed to be from the 1960s and 1970s, stemming from the 1963 assassination and aftermath. But several dozens were generated by government agencies in the 1990s in apparent response to the conspiracy theories raised by the controversial Oliver Stone film "JFK."
The U. S. Congress passed the Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act in 1992, requiring that the millions of pages, many of them contained in CIA and FBI documents, be published in 25 years.
Over the years, the National Archives have released most of the documents, either in full or partially redacted. But one final batch remains, and only the U.S. president has the authority to extend the papers' secrecy past the deadline on Oct. 26, according to local media reports.
Kennedy, the 35th U.S. President, was shot dead on Nov. 22, 1963 in Dallas, Texas. Lee Harvey Oswald, who was accused of the shooting, was killed two days later by Jack Ruby.