U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING
Briefer: Richard Boucher, Spokesman
TUESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2000, 1:15 P.M.
(ON THE RECORD UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED)
QUESTION: Another subject. The Lockerbie trial. A couple of
weeks back, you said you were worried that the Libyans might try
to intimidate one ill star witness, or the prosecution's star
witness, Mr. Kiyaka. Are you confident that Mr. Kiyaka will
appear this week, and are you aware whether he was subject to any
Libyan pressure?
MR. BOUCHER: As far as whether he will appear this week, I
really have to leave that to the people involved in the trial. I
think I would just reiterate that we do not have information that
Libya is not cooperating or intimidating witnesses. At the same
time, we would make clear, as we have in the past, the need for
full cooperation, and the fact that full cooperation includes not
interfering with the trial or with the witnesses in any way.
QUESTION: Is this guy, is he actually in the witness protection
program?
MR. BOUCHER: I am not able to speak to you about this guy, so I
am afraid I cannot do that.
QUESTION: Not able to speak about this witness?
MR. BOUCHER: Yes. When a witness appears in the court, that
will be the time for them to talk about it there. I mean, that
is the details of the trial.
QUESTION: On the same subject -
QUESTION: But it is a US witness protection program that he's
in, right?
MR. BOUCHER: I mean, I am not able to say if he's wearing a blue
hat or not, because I'm not allowed to use the word "he" in a
sentence. It's not for me to discuss witnesses in the Lockerbie
trial.
QUESTION: Okay. The prosecution of the trial said today they
needed the CIA to release some additional information to tighten
their case. Is the State Department acting as a conduit in this?
Are you -
MR. BOUCHER: I think we do have people out at the trial, and
certainly when - I'm not aware of whether we've gotten a specific
request. We've seen the report clearly, but I just made clear
that we do cooperate with the judges, with the trial. We do try
to respond as fully as possible at any requests they might give
us, and I am sure we try to do that in this case.
QUESTION: Will this be another case where you have to urge the
CIA to release this information?
MR. BOUCHER: I think we have a very good record of cooperation
with a trial, and we will continue that record without any
problems.
(The briefing was concluded at 2:00 p.m.)
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