U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE DAILY PRESS BRIEFING Briefer: Philip T. Reeker, Deputy Spokesman MONDAY, AUGUST 28, 2000, 1:45 P.M. (ON THE RECORD UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED) QUESTION: Is there US concern over the recent sale of weapons by Jordan to Peru? Apparently, some of them ended up in the hands of the FARC in Colombia. MR. REEKER: Let me review where we stood on that. There were a number of reports about that last week, and I believe that Under Secretary Pickering took a question about that at a briefing he did last week on the President's upcoming trip to Colombia. It was Under Secretary Pickering's understanding at that point that the Government of Peru had captured a significant number of weapons which had been identified as being from stocks that originally were sold by an East European country back in the Communist days to the Jordanians, and which the Jordanians believed they were selling legitimately to a different Latin American country, to Peru, which have one way or another ended up in Colombia. We have asked the Government of Peru to provide us further information as they continue their investigation into this matter, so we'll have to see what the actual reports are that we get on that. QUESTION: (Inaudible) -- over the weekend, and this has caused a lot of turmoil in Peru and the foreign affairs minister of Peru has - this is an official version of his statement says that the US believes - has admitted - that selling weapons from the Jordanians to the Peruvians was illegal, and he even quotes an official here to the State Department, Mr. Phil Chicola. Was the sale legal or illegal? MR. REEKER: I think I indicated to you everything that I know about it, and that we have asked the Government of Peru to provide us more detail and further information as they proceed with their investigation of that. I don't have any definitive comment on that until we know all the facts, or are able to discuss that. So we will be waiting in coming days as we get reports and more information from the Peruvian authorities. QUESTION: But Ambassador Pickering did say that the sale was illegal - was - I'm sorry - legal? MR. REEKER: I think I reiterated to you exactly what Ambassador Pickering indicated. Our information and understanding was that weapons had been identified from stocks that were sold by an East European country in Communist days to the Jordanians, and which the Jordanians believed they were selling legitimately to Peru and somehow these ended up, one way or another, in Colombia. That is our understanding of the situation, and what we are doing now is waiting for full details and information from the Peruvian Government, which is carrying out its own investigation of this incident. QUESTION: Let me reiterate another question I posed last week regarding people who are involved in this trafficking. Does the US Government know so far of any Peruvian officials, notary officials or Peruvian individuals conducting this arms -- MR. REEKER: I don't have any information on that. What Undersecretary Pickering said last week reflects our understanding of the situation in regards to this case. And we are waiting, as I indicated, for further details from the Peruvian Government about that, and I just don't have any other information. QUESTION: How long are you going to wait on this? QUESTION: -- is selling the Peruvians? MR. REEKER: I'm sorry? QUESTION: Has the Jordanian Government been - any questions put to the Jordanian Government? MR. REEKER: I am not aware of that. I see this as a Peruvian issue, and we have asked the Peruvians to provide us more information as they get it from their investigation, and that is what we will be waiting for. QUESTION: But they can't keep track of their weapons. I don't know what kind of a candid answer you would expect. MR. REEKER: We will be waiting for the information they can provide us. Was there anything else? QUESTION: How long are you going to wait for this answer? Because, I mean, again -- MR. REEKER: I am not going to try to predict the Peruvian investigation or their steps. Obviously we will be talking to them both in Lima and here in Washington. QUESTION: The foreign first minister is talking specifically about Mr. Chicola having told him that the sale was -- MR. REEKER: I'm afraid I am just not aware of those conversations. I haven't seen specific reports. I haven't discussed it with Mr. Chicola. I did check on the issue. I reviewed what Undersecretary Pickering said last week, and our point was very much that we want to wait until we have all the facts. And we will obviously work with the Peruvians to -- QUESTION: Will you take the question on Mr. Chicola so that I can call you back later? MR. REEKER: We will have to check on that. I think you should direct your question perhaps to Mr. Chicola. Anything else on Peru? Yes. QUESTION: Peru or Colombia? But I want to know what does the Department think about the position of Fujimori against the Plan Colombia? MR. REEKER: Boy, that is a broad question, I guess. We have discussed that, I think, at some length. Ambassador Boucher discussed that a bit last week. I think our position on Plan Colombia is extremely well known. We want to support the Colombians in their plan. We are very concerned about the ramifications of the narcotics trafficking on our own concerns, certainly for Colombia, certainly for the region there. Because of that, our Congress and our President have signed legislation to provide $1.3 billion for that. We have a number of other concerns within that package, in terms of human rights and democracy in Colombia, and we stand very much behind that. And the President and the Secretary of State will be visiting Colombia, as you know, on Wednesday. QUESTION: Yes, but do you have anything particularly in the opposition of Fujimori? Why is he taking this position? MR. REEKER: I think you need to ask him that. I can't speak for him. QUESTION: And just one last question about Colombia. What are the things that President Clinton is going to talk about human rights with President Pastrana? MR. REEKER: We had a fairly lengthy briefing on Friday at the Foreign Press Center. I would be happy to get you that transcript, and also the White House will be discussing anything further on the President's trip. QUESTION: Phil, I mean, I don't know if you just don't have an answer to this but, I mean, surely you can't be pleased by the fact that he has come out against - or at least expressed very serious concerns about -- MR. REEKER: Matt, I think our position on Plan Colombia is evidently clear, and I think -- QUESTION: We know your position on Plan Colombia is evidently clear, but we are talking about the Peruvians now. MR. REEKER: Right. QUESTION: The Secretary was in the region, went around looking - MR. REEKER: That's right. QUESTION: And not Peru, but looking for support for the region. MR. REEKER: Which she got. QUESTION: Yes, she did. But she didn't go to Peru. And Fujimori has now come out and said -- MR. REEKER: There are a number of other countries she didn't go to, either. QUESTION: I know. I am not going to get into that. But Fujimori has come out basically against Plan Colombia. MR. REEKER: I heard that from your colleague. QUESTION: Exactly. So I don't think - it is not an illegitimate question to ask what your reaction to that is. MR. REEKER: My reaction is to explain why we are for Plan Colombia and what our feeling is, and why we think it is good for the region, for the United States, for Colombia, and why we have supported that very much. And that is the message that the President and the Secretary will be taking to Colombia. I am not going to get into a habit of trying to review and parse every statement that comes out from every leader in the region on this. Our position on Plan Colombia is very well known and very evident, is something we believe strongly in, and we are going to follow through on it. QUESTION: One last thing on a Plan Colombia issue and the fact that - are you aware that the Peruvians are saying that the arms given to the FARC were traded for cocaine? Is the US Government aware so far about that? Was it a swap of armament against -- MR. REEKER: Again, on this issue of the arms that the Peruvian Government captured - if we want to call it that - I just don't have any more details on that for you. I think Under Secretary Pickering indicated what our understanding of that situation was, the origin of those arms, and that is as much as we have now. QUESTION: (Inaudible) -- understand incorrectly. The Peruvian Government hasn't said that they have captured anything. Everything was dropped in parachutes to the Colombians from what - a reading of Mr. Pickering's statement is that the Colombians have captured scores of armaments. MR. REEKER: Yes. QUESTION: Who captured? MR. REEKER: Look, we are not down there. We were not involved in this. Okay? That is point number one. So what I am trying to do is reflect on a number of your questions and others who were asking about Under Secretary Pickering's comment on Friday in a briefing he gave where he was asked about the situation. And he reiterated, it was our understanding that the government had captured a significant number of weapons that have been identified. My understanding - that was the Government of Peru. If those were - in fact, if it is another situation you are discussing, then I will be happy to go back and look into that. But we were asked about Under Secretary Pickering's comments, and he indicated our understanding that those were weapons that had been identified as being from stocks sold by an East European country, back in the time of Communism, to the Jordanians; the Jordanians believed they were selling legitimately to Peru, and somehow ended up in Colombia. QUESTION: So, basically, the bottom line is the US takes no position on the legality or otherwise of the sale until they have had -- MR. REEKER: I don't have information on it. QUESTION: Well, either you take a position or you don't -- MR. REEKER: Our understanding was that the Jordanians were involved in a legitimate sale. QUESTION: Tell us what the Jordanians believe. I mean, and -- MR. REEKER: That is our understanding, and until we have more information from the Peruvians - which we have asked them to provide us as they proceed with their investigation - I don't have anything further to say. I can't go beyond that. QUESTION: Are you asking the Jordanians also, or are you just going to rely on the Peruvians? MR. REEKER: I will be happy to check into that and find out. QUESTION: Well, Ned Walker was in Jordan. Did he discuss this at all? MR. REEKER: I am not aware of that. I think Ambassador Walker was on a particular mission, and I am not aware of this issue at all. I just don't have anything further on that. I will continue to look into it for you and get more details, but until we get the information that we have asked for from the Peruvian Government, I am just not going to have anything else. (The briefing was concluded at 2:40 P.M.)
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