State Dept. Noon Briefing, Friday, Oct. 6, 2000
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2000 2:30 P.M.
(ON THE RECORD UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED)
Q: I'd like to go to the Middle East. You have spent some time in
Paris and in Sharm el Sheikh talking about peace, and getting back to
calm and separating the forces. And today, there are still problems;
people are still being killed. What is your reaction to what is going
on, and is there any movement on security team meetings, et cetera?
MR. BOUCHER: I think we made clear throughout that we felt that this
was a very difficult situation. It was a very sensitive situation. The
Secretary yesterday called it an "extremely volatile and tragic
period." We knew that Friday with Friday prayers was going to be a
difficult day, and we have seen, indeed, some new violence today.
Certainly, any of the loss of life in the fighting is regrettable. At
the same time, they did make commitments with the Secretary. They did
issue instructions. Those largely had to do with disengagements,
taking steps to reduce the friction, and starting to work together to
make sure security was maintained. And we do see those kind of things
occurring.
So as we and they continue to work to try to calm the situation, we
remain in touch with them. And yes, indeed, we are working with their
security officials in the region to try to make sure that an effective
calm can be maintained.
Q: There was talk during the Paris meetings that an American
invitation to the political negotiations to come to Washington next
week to resume the talks. Has anyone taken that up, and do you expect
those talks to go ahead at this stage? Or is it premature?
MR. BOUCHER: I think what the Secretary said this morning, which I am
glad to repeat here, is we would expect to invite negotiators to
Washington when the situation calms down.
Q: Are both sides keeping the commitments that they made to Madeleine
Albright? Is everybody moving back away from this conflict?
MR. BOUCHER: We have seen both sides, first of all, in the Secretary's
presence when she was working with them through many, many hours of
very serious and detailed discussions in Paris, including five or six
hours of trilateral discussions, on the spot, they issued -- in front
of each other and in front of us -- the instructions to their people
to try to take some specific steps to calm the situation, and indeed
many of those steps appear to have taken hold. In addition, we have
seen both sides take other steps. We have also seen the two sides
cooperate with each other, which is important.
Now, that said, there is always more they can do. There is always more
they can do because the tragic violence does continue. And we think
they need to continue to work on this, continue to cooperate. And we
are, indeed, working with them on that.
Q: Richard, where is the status of the Palestinians' request for an
international commission or body to investigate what prompted the
violence? And what is the US position?
MR. BOUCHER: Our position is the same that the Secretary enunciated
yesterday at Sharm el Sheik and that was in the presidential statement
the other day, that we do believe that there needs to be fact-finding.
It has to be fact-finding that's done in a way that's both effective
in addressing the situation and helping the situation, but also
acceptable to the parties.
....
Q: Richard, Churches for Middle East Peace and several other
international organizations have mentioned now -- have charged Israel
with use of excessive force, particularly the use of helicopters. And
the Churches are now calling for the United States to review its
decision to send additional helicopters out there since they are being
used in violation of the military assistance agreement between Israel
and the United States.
Did this subject come up, and are you considering cautioning Israel
concerning her use of both excessive force and US materiel?
MR. BOUCHER: I'm not aware of the charges, and I'm not aware the
subject has come up.
....
Q: Thank you. Just in terms of what did happen today, I wondered if
you could comment. Reports are that, while there were fewer killings
than there have been other days of the week, that there were some
actions taken by the Palestinians that some observers say were seen as
more provocative -- the raising of the flag over the mosque -- and, on
the other side, Israeli politicians, even allies of Barak, criticizing
the Israeli police for not using more force to disperse the crowds in
the Old City because they resisted using rubber bullets. So do those
two developments indicate to you either that Arafat and Barak don't
have the support they need to carry out promises made, or that they
are not really enforcing these promises?
MR. BOUCHER: Well, I think there's two things to say about that. First
of all is it is important that the sides cooperate and that both sides
take steps to reduce the tensions. That has been the key thing for us;
that has been the most important step, is to see what happens on the
ground. Do they take effective measures to reduce tensions, or do they
act in provocative or other ways? And so that is what we watch, and
that is what we want to work with, and why we think it is important
that they work together to try to calm the situation and reduce the
tensions. And that was one of the thrusts of the understandings or the
discussions, the commitments - whatever - that we reached in Paris.
The fact is that the measure of any discussion or any piece of paper
has got to be what happens on the ground, and so that is what we are
watching. As far as sort of commenting on each particular step that
one or the other group may be taking, or groups within groups may be
taking, I don't think that is quite for us to do. But I do think it is
important that the sides deal effectively with the situation and take
all possible steps to exercise restraint and calm things down.
Q: Do you have concerns that the factions that burned the police
station today, that raised the flag, are not loyal and not listening
to Arafat, and do you have concerns that there are Israelis who are
not listening to Barak, and so therefore it is out of the control of
either man?
MR. BOUCHER: We always have concerns when the violence continues and
when the loss of life continues. That has been our primary focus in
this. And the fact that it does continue and maybe it takes on new
forms is an indication that there is more that can and should be done
by the sides together and separately to try to restrain things. So we
will be - it is an issue that we have said we need to continue to work
on because ultimately the goal is to calm the situation and stop the
violence, and that is what we will continue until we get there.
....
Q: One more question on - has Jordan been involved at all in the last
week or so in trying to cap the violence? I mean, Egypt has been
there, but we have heard very little about Jordan. And Jordan has the
only agreement on the use of authority over the Haram as-Sharif, or
Temple Mount. Why isn't she more deeply involved in this?
MR. BOUCHER: I would suggest you call the Jordanian Embassy. I don't
know the answers to Jordanian policy. We have been in touch with the
Jordanians, at least through our Ambassador. I, frankly, haven't
checked to see if the Secretary called them at some point during this
process. But certainly we have kept in touch with the Jordanians, and
anybody who can play a positive role, we would hope they would do
that.
(The briefing was concluded at 3:10 p.m.)
10/6/00
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