State Department Noon Briefing
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2000 - 12:35 P.M.
(ON THE RECORD UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED)
Q: Is Ben-Ami on for 4 o'clock?
BOUCHER: Yes.
Q: Do you want to add anything to what you said yesterday?
BOUCHER: Add a little more. I mean, we know acting Foreign Minister
Shlomo Ben-Ami arrives in Washington today. He'll meet with Secretary
Albright this afternoon at 4:00. Then I think he has meetings over at
the White House with Mr. Berger. Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat
will arrive here tomorrow for meetings tomorrow with Secretary
Albright as well. We think these meetings will provide a useful
opportunity to discuss the current situation, follow up on the
commitments that the parties made at Sharm el-Sheikh.
Obviously, ending the violence, restoring calm to the region, is our
highest priority. In Sharm el-Sheikh, Prime Minister Barak and
Chairman Arafat agreed to concrete steps to end the violence and to
ease restrictions on both movement of people and goods. It is critical
that both parties move immediately to implement those commitments.
Once that's been achieved, we can focus on restoring confidence in the
peace process and finding a way back to the negotiating table.
Q: Is she going to be asking the foreign minister to - is she going
to be urging him to mitigate the Israeli response to the - I mean,
another bunch of Palestinians, and I don't have the exact number, were
killed again - were killed today, as well as yesterday. What
specifically is she going to be telling Ben-Ami that she is not going
to be saying to Mr. Erakat?
BOUCHER: Well, I think, first of all, you know of our concerns about
the violence. You know that we have been working very hard, trying to
do everything we can to end the cycle of violence and to make it
possible to get back onto a path of peace. The Secretary and the
President and others have been quite clear about the need to stop the
violence and the need to implement the steps of Sharm el-Sheikh.
What we will be talking to the parties about are the commitments they
made at Sharm el- Sheikh and the steps that they can take to end the
violence. Clearly, each side has different commitments; each side has
different steps that they can take. We will be going through with each
one, as appropriate, the kind of steps that they can take in carrying
out their commitments from Sharm el Sheikh.
Q: Is there any suggestion that there will be any meeting between the
Israeli Foreign Minister and Saeb Erakat?
BOUCHER: No, we have not been trying to do that. I have not heard of
any efforts on their sides to do that. We would not discourage it, but
we do not know.
Q: So that, basically, the conversations that the Secretary will have
-- she's not going to have the same conversation twice. Is there
anything that you can say about what the differences are between what
she is going to raise with Ben-Ami and what she is going to raise with
Erakat?
BOUCHER: I thought I just did.
Q: Well, you said --
BOUCHER: They each made commitments at Sharm el-Sheikh, but they made
different commitments and have to take different steps. So we'll talk
to each of them about the steps that they, in particular, can be
taking at this time.
Q: Which steps will that be?
BOUCHER: There are obviously similarities between the discussions, but
there are obviously differences as well.
Q: Okay. So which steps is she going to be talking to Ben-Ami about?
BOUCHER: The steps the Israelis can take.
Q: Which are?
BOUCHER: No, I leave it to the - what we said at Sharm el-Sheikh.
Q: Can we clarify the numbers of American casualties on the plane?
From this building we've heard 22 survivors, 10 dead. But, given other
reports, that leaves about - quite a few unaccounted for, something
like 15.
BOUCHER: Well, what am I going to tell you? You have already answered
my question for me. That is exactly what I have. Let me double-check
it.
(The briefing was concluded at 12:50 P.M.)
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