21 September 2001
No Discussions, No Negotiations with Taliban, White House Says
(Fleischer briefs on developments following Presidential speech) (510)
By Wendy S. Ross
Washington File White House Correspondent
Washington -- President Bush, in his September 20 speech to the U.S.
Congress, made clear his conditions regarding what the Taliban in
Afghanistan must now do, Fleischer said, "and he said there will be no
discussions and no negotiations" with them.
Fleischer speaking with reporters early September 21, was asked to
react to news reports that the Taliban earlier that morning said it
would not turn over Osama bin Laden until the U.S. showed proof of his
involvement in the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United
States.
"There is already an indictment for Osama bin Laden," Fleischer
pointed out. "There's been indictments in the case of Tanzania and
Kenya, with the bombings in East Africa, with the indications that the
Taliban and Osama bin Laden were involved, and that the al-Qaida
organization and Osama bin Laden were involved in the bombing of the
Cole," a U.S. Navy destroyer attacked by terrorists in Aden, Yemen, in
2000.
"The President is continuing to make plans with our allies, and
domestically, to protect the American people from terrorism, and those
plans will involve things military, things financial, things
diplomatic, things political," Fleischer said.
Preliminary indications show that worldwide reaction to the
President's speech "are very, very positive," Fleischer said, as is
reaction in the United States.
Bush "got into the Oval at about 7:03 this morning, and I was talking
to him, and he told me how appreciative he is of the outpouring of the
American people toward the speech," Fleischer said.
He then spoke with Turkey's President Ahmet Sezer, with Nigeria's
President Olusegun Obasanjo and with Oman's leader Sultan Qaboos, and
"they all expressed their condolences about the attack and their
willingness to work with the United States to combat terrorism,"
Fleischer said.
In the afternoon, Bush was to meet with China's Foreign Minister
Jiaxuan Tang.
"There should be no mistaking the president's intentions" regarding
terrorism, Fleischer said.
"The president has made it clear that terrorism will be defeated. And
he has defined terrorism as those who engage in it and those who
harbor terrorists. And the notion of defeating those who harbor
terrorists is a dramatic change in American policy. And that is the
direction the president is leading the world and is talking with
leaders around the world about."
President Bush's goal "is not removal of anyone from power; the
president's goal is the cessation of terrorism. This is not a question
of who occupies what slot in any one regime or government. This is a
question of how to protect the free world and freedom from terrorist
threat. And that is the vision that the president spoke to last night.
That is the clearly stated definition of victory. And so it's not
removal of power, it's cessation of terrorism."
(The Washington File is a product of the Office of International
Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site:
http://usinfo.state.gov)
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