05 December 2001
Transcript: Bonn Afghan Progress Hailed by Bush, Norway's Leader
(Mideast also discussed as Bush meets with Prime Minister) (2220)
Great progress has been made at the talks in Bonn among Afghan groups
on the formation of an interim government for that country, President
Bush said December 5, as he sat down for talks at the White House with
the Prime Minister of Norway.
"Our government is pleased with the progress being made," Bush said,
and pleased that the interim government being formed will include
women. "That's a major change for that part of the world and a
positive change," he said.
Norway's Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik also welcomed the
positive outcome of the meeting in Bonn, which, he said, "will pave
the way for a political solution for Afghanistan, hopefully also for
the women in the country, and also for reconstructions assistance and
humanitarian aid."
Norway will play a key role as the chair of the Afghanistan support
group from the first of January, next year, Bondevik added.
On the Middle East, Bush said the United States and Norway are both
committed to peace in the region, "but there are obviously folks who
want to use the weapon of terror to derail peace."
Palestine Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat "must show leadership and
bring those to justice who would use murder as a weapon to derail
peace and to destroy innocent life," Bush said. "He must show
leadership. Now is his time. And other nations around the world that
are interested in peace must encourage Mr. Arafat, must insist that
Mr. Arafat use everything in his power to prevent further terrorist
attacks in Israel."
Norway's Prime Minister said he fully agreed with the President.
Bondevik noted that earlier in the day he had spoken by phone with
both Chairman Arafat and Israel's Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
He said he had urged Arafat to do his utmost to stop the terror, and
to arrest the people behind the terror, and he had urged Sharon to
avoid further escalation of violence "because the alternative is so
bad" for the whole world.
Following is the White House transcript:
(begin transcript)
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
December 5, 2001
REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT AND PRIME MINISTER KJELL MAGNE BONDEVIK OF
NORWAY IN PHOTO OPPORTUNITY
THE PRESIDENT: I'm going to make a statement, the Prime Minister will
make a statement. We'll be glad to answer a couple of questions
apiece.
First, I want to welcome our friend to the White House. The Prime
Minister has been a strong supporter in the war against terror, and
for that, Mr. Prime Minister, we are very grateful.
Early on in this war, Norway stood strong against terror. I don't know
if many Americans understand, but one of the key parts of the war
against terror is to cut off the financing to the terrorists. And
Norway, thanks to the Prime Minister and his team, shut down al
Barakat, which we did shortly thereafter. Thanks to the information we
received from you, we made a major strike against cutting off funding
for al Qaeda and the murderers.
And, Mr. Prime Minister, thank you for that. I'm so glad you're here.
I look forward to a really good discussion about how we can combine
together.
I want to say a couple of other things. First, I, along with all the
rest of America, grieve for the loss of life in Afghanistan. Three of
our soldiers were killed by an inadvertent bomb and our prayers and
sympathies go to the families. And I want the families to know that
they died for a noble and just cause; that the fight against terror is
noble and it's just; and they defend freedom. And for that, we're
grateful.
On a more encouraging note, there has been great progress in Bonn. Our
government is pleased with the progress being made, that the interim
government is being formed -- to include women. It's a major change
for that part of the world, and a positive change. It's encouraging to
show, Mr. Prime Minister, that not only making progress on the
military front, we're making progress on the political front, as well.
This interim government, as well, has pledged to fight terror and, for
that, we're grateful.
And, finally, next Tuesday our nation will play the National Anthem at
8:34 a.m. eastern standard time. We will do so, and we're encouraging
other nations to play their anthems and/or appropriate tunes at about
the same time or an appropriate time, to send this clear signal to the
terrorists. They want us to be silent. They want us to shirk from our
duties. They want us to forget what took place on September the 11th.
We will not do so. The United States will not do so, and our friends
and allies will not do so. We won't forget what took place. And we
will bring them to justice. We'll bring them to justice in
Afghanistan, and we'll bring them to justice wherever they try to
hide. Civilization is at stake. And the Prime Minister of Norway and
the President of the United States stand united in protecting freedom
and civilization.
Mr. Prime Minister, welcome to the Oval Office.
THE PRIME MINISTER: Thank you. Thank you, Mr. President. I want to
express my -- how grateful I am that you received me here, so few
weeks after I once more took office as Prime Minister of Norway. And I
also want to express my condolences to the soldiers you lost in
Afghanistan.
And I want to express my sympathy and solidarity with the American
people. We stand firmly by you in fighting terrorism. And as you are
aware of, we have also contributed -- we have offered contributions to
the military operations in Afghanistan, and we will talk more about
that.
And I think it's also so important to discuss the more long-term fight
against terrorism. I also will welcome the positive outcome of the
meeting in Bonn, which I think we've paved the way for a political
solution for Afghanistan, hopefully also for the women in the country;
and also for reconstruction assistance and humanitarian aide.
For Norway, also, will play a key role as the Chair of the Afghanistan
Support Group, from the 1st of January next year. So I want to end up
by saying that the United States is the most important ally for
Norway.
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you.
THE PRIME MINISTER: We share many common fundamental values. And now
we will stand together fighting terrorism for humanity.
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, sir.
THE PRIME MINISTER: Thank you.
THE PRESIDENT: We'll take a couple of questions.
Q: Mr. President, Has the PLO, sir --
Q: Mr. President --
THE PRESIDENT: I'll go with Fournier, and then Bill.
Q: Excuse me?
THE PRESIDENT: You're first.
Q: Thank you, sir.
THE PRESIDENT: Unless it's a tough question, in which case you won't
go at all. (Laughter.)
Q: Oh, then, let's go to Mr. Plante, then. (Laughter.) No. (Laughter.)
THE PRESIDENT: Go ahead.
Q: Has the PLO been harboring terrorists? If so, should they be
treated like the Taliban?
THE PRESIDENT: The PLO, Ron, needs to stand up and rout out those
killers, those murderers who are preventing us from getting a peace
process in place. My nation is committed to peace in the Middle East.
Norway is committed to peace in the Middle East.
But there are obviously folks who want to use the weapon of terror to
derail peace. And Mr. Arafat must show leadership and bring those to
justice who would use murder as a weapon to derail peace and to
destroy innocent life. He must show leadership. Now is his time. And
other nations around the world that are interested in peace must
encourage Mr. Arafat, must insist that Mr. Arafat use everything in
his power to prevent further terrorist attacks in Israel.
Q: And if not?
Q: Mr. President, may I? From Norwegian Broadcasting.
THE PRESIDENT: Please, yes.
Q: A lot of people in Europe, and also in Norway, sir, are very
worried about the military tribunals that you're proposing. Many
people are saying that when you want to save democracy, then this
might be part of the way undermining democracy, itself.
THE PRESIDENT: Well, I appreciate that question and I want the people
of the world to understand that our great nation will never forego the
values that have made us unique; that we believe in democracy and rule
of law and the Constitution.
But we're under attack. Every morning I wake up and read the threat
assessments. The evil ones still intend to harm America. And if it's
in our national security interests to bring people to justice, I will
use a military tribunal. And I may give you one example of why I would
use one -- we haven't used one yet, it's simply an option.
If we capture an al Qaeda representative, if we capture a murderer,
and in order to convict that murderer it would require us giving means
of how we knew he was guilty that would jeopardize the security of the
United States, he'll be tried in a military tribunal.
In other words, this is an ongoing conflict. There are still real
threats. And I, in order to get a conviction of a murderer, will not
jeopardize the people of the United States. I will not show our
secrets. I will not tip our hand. I will not let the world at large --
particularly our enemy -- understand how we put a case together if
it's going to jeopardize and compromise national security secrets of
the United States of America.
My job is to protect the United States people from further attack. And
that's exactly what I'm going to do and, at the same time, bring al
Qaeda to justice.
Q: Mr. President, you said yesterday that you might use U.S. troops
elsewhere. Where, and under what circumstances?
THE PRESIDENT: Bill, I am going to work with our friends and allies to
rout terror wherever it exists. But one of the things I will not do is
signal to the enemy where we might strike next. I will not tip our
hand in any way, shape or form.
But I will tell you this: those who want to commit terror against the
United States or our friends and allies must beware that they will be
hunted down. And those nations which harbor a terrorist or feed a
terrorist or hide a terrorist or clothe a terrorist better be aware of
the United States and our friends, because they will be brought to
justice. Now is a time for the free world to stand up and defend the
freedoms that these evil ones hate.
Q: Mr. President, what kind of role do you see for Norway in the
Middle East?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, that's going to be up to the Prime Minister. And
we haven't had this discussion yet. I do know he's committed to peace,
and for that I am most grateful. I look forward to getting his advice
and counsel.
I think he would share with me the same sentiment, that it's going to
be very difficult to have any kind of peace in the Middle East so long
as terror runs loose, so long as there are people -- individuals who
feel like they can kill and murder to prevent us from getting to any
kind of peace process. There is a plan in place, called the Mitchell
process. But, evidently, there are terrorists who can't stand the
thought of peace, and they must be brought to justice.
THE PRIME MINISTER: Yes, let me add, I fully agree with the President.
And I will also inform him now, during our talk, that I, today, had a
telephone conversation with Chairman Arafat and with Prime Minister
Sharon before I came here. So I have fresh messages to the President
from them.
And I urged Arafat to do his utmost to stop the terror, to arrest the
people behind the terror. It's time for him now to show leadership. I
also urged Prime Minister Sharon to avoid further escalation of
violence, because I am afraid that this will bring us into a terrible
situation, which can end up in a war.
Now they have stopped the bombing of Palestinian targets for the last
26 hours. I hope that this cease-fire will continue, and that there
will be a possibility after some time to again establish contacts
between the parties in the Middle East. Because the alternative is so
bad, to all of us.
THE PRESIDENT: Let me make one correction, if you don't mind. The
Anthem will be played at 8:46 a.m., here on the White House grounds.
And we're asking other nations to play their anthems or respective
tunes. I wanted to correct the time, so that as we prepare this
reminder about the evil, and as we stand fast against terror, that
we've got the correct time that we're going to do so.
Thank you all for coming.
END 3:38 P.M. EST
(end transcript)
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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