15 April 2002
Powell Says Regional Conference Could Promote Peace
(Discusses Hezbollah activities with Syrian President) (1430)
Secretary of State Colin Powell said consideration is being given to
organizing a regional or international conference to spur progress in
political talks between Israelis and Palestinians.
"[W]e have got to move quickly to a political track, and there are
many ways to do that, and one way is with a regional or international
conference," Powell said, briefing reporters on a plane traveling
toward Tel Aviv April 15.
Powell also said Israelis and Palestinians are receptive to the idea
of American monitors to help stabilize the situation.
"[A]ll I know is immediately acceptable to the two sides, would be an
introduction of American monitors," Powell said.
Powell said he discussed Hezbollah's activities with Syrian President
Bashar Assad.
"[H]e recognized that it would not be in anyone's interest at this
point to not try to restrain Hezbollah. That's what he said. He said
he would talk to them, and I expect that he will do that", Powell
said.
Following is the transcript of Powell's on board briefing April 15:
(begin transcript)
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE Office of the Spokesman (Jerusalem)
BRIEFING BY SECRETARY OF STATE COLIN L. POWELL ON BOARD PLANE EN ROUTE
TEL AVIV
April 15, 2002
QUESTION: Did either the Lebanese or the Syrian governments offer you
any promise of reining in militants, be they Hezbollah, the
Palestinian radicals, and did they give you anything else?
SECRETARY POWELL: With both governments I made a strong presentation
with respect to the dangers associated with continued firings over the
Blue Line. I think I can say with reasonable assurance that both
governments understand the seriousness of it, recognize that it could
open a front that neither one of them would like to see opened, and
both said that they would do what they could do to restrain activity
of that type. It was noted that the Lebanese had arrested twenty-four
Palestinians recently, and that President Bashar after our
conversation said that he would be in touch with Hezbollah again.
(Crosstalk)
SECRETARY POWELL: I wasn't expecting them to act against Hezbollah. I
was expecting them and the Syrians to restrain and do everything they
can to restrain them. We made some suggestions about how they could
have more of a military presence in the southern part of Lebanon than
they do now - not necessarily with the difficult task of moving in
whole units. But they have done some mine clearing and other kinds of
operations. If they could have an increased presence in the south,
that might serve as a deterring effect and give them more indications
and knowledge about what's going on in South Lebanon.
QUESTION: The Syrians?
SECRETARY POWELL: No, no, no, we're back to Lebanon. Got to keep up.
(Laughter).
QUESTION: Can you tell us a bit more about the peace conference idea?
Has Prime Minister Sharon said that he's willing to attend one with
Chairman Arafat? Has Prime Minister Sharon given you any reason to
believe he would go to a peace conference attended by Chairman Arafat?
SECRETARY POWELL: You can't have peace without security or security
without peace, as you have heard me say before, and we are working
both tracks. My staff has had good discussions with the Palestinians
today, and I look forward to getting a report when I land, and we have
also been talking to the Israelis. We are anxious to see if we can get
security discussions going, and that is uppermost in my mind right
now. And as you have heard me say, we have got to move quickly to a
political track, and there are many ways to do that, and one way is
with a regional or international conference. The conference in and of
itself isn't a solution, but it's a way to get the parties together
and talking. Prime Minister Sharon gave some endorsement to that kind
of idea yesterday, and Chairman Arafat did as well. I have not
broached the subject of who might attend such a conference in the
first instance, but obviously there have to be representatives of both
sides to the conflict - the Palestinians and the Israelis and others.
But I have not spent time talking about those two individuals being in
a room at the same time, any time in the near future.
QUESTION: Do you think it's possible for such a conference to work
without Chairman Arafat?
SECRETARY POWELL: Chairman Arafat has the ability to empower people.
Chairman Arafat has the abililty now to empower people in the
Palestinian movement to represent him, and the people we were talking
to today were designated by him to speak to us and are so doing. So it
does not necessarily require his personal presence to get started, and
in fact, in one model one could consider is a ministerial-level
conference, not necessarily heads of state or government.
QUESTION: Are you going to meet Chairman Arafat again, and what can
you tell us about a disengagement force that could be introduced
should there be a cease-fire with the Israelis and Palestinians?
SECRETARY POWELL: I'm going to make a judgment tonight after I get
back and have had a chance to talk to Minister of Defense Ben Eliezer,
who I will see in Tel Aviv upon landing, and consult with my staff,
I'll make a judgment as to what I'm going to do tomorrow. So I don't
have any plans to announce to you right now. I also want to talk to
the President again, and I don't think you people are aware of it, but
I had a long conversation with the President last night and with Dr.
Rice when I was at the Ambassador's house for dinner.
QUESTION: The disengagement force?
SECRETARY POWELL: A disengagement force - that's a new term I haven't
heard so far. All I am considering right now, and all I know is
immediately acceptable to the two sides, would be an introduction of
American monitors. Whether something else is possible - Kofi Annan has
expressed some ideas, which are being discussed at the UN; we think
it's premature for us to take a position on the ideas that Kofi
introduced.
QUESTION: This sounds a lot like Dennis Ross' idea, a ministerial
conference at the foreign minister level. Is this something that the
U.S. would be prepared to host in the Washington area?
SECRETARY POWELL: I certainly would consider it, but I think there
would be a number of countries that would be more than willing to host
such a conference, so we would have to see who the participants are
and where best to host it. But there is going to be no shortage of
willing sponsors for such a conference. We are really in preliminary
discussions and not anywhere near structuring it.
QUESTION: To follow-up the conference idea: I am assuming your
thinking is, that if Prime Minister Sharon were to attend the
conference, then Chairman Arafat would have to attend as well. So it
wouldn't be one without the other.
SECRETARY POWELL: I'm not thinking that far out at all yet. I don't
want to speculate on who the attendees at the highest level might be.
One more, Andrea.
QUESTION: Can we get back briefly to Syria and Lebanon? Did you get
any indication that Syria was really willing to acknowledge the
problem of Hezbollah specifically. What we heard publicly in Lebanon,
which is the only thing we heard publicly, was that Hezbollah is not
the problem, Israel is the problem. Is that the same kind of message
you got in Syria? Could you elaborate on what you heard in Syria?
SECRETARY POWELL: Clearly President Bashar spent a great deal of time
talking about the problem as he saw it and talking about Israel as the
source of the problem - and that won't surprise you. But at the same
time, he recognized that it would not be in anyone's interest at this
point to not try to restrain Hezbollah. That's what he said. He said
he would talk to them, and I expect that he will do that. I am just
reporting what he said.
QUESTION: Can I just also ask about Iran? Did anyone talk about Iran's
role? Do you think that Syria itself has the power to control
Hezbollah, or is Iran also a major player that you have to deal with?
SECRETARY POWELL: We didn't talk about the Iranians. I was really
focusing on the role that the Syrians could play and that the Lebanese
could play.
(Crosstalk)
(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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