17 December 2002
State Department Noon Briefing Transcript
(France, Iraq/UN, Germany/UN, Turkey/Europe, Cyprus, Russia, North
Korea, UK/Denmark, Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, Burma,
Israel/Palestinians, Canada, South Korea, Afghanistan, The Hague,
Syria/UK, Egypt) (5800)
State Department Spokesman Richard Boucher briefed.
Following is the State Department transcript:
(begin transcript)
U.S. Department of State
Daily Press Briefing Index
Tuesday, December 17, 2002
12:20 p.m. EST
BRIEFER: Richard Boucher, Spokesman
FRANCE
-- Introduction of French Spokesman
-- Calls by President Bush to President Chirac
IRAQ/UN
-- Weapons Inspections/Dr. Blix Speaking to Security Council
-- Analysis of Declarations Concerning Weapons of Mass Destruction
-- Iraqi Opposition Conference in London
UN/GERMANY
-- German Presidency of Security Council
TURKEY/EUROPE
-- U.S. Response to EU Decision on Accession for Turkey
CYPRUS
-- UN Mediated Settlement Talks
-- EU Accession
RUSSIA
-- Consultations Regarding Iraq and UNSC 1441
-- Consultations Regarding Proliferation in North Korea
-- Bilateral Meeting with FM Ivanov
-- Russian Intelligence Connecting U.S. with Turkish Religious
Institution
NORTH KOREA
-- Nuclear Weapons Program
-- Acquisition of Chemicals from China
UK/DENMARK
-- Missile Defense
VENEZUELA
-- OAS Resolution 833
-- Shutdown of Oil Industry
SAUDI ARABIA
-- Saudis Asked to Register With the INS
BURMA
-- Cooperation with U.S. Anti-Narcotics Efforts
ISRAEL/PALESTINIANS
-- Quartet Meeting on Friday
-- British Proposal to Convene Conference on Palestinian Reforms
CANADA
-- Ratification of Kyoto Agreement
SOUTH KOREA
-- Presidential Election
AFGHANISTAN
-- Human Rights Watch Report on Status of Women
-- Relations with Ishmael Khan
-- Afghan Donors Conference
DEPARTMENT
-- Testimony by Former Secretary of State Albright in The Hague
SYRIA/UK
-- Visit by President Assad to UK
-- Statements by Assad Concerning Relative Threat of Iraq
EGYPT
-- Bilateral with Egyptian Minister
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING
12:20 P.M. EST -- TUESDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2002
(ON THE RECORD UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED)
MR. BOUCHER: So, good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. I don't have
any formal statements or announcements. I'd like to welcome the new
French spokesman to our briefing room, Mr. Yves Doutriaux, and just
say that we fully support French efforts in Cote D'Ivoire.
QUESTION: And that the French support U.S. efforts in Iraq.
MR. BOUCHER: Absolutely. Working closely together at the United
Nations, as well.
Any other questions about U.S.-French cooperation I'll take now, but
other than that, Mr. Schweid, you get the first question.
QUESTION: What can you lay out, to the extent that it's known, on the
Security Council and Mr. Blix? He speaks Thursday, reports. I hear Mr.
Wolf is going up to the represent the U.S. But how does it work out
and what do you anticipate in the way of debate or consideration?
Lengthy?
MR. BOUCHER: I don't know. Simple answer. We'll see. We have been
working closely with other members of the Security Council. We've been
in close touch with the inspectors. As you note, Assistant Secretary
Wolf and others have been in touch with the inspectors, trying to work
with them on two issues. One is helping the inspectors prepare the
working version of the text so that other members of the Council can
have a text that they'll have a chance to review before the meeting on
Thursday.
So I think the inspectors are trying to get it to them either today or
tomorrow so that all the members of the Council can have that, and
then we can get together on Thursday with the inspectors and hear what
I think Dr. Blix has called their preliminary assessment of the Iraqi
document. After that takes place, we will have something to say
sometime, and that's about as definite as I can get to you.
On our own assessment, as the Secretary indicated yesterday, we see
problems with the declaration and that our skepticism about Iraq and
Iraq's cooperation and intentions has been well-founded. But this will
be a process of discussion with other members of the Security Council,
with the inspectors themselves. We'll look at all facets of Iraq's
cooperation -- what's in the declaration, what's not in the
declaration, what we know from other sources, what the inspectors
themselves find out through their own inspections -- as we evaluate
Iraq's cooperation and the final goal, which is to find out if Iraq is
disarming or not.
QUESTION: Little has been said here as -- been directed at Iraq that
Iraq -- well, you know, that it's more significant what's included as
what's not included probably, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. The
leaks have begun. There's a leak now that 80 German shipments, 80
contracts with Iraq, are listed in this report. I'm not asking you to
verify it, but I'm asking you whether the U.S. has problems with the
cooperation Iraq got from European countries in -- even if in dual-use
equipment in doing the things it's done.
MR. BOUCHER: I don't think I can make any kind of sweeping judgment at
this point. Obviously, Iraq has had very active procurement programs
through the years, bought some things, you know, legally in the past
and bought many things illegally in recent years with the extra money
that they've gotten from illegitimate oil sales and the various other
attempts that they've made at procurement.
Countries need to know what the Iraqis have been buying. Countries
need to know what we find out about what the Iraqis have gotten and
where they've gotten it. So I think our view, certainly our view is
not to withhold this kind of information on procurements, but rather,
to share it. And to the extent that the inspectors believe it needs to
be withheld for the purpose of their inspections, we could see that.
But otherwise, in terms of what we're doing with the inspectors and
the other members of the Council in reaching agreement on a working
version for circulation to all the members, that's not really a
factor.
QUESTION: I would like to follow up on Germany. There is information
in the German press saying that the U.S. is trying to prevent Germany
from taking over the presidency of the Security Council in February.
Can you --
MR. BOUCHER: That's a new twist. This is set by standard rotation. I
don't think there's any question about it.
QUESTION: That's what the German press is saying this morning.
MR. BOUCHER: I can't account for what's written in the press. I can
only tell you the facts.
QUESTION: What are your problems with the Iraqi declaration? And you
seem to be backing away now from the idea that you will make some kind
of judgment later this week.
MR. BOUCHER: I don't think we said judgment. I think we said start
offering our assessment or our judgments, maybe plural, about what we
think. The Secretary said we will withhold making a final judgment or
a final statement until we have completed our analysis, completed our
discussions with the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection
Commission and the International Atomic Energy Agency and our
colleagues on the permanent membership of the Security Council. So I'm
sure we'll have something to say later this week, but whether it will
be a "final judgment" or not, don't know, haven't promised it, and not
going to promise it now.
QUESTION: You didn't answer the first part. What are the problems with
the declaration?
MR. BOUCHER: There are problems with the declaration that we'll talk
about later, after we've talked more to the inspectors, to the other
members of the Council, and heard from the inspectors in terms of
their briefings for the Council.
Betsy.
QUESTION: Do you think that you will give your assessment on Thursday?
MR. BOUCHER: I don't know. Later in the week.
QUESTION: That's later in the week.
MR. BOUCHER: It offers several possibilities.
Sir.
QUESTION: Yes, I have a question I asked you last Friday on the
decision by the EU summit on Turkey. There are a lot of reports in the
American press and the European press about a defeat for President
Bush from this decision and his intervention. And there were some
reports that the French President Jacques Chirac made fun of the phone
calls of the President. Can you give us your analysis on the decision
and how you see this decision?
MR. BOUCHER: Our view last Friday, I think, was that it had not been
finalized yet. We were looking to see how it turned out. We've now
looked at how it turned out, and the White House Press Secretary, last
Friday, after my briefing, I think, put out a statement saying we
welcome the decision to open without delay accession negotiations with
Turkey on deciding in December 2004 that Turkey has fulfilled the
Copenhagen political criteria.
We described this as a visionary decision by European leaders. We've
encouraged our friends and allies to work energetically towards this
goal, even though we haven't been members and are not members, not
planning to be members, either, of the European Union, and just said
we've strongly supported Turkey's efforts at political and economic
reform in order to attain that goal of membership which we think is so
important. So, that's our view that we expressed last Friday
afternoon.
QUESTION: If I could follow up, if it's possible.
MR. BOUCHER: Okay.
QUESTION: There is some kind of difference on how the Europeans view
this decision and how the U.S. views this decision. The Europeans say
that they will take in December 2004 and they will decide then if they
-- if and when they will start accession talks with Turkey. The U.S.,
from the White House statements, seems to me points to "without delay"
phrase and say that this is a date if Turkey's ready. So, is this your
view that in December --
MR. BOUCHER: My view is the White House view, yes.
(Laughter.)
QUESTION: And one more question. You promised to me to say something
about Cyprus last Friday and the decision -- the fact that we didn't
have an agreement in Copenhagen and what's going on from now on.
MR. BOUCHER: I don't remember that I actually promised to say
something about Cyprus, but we're always ready to support the efforts
of the UN, of the Secretary General. We do think the opportunity that
has existed still exists, and we look forward to continuing to work
with the parties, with the neighbors, and with the United Nations to
try to achieve a settlement there.
QUESTION: Is February 28 the target day from now on?
MR. BOUCHER: I don't know what the UN is saying these days about
target dates, but we're certainly continuing to work hard in support
of the United Nations.
Sir.
QUESTION: But, otherwise, you don't have any reaction on the EU
decision for the Republic of Cyprus?
MR. BOUCHER: I don't think we've tried to react on every single member
who was given a date or negotiations in terms of new membership in the
European Union. Our view, although we're not a member of the EU, is
that this enlargement process is very good, it's very good for all of
us, and that the more the enlargement of the European Union brings
people to participate in the community of freedom, and that's
important for us all.
QUESTION: But it was a big development in connection with your efforts
and the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to find the solution to the
Cyprus problem, so they combined, and I was wondering why you do not
react namely for the Republic of Cyprus.
MR. BOUCHER: I don't understand what you're saying. That we have been
--
QUESTION: You said you do not comment on --
MR. BOUCHER: In terms of the accession of Cyprus to the European
Union, this is a good thing, part of a broader good thing of the
enlargement of the European Union.
QUESTION: Do you welcome this?
MR. BOUCHER: We welcome it. And if you want me to, I'll go through the
whole list of every single country that was just admitted to
membership and I'll welcome them too, because we think that every
single one of them is a good thing.
QUESTION: Thanks.
MR. BOUCHER: Okay? Nick.
QUESTION: Can we go back to Iraq for a moment? Russia has said today
that there really shouldn't be an American assessment before the
inspectors' assessment of the report, and yesterday Russia, or the
Deputy Foreign Minister, was quoted as saying Russia is not going to
put pressure on North Korea to do what the United States wants it to
do.
I'm just wondering what kind of diplomatic efforts you've got in
Russia going on. We know that the Foreign Minister is coming here on
Friday for the Quartet, but I'm sure you're talking to them.
MR. BOUCHER: I hate it when you answer my question before I get a
chance. The Foreign Minister is coming on Friday -- (laughter) -- and
I'm sure we'll continue to work these issues with him. The Secretary
has been in touch, I think late last week, with Foreign Minister
Ivanov and they certainly have been working with the inspectors as we
and other members of the Council who have the expertise in nuclear,
chemical and biological weapons have been working with the inspectors.
As far as the first part of your question about not making statements
before the inspectors, I think I just told you we intended to say
something after the inspectors, so I don't see any particular
contradiction there.
And as far as the issue of North Korea, I think if you look around --
what we said yesterday with the Japanese, what we have said
consistently, what's been said by the Russians, the Chinese in their
own meetings and their own fora -- everybody insists that
denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula is an essential part of
moving forward. The European Union, in fact, had quite a clear
statement on that and the Secretary repeated those statements
yesterday to make clear that for North Korea to expect more
interaction with the world, more benefits from the world, it had to
get rid of these programs that violate its previous agreements and
obligations.
QUESTION: In that connection, did you see the The Washington Times
story this morning about --
MR. BOUCHER: I saw a lot of stories this morning.
QUESTION: -- China supposedly helping the North Koreans, providing --
MR. BOUCHER: The question of some chemicals, perhaps. I'm afraid that
given the kind of information that the story is reportedly purportedly
based on, I won't be in a position to talk about it since it would
involve intelligence matters for me to talk about any particular
transfers or procurements.
I think we have made clear that North Korea's program to enrich
uranium is a clear and serious violation of its previous commitments
and obligations, not only to the International Atomic Energy Agency,
to us under the Agreed Framework, also to the South Koreans and the
Joint South-North Declaration, and, finally, to the world under the
Nonproliferation Treaty. So any activity designed to further a program
of nuclear enrichment is a clear violation of all its obligations and
we have said that those programs need to be eliminated or we can't
move forward in these relationships.
QUESTION: Right. But it's a violation for suppliers as well as
recipients, isn't it?
MR. BOUCHER: Again, I can't talk about any particular contract,
supplier or otherwise.
QUESTION: You're not identifying them. But I say without identifying
them, they are getting held.
MR. BOUCHER: The question of nuclear suppliers group controls, the
people who participate in that is a little different and a little more
complicated, but --
QUESTION: No, but the missiles --
MR. BOUCHER: But yes, basically, anybody who is providing nuclear
equipment, nuclear weapons-type supplies to North Korea, would be
violating its obligations, as well.
QUESTION: Right.
QUESTION: Intelligence reports aside, are you satisfied that China is
not assisting North Korea's nuclear weapons programs?
MR. BOUCHER: I couldn't make a judgment on that without having to base
it on intelligence sources. I'm not in a position to do that.
Jonathan.
QUESTION: Change of subject? What exactly has the United States asked
from Britain and Greenland on missile defense?
MR. BOUCHER: On missile defense? In the White House statement on
missile defense, you'll see that --
QUESTION: Perhaps I should say Denmark rather than Greenland.
MR. BOUCHER: Yes.
QUESTION: Oh, sorry. Was it in there?
MR. BOUCHER: Well, it says the United States will seek agreement from
the United Kingdom and Denmark to upgrade early-warning radars on
their territory. I think you'll have to ask the Defense Department
about the particularly technical aspects of this. I would just say in
terms of the diplomatic aspects, the Secretary has been in touch with
the Danish Foreign Minister, and I think he's talked to Jack Straw
before. There have been other discussions with these two governments
in order to work to upgrade these radars as part of our decision to
field some missile defense elements.
QUESTION: Have you had any answers yet, or even preliminary answers?
MR. BOUCHER: Don't know. I will have to check.
QUESTION: Do you have anything new on Venezuela? The situation
continues.
MR. BOUCHER: What's going on in Venezuela? I think most of you will
have seen by now the statement by the Organization of American States
Permanent Council last night. We support that decision. It's OAS
Council Resolution 833. It reaffirms very strongly the support for
Secretary General Gaviria's efforts to facilitate dialogue to achieve
a peaceful, democratic, constitutional and politically viable
electoral solution to the crisis in Venezuela, with all due urgency as
warranted by the situation.
We fully support the Permanent Council resolution in that it also
rejects any attempt at a coup d'etat or unconstitutional alteration of
the Venezuelan constitutional regime and reasserts support for the
democratic process in Venezuela. In the end, the Venezuelan people
must be able to decide which democratic, constitutional electoral
option is most viable to resolve the crisis peacefully.
We recognize the situation in Venezuela is volatile, it's
deteriorating rapidly. The United States believes that a solution must
be found quickly to avoid further polarization that could erupt into
violence. We are in close touch with other governments in the
hemisphere and we are all very strongly supporting the efforts of
Secretary General Gaviria down in Venezuela.
QUESTION: The first day or two of the oil cutoff, we asked about
whether the U.S. was asking other oil producers, marketers to do more
to pick up the slack, and it was early and it was a wait and see, we
don't know yet. Well, there seem to be -- you know, the oil prices
have reached $30 now. There seems to be an impact. Is there something
the U.S. is going to do with its friends, like Saudi Arabia, to try to
make up the difference?
MR. BOUCHER: I'm not in position to comment on that. I think as far as
oil markets and oil prices go, you have to talk to the Energy
Department.
QUESTION: Okay.
MR. BOUCHER: Sir.
QUESTION: Do you have anything on the Saudis and the U.S. being asked
to register with the INS?
MR. BOUCHER: That's an Immigration Service matter and they're handling
all the press inquiries on it, I think.
QUESTION: It doesn't go through State at all?
MR. BOUCHER: We're part of the process because we try to give out
information overseas, we try to alert visa applicants to what to
expect, we try to ensure compatibility between what we do and what the
Immigration Service does and we share the information on applicants so
that we can check whether people are telling us the same thing
overseas as they tell us back here.
QUESTION: Has there --
MR. BOUCHER: Those are ongoing efforts, but in terms of actually
deciding and administering this program, it's the Immigration Service
that's doing it.
QUESTION: Has there been any diplomatic exchanges regarding the new
requirement from Saudi sources?
MR. BOUCHER: I don't really know. We've had, I think, discussions with
a variety of governments about the whole question of visas and how we
can continue to welcome these people to the United States from various
regions around the world and, at the same time, have the necessary
protections and security for our nation.
As I think we've pointed out in many of our diplomatic discussions and
some of our discussions here, having a registration system that keeps
track of who is coming into the country and where they are is
something that the United States has really lacked for many years,
whereas in most countries in Europe, it's a common practice. We all
know we turn in our passports and fill out registration forms every
night in the hotels in some countries in Europe, so it's not unusual
to have such a system, and as the United States puts it in place we
want to make sure people understand that this is a normal part of
knowing who's here and who came in and where they are, and that we'll
be trying to do that in the most efficient possible manner.
Sir.
QUESTION: This morning, the Burmese Government announced that they had
been told by the United States that the administration would not
certify them as cooperating fully with international and U.S. efforts
to combat narcotics production. First of all, can you confirm it and
maybe give us some details of where exactly the Burmese were judged to
be deficient?
MR. BOUCHER: No, I can't give you that. The announcement, I would say,
is premature at best. We're going to be looking at the decisions
involved, make final determinations in the next several months. The
question that some have raised of removing Burma from what's called
the Majors List is not under discussion and it's not being recommended
or looked at. Also, we're not considering any bilateral narcotics
assistance for Burma.
The issue that has to be decided, because the law has changed and this
list is being compiled and done differently than in previous years, is
whether Burma has failed demonstrably, is the language of the law.
Based on specific objectives given to Burma to make substantial
efforts to adhere to international counternarcotics agreements and to
take the counternarcotics measures specified in U.S. law. And so
that's an issue we'll be looking at with Burma and others over the
next several months.
QUESTION: I mean, have you any idea why the Burmese have got the
impression that they've been -- that they've kind of --
MR. BOUCHER: I don't know if we've had any conversations with them
about it as we go forward with this process. We often do contact
governments and try to understand what they've done or they haven't
done. So they may have formed an impression from some conversations.
But, as I said, we have a final determination to make over the next
several months about whether or not they failed demonstrably to
cooperate.
Terri.
QUESTION: Do you have anything to say on the end of the Iraqi
opposition conference in London and their formation of a committee?
MR. BOUCHER: Yes, I do, and I believe the White House may be putting
something out as well. I'd just say we're pleased with the results of
the Iraqi opposition conference that was convened in London over the
past few days. The conference represents a historic milestone for the
Iraqi opposition and a symbol of a brighter future for Iraqis both
inside and outside Iraq.
This represents the broadest gathering ever convened to free Iraqis
opposed to the tyrannical regime in Baghdad and the participants
should be commended for their efforts. We're pleased that the
conference participants agreed on a strong statement setting forth
their vision of a better future for Iraq as a democratic state. We
support those aspirations. We look forward to working together with
them to achieve them.
The conference decision to form a coordinating committee to follow up
on the critical work will be useful and we look forward to sharing the
ideas and recommendations developed within our Future of Iraq Project
to assist a future Iraqi government in the post-Saddam Hussein era.
QUESTION: Do you have any details on the Quartet on Friday of who's
coming and where it's all going to be?
MR. BOUCHER: The meetings will be in the State Department. We do, I
believe, expect everybody. Right? Secretary General Annan, Foreign
Minister Ivanov, European Danish Presidency Foreign Minister Moeller,
as well as High Representative Solana, who's usually here for that,
and I think Governor Patten as well. So we'll be having a series of
meetings in the State Department and we expect to end with some kind
of press conference for you.
QUESTION: Will the Secretary have a bilateral with Ivanov?
MR. BOUCHER: I'm sure they will have a chance for some bilateral
discussions. I'm not sure if they've scheduled a separate meeting at
this point, though.
We keep going back? Sorry.
QUESTION: Some Russia, intelligence organization blamed the United
States using to some Turkish religious institution in the Central Asia
and the new republics of Central Asia and one of them is -- the leader
of one of them is in United States right now. He's staying that. Do
you have any --
MR. BOUCHER: I haven't read those Russian intelligence reports, so I'm
not really in a position to comment.
QUESTION: All of the agencies are reporting this.
MR. BOUCHER: No, I'm not aware of those reports. I don't have anything
on them.
Sir.
QUESTION: Will the members of the Quartet go to the White House to see
the President?
MR. BOUCHER: The Secretary said so, yes. We expect the Quartet to go
to the White House, meet with the President.
Ma'am.
QUESTION: Yeah. What is your reaction to Canada ratifying the Kyoto
agreement?
MR. BOUCHER: We don't have any particular reaction. I think our views
of the Kyoto agreement have been well stated. We don't intend to
ratify the agreement, but we do intend to work hard on the issues of
climate change and to cooperate with other governments, some of whom
are in and some of whom are not.
QUESTION: Do you see that this will have any effect, though, on U.S.
investment in Canada or trade with Canada?
MR. BOUCHER: I don't think I can speculate at this point. I don't
know.
Sir.
QUESTION: This Thursday, the South Koreans will choose the new leader,
the new President, but I know that you won't discuss about the
domestic issues, but this election will be pretty hot and interesting
election and do you have anything to comment about this election?
MR. BOUCHER: I agree with your answer. We won't comment on domestic
politics.
Sir.
QUESTION: Do you have anything to say about the Human Rights Watch
report on the status of women in Afghanistan?
MR. BOUCHER: The report, I think, focuses on issues of abuse of women
in Herat. And I think we would note that the human rights situation
throughout Afghanistan, including in Herat, remains a serious
challenge.
We appreciate the work of human rights organizations, Afghan and
foreign, who are contributing much to the discussion of this problem
and working to improve human rights conditions for all Afghans,
particularly women and girls. We'll look carefully at the latest Human
Rights Watch report on abuse of women in Herat. Under Secretary of
State Paula Dobriansky will be in Afghanistan January 8th and 9th to
co-chair a meeting of the U.S.-Afghan Women's Council. Women's rights
and human rights more broadly will be a central theme of her meetings.
U.S. officials will continue to raise human rights with Governor
Ishmael Kahn and other local officials. We'll be releasing our own
comprehensive report on human rights in Afghanistan early next year.
We'll also continue to work with the Afghan Government to take
effective action to end human rights abuses throughout the country.
The Human Rights Commission created under the Bonn accord is an
important vehicle for this purpose and we, as well as other donors are
working with the Commission to provide it with tools to carry out its
mandate.
We expect all Afghan authorities, including regional leaders, to abide
fully by the Bonn accord, which calls for freedom of the press,
establishment of human rights, judicial, civil servant and
constitutional commissions, and the
disarmament-demobilization-reintegration of regional militias.
The United States remains committed to the reconstruction of
Afghanistan and to the establishment of a secure environment to which
refugees and internally displaced persons can return and where all
Afghans can live and work freely without fear of harassment or
intimidation.
I would just note that in our considerable aid budget and assistance
for Afghanistan, the status of women and girls has been particularly
important to us. Opening schools, getting them back into school,
providing protection, providing empowerment and making them part of
Afghan's future has been a very important element in our effort.
QUESTION: Can I just follow up on that, sir?
MR. BOUCHER: Yes.
QUESTION: What's the kind of state of relations between the United
States and Ishmael Kahn? Is there any U.S. support that goes directly
to Ishmael Kahn?
MR. BOUCHER: I don't know. I would have to check. Our assistance is
generally funneled through the central government.
QUESTION: There's an Afghan donors conference today. Is the U.S.
giving anything more?
MR. BOUCHER: I will have to check and see if this is a pledging
conference or not. The Tokyo Conference was about a year ago, in
January, and I think, if I remember correctly, at that time we pledged
something like $300 million, and this year we've already delivered
almost twice that much -- somewhere in the $500 to $600 million range.
So the United States has consistently been a very strong donor for
Afghanistan.
We've provided assistance to refugees, to returnees, food assistance.
We already have food stockpiled for the winter in parts of the country
that are getting closed off by the snows, but we've also been a very
important donor in terms of building schools, rehabilitating
irrigation systems and putting down the elements of a longer term
future for Afghanistan.
Yes.
QUESTION: Richard, did anyone at the Department have any involvement
in Secretary Albright's testimony today at The Hague?
MR. BOUCHER: We were required to authorize testimony by Secretary
Albright as a former official. We do this on a case-by-case basis. The
circumstances in this case are unique, in particular that the request
was a joint request from the prosecution and the defense. And the
prosecution and the defense shared the goal of using the sentencing
hearing to highlight not only the tribunal's role in establishing
accountability, but also its potential for promoting regional
reconciliation.
So they jointly requested that the U.S. Government permit former
Secretary of State Madeline Albright to testify at the sentencing
hearing. We granted that permission. She has now testified and we
think it's an important contribution to the process of international
justice for her to appear and testify.
QUESTION: Do you have to know the basic content of that testimony to
approve it, or do you just give a green light no matter what the
person would say at the testimony?
MR. BOUCHER: I think the issue for us is that people who appear in
this manner are appearing to discuss information that they acquired in
their official capacity and that's the judgment that we make.
Obviously, American officials always tell the truth anyway, but
especially before tribunals.
QUESTION: I want to follow up on that. Since you're on the subject,
could you update us on the status of the proposal that Mr. Holbrooke
testify in The Hague?
MR. BOUCHER: Don't think there's anything new on that at this point.
QUESTION: Just so I understand it, are you legally required to approve
or not approve such testimony, or is it simply a State Department
practice or internal rule?
MR. BOUCHER: I think it's based on standard international legal
practice that, for any testimony requested of present officials or
former officials, that we would approve or not approve their
appearances based on standard practices of diplomatic immunity.
QUESTION: Do you have anything on the British proposal to convene a
conference on Palestinian reforms in January in London with
Palestinian officials? And do you have any comment on the presence of
President Assad of Syria right now in London at the invitation of the
British Government?
MR. BOUCHER: No, I have no particular comment on that bilateral visit.
As far as the announcement by Prime Minister Tony Blair yesterday that
they'll convene a conference on Palestinian reform in mid-January, we
welcome the announcement. A conference like this would be useful in
providing an opportunity to reinforce and encourage Palestinian reform
efforts and builds on and strengthens the work already undertaken by
the International Task Force and the Quartet. Through progress on
reform, as well as performance on security, the Palestinians can help
make possible implementation of the President's vision of two states,
Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security.
We deeply appreciate the United Kingdom's ongoing involvement in the
pursuit of a just, lasting and comprehensive peace in the region and
look forward to discussion of these issues within the upcoming Quartet
meeting later this week.
Sir.
QUESTION: While we're on the subject of Assad's visit, I don't know
whether you've had a chance to see his comments he made in London, but
one of them was that Syria, which of course has been at odds with Iraq
for most of the past 25 years, did not see Iraq as a threat to the
region, and he also said that he suspected that the U.S. campaign
against Iraq was motivated by other factors such as oil.
How can you persuade us that Iraq is a regional threat when many
countries like Syria, which are neighbors, say publicly that they
don't see it as such, and others have said so, too?
MR. BOUCHER: Where did you get the word "many"?
QUESTION: Well, I think the Jordanians have said so, too.
MR. BOUCHER: "Many" is one?
QUESTION: No, the Jordanians have said so, too. I think even the
Egyptians have.
MR. BOUCHER: Many of Iraq's neighbors -- and I think I'm well
justified in using the word "many" -- understand that Iraq has gassed
its own people, understand that Iraq has gassed its neighbors,
understand that Iraq has invaded two of its neighbors, and understand
that Iraq's continued pursuit of weapons of mass destruction
constitutes a threat to the region as well as to the whole world.
QUESTION: Thank you.
MR. BOUCHER: I think that's it.
QUESTION: I wanted to see if you had anything on the Egyptian
Minister, Secretary Powell meeting with him?
MR. BOUCHER: We'll get you something from the Press Office.
QUESTION: Okay.
(The briefing was concluded at 12:55 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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