02 June 2003
Bush Travels to Mideast to Show Commitment to Peace
(Meets with regional leaders in Egypt June 3, in Jordan June 4) (3290)
Secretary of State Colin Powell says President Bush is traveling to
Egypt and Jordan for meetings with Arab and Israeli leaders to show
his commitment to peace in the Middle East.
"[I]t shows the President's commitment to his vision and his
commitment to the cause of peace, and the fact that we have now laid
out, in the roadmap, a way to move forward," Powell said, briefing
reporters June 2 on board a plane en route to the Egyptian resort city
of Sharm El-Sheikh.
In Sharm El-Sheikh on June 3, Bush meets President Hosni Mubarak of
Egypt, King Abdullah of Jordan, Crown Prince Abdallah of Saudi Arabia,
King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa of Bahrain and Palestinian Prime
Minister Mahmoud Abbas.
"The meeting is important to make sure that the Arab leadership is
behind and supportive of the roadmap and the President's efforts and
will play their part in assisting the Palestinian Authority in
restoring their security organizations and capacity, and ... in
denouncing terror and violence," Powell said.
On June 4, Bush travels to the Jordanian seaport of Aqaba for meetings
with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Abbas.
"[T]his will be a chance for the President, Abu Mazen [Abbas], and
Ariel Sharon to stand together and to show their determination to move
forward. I think it's an important meeting," Powell said.
The secretary said he expects the meetings will be a prelude to action
by the parties for peace.
Powell said the Israeli outposts in the Palestinian territories will
have to be addressed at the very beginning of the peace process. He
said he expects the parties to make statements later in the week about
the territorial integrity and contiguity of a Palestinian state.
Following is the transcript of Powell's briefing:
(begin transcript)
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesman
(Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt)
June 2, 2003
PRESS BRIEFING BY SECRETARY OF STATE COLIN L. POWELL
ON BOARD PLANE EN ROUTE SHARM EL-SHEIKH
June 2, 2003
On Board Plane
SECRETARY POWELL: I had good meetings with Foreign Minister Frattini,
and I guess you've all gotten a readout of the press conference from
those who were there. I was particularly interested in speaking to him
as he gets ready to assume the Presidency of the European Union and as
we start to work together in that capacity, dealing with the Quartet,
Middle East activities of the Quartet, and as I think I've noted to
you on a number of occasions in the past, increasingly the amount of
work I do with the European Union on a direct basis grows with each
passing weekend. Couldn't have a better partner than the Italians and
Minister Frattini and Prime Minister Berlusconi.
The audience with His Holiness was very nice, we talked about Iraq, we
talked about the situation in Iraq and humanitarian concerns. I
briefed the Holy Father on what we were doing. We also talked about
the Middle East at some length.
I briefed him on the President's vision and the roadmap and the
acceptance of the roadmap and how we plan to use that tomorrow in our
discussions with the Arabs and then on Wednesday with Prime Minister
Sharon and Prime Minister Abbas in Aqaba. Continued that conversation
with Cardinal Sodano and Archbishop Tauran, pretty much along the same
lines, same issues. Let me just stop there and take your questions.
QUESTION: Can you begin with the agenda in Sharm el-Sheikh? How
critical is it to lay the framework for your talks in Aqaba?
SECRETARY POWELL: The meeting is important to make sure that the Arab
leadership is behind and supportive of the roadmap and the President's
efforts and will play their part in assisting the Palestinian
Authority in restoring their security organizations and capacity, and
speaking out as strongly as I expect the Palestinians to do in
denouncing terror and violence and any support that is given to those
that practice terror and violence.
And so I think it was important for the President to stop first in
Sharm el-Sheikh to see, to speak with these leaders. Then he will go
on to Aqaba with the strong support of the Arab nations, and to convey
that support to Prime Minister Abbas and to Prime Minister Sharon.
As you know, Assistant Secretary Burns and Senior Director Elliot
Abrams have been in the region for the last several days, working with
the parties on the agenda for the discussions as well as statements
that might be issued if the parties agree to those statements once
they actually meet and talk to one another. As I think I indicated to
you, I'm encouraged by the reports I'm getting back from Assistant
Secretary Burns.
QUESTION: Is the United States prepared to accept if Abu Mazen tries
to incorporate some of the militants in the security forces as an
alternative to get, you know, to end their terrorist attacks?
Secondly, is there any truth to reports in the Israeli press today
that Bob Blackwill will become the next Middle East envoy?
SECRETARY POWELL: Your third question is no. Bob will be returning to
Harvard.
On the second question, we haven't reached any, a level of discussion
that talks about who is or is not going to be in the Palestinian
security apparatus, so I can't really talk to the hypothetical that
you put before me.
QUESTION: Can I switch to the WMD issue? You talked the other day
about the preparations you made for your presentation. Can you give a
bit more detail about how much material you rejected as your
presentation? What proportion of the material presented to you by the
intelligence people and how you went over this as well with the
British?
SECRETARY POWELL: The President asked me to make the presentation.
Some work had been done on what a presentation would look like. We
assembled all the work that had been done - Director Tenet has
testified before the Congress so there was a great deal of material
around - and what I had to do was cull the material and get it down to
a manageable amount that one can give in one presentation. There was
even some suggestion that it ought to be spread out over three days,
or a very very long session on one day. But after thinking about it
and reflecting on it, it seemed to me that if we're going to bring
everybody together, it had to be done in the one day and at one
session, with some practical limits on the amount of time you can
devote to such a session.
As a result of that, I started to work through the material with my
staff. We also know that it was an important presentation, and it had
to be something that was supportable. And so as we walked through it
over a period of about oh, five days, I guess, we kept trimming to
make sure that everything I was to present on behalf of the United
States Government was supportable by the intelligence community.
This wasn't material I was making up, it came from the intelligence
community and I wanted to make sure that the intelligence community
was comfortable with everything I was going to say and would support
everything I was going to say. And that's why, when we had these
sessions, it was with the analysts themselves, with office directors,
individual analysts.
Director Tenet sat there with me throughout this entire period, as did
John McLaughlin. I think they were there for the whole time.
The case we put forward on the 5th of February reflected an effort on
our part to distill down the huge volume of material on weapons of
mass destruction, terrorism, and human rights violations, down to
something that was manageable and that I could present in a period of
about an hour and 30 minutes, which is I think [turned out about an
hour and] 20, something like that.
There was a lot of additional information that was very solid and
substantiated that I didn't use because I didn't have time to use it
all, and anything that we weren't totally comfortable with, we didn't
use. Being uncomfortable with it doesn't mean that it wasn't true or
there was something wrong with it.
It meant that we have to make sure that it truly is substantiated and
that we can multiple-source it so that when the comments come back, we
can stand behind what we've done. Very often, intelligence comes in a
form that you couldn't take to a court. You don't have nine sources,
but it's true as the fact that the sun will come up tomorrow morning
in the east, but you just can't prove it in the time that you get it,
and that's where judgment comes into play and you have to use your
instincts to tell you whether or not something should be used or not.
But in this case, because of the attention that was being focused on
the briefing, and the importance of the briefing, I wanted to make
sure that it was solid information, multiple-sourced, and reflected
the considered and unanimous view of the intelligence community
analysts who are responsible for it.
I was not only presenting on behalf of the United States of America
and on my own behalf, I was presenting the work of the intelligence
community and they wanted to make sure that it was solid as well.
QUESTION: Your discussions with the British, particularly, because one
of the pieces of intelligence that's been most questioned is said to
come from the British, this yellow cake uranium?
SECRETARY POWELL: I did not use the yellow cake in my presentation.
The reason that I did not use the yellow cake in my presentation is
that I didn't sense in going through it all that I saw enough
substantiation of it that would meet the tests that we were applying.
Subsequent information or information that might have been known by
others earlier, that it was not accurate to begin with or the
documents were falsified, I don't even recall whether that came into
play or there might have been a question about it. But it wasn't solid
enough for me to feel that it should be included in the presentation.
Not that I thought it was untrue, it's just that I didn't think that
it was solid enough for the kind of presentation I had to give.
It turned out to be untrue, that happens a lot in the intelligence
business.
QUESTION: To what extent did you go through it with the British on
what you were about to present?
SECRETARY POWELL: I had conversations with the British, with Jack
Straw, constantly during the period, but I have conversations with him
all the time, so he had a sense of how the presentation was coming
together and what I would be saying. But I don't think, I can't
remember what we made available to him. I don't think anything, but
don't hold me to that.
I was in constant communication with Jack, he knew how it was coming
together.
QUESTION: Back on the Middle East, is the upcoming meeting important,
in your mind, to strengthening Abu Mazen's standing among Palestinians
as well as in the Arab world? And along those lines, how important is
it to issue some sort of joint statement at the end of this all?
SECRETARY POWELL: I think it's an important meeting for all the
parties. I think for Abu Mazen, he's going to be on the world stage as
the Prime Minister of the Palestinian people standing with the Prime
Minister of Israel and with the President of the United States.
I think the whole world will be anxious to hear what he has to say.
Whether they are individual or joint statements, or how they will
communicate their views, we will know soon enough. But yes, I think
it's an important meeting and it shows the President's commitment to
his vision and his commitment to the cause of peace, and the fact that
we have now laid out, in the roadmap, a way to move forward.
It isn't so much whether you refer to it as the roadmap or not, but it
is a series of steps that both sides need to start taking so that we
can get as quickly as possible to the political dimensions of the
issue. Ultimately, this will be solved when we solve the political
challenge that is before us. What will a Palestinian State look like?
What will be the elements within that Palestinian State? It's
political elements, it's geographic elements, it's economy and a lot
of other issues. How can we look forward to the ultimate solution of
the difficult outstanding issues? So this will be a chance for the
President, Abu Mazen, and Ariel Sharon to stand together and to show
their determination to move forward. I think it's an important meeting
QUESTION: What do you plan to talk about with Foreign Minister Maher
when you meet him tonight?
SECRETARY POWELL: Foreign Minister Maher is essentially our host for
the meeting, so I'll see him in that light, but I'll also review with
him the statements we were working on to see if there are any
outstanding issues that he and I should discuss. He's one of the key
players working on the statement as well as the Jordanians and the
Saudis, so it will be a chance to get caught up, see where we are. The
President comes in several hours later and we'll all just get ready
for tomorrow.
QUESTION: Do you actually expect any hard, concrete actions to be
taken by the Israelis and the Palestinians after this summit or as a
result of the summit, or is all we can expect at best statements,
words?
SECRETARY POWELL: Statements always come before actions, but we're
expecting action. It isn't enough just to have an exchange, a
statement, some words with no action of the parties. The roadmap calls
for action, not for statements, so I'm expecting this to be a prelude
to action on both parts.
QUESTION: Such as?
SECRETARY POWELL: Why don't you wait and see the statements?
QUESTION: On the meeting in Sharm, you said that there may still be
some issues with Foreign Minister Maher that he wants to work out.
What have been the main sticking points with the Arabs on the roadmap,
if they have been so expressive about it?
SECRETARY POWELL: There are no sticking points with the Arabs on the
roadmap that I'm aware of. We're just trying to see how they want to
express themselves with respect to the roadmap and with respect to the
meetings that will be taking place in Aqaba.
There is nothing out of the ordinary in my meetings with Maher, he is
my host, he is the Foreign Minister of Egypt and I'm arriving in Egypt
and we will see each other just as we would any other time I come to
Egypt. So don't read a lot into the significance of my meeting with
Maher tonight.
QUESTION: You just said there may be something...?
SECRETARY POWELL: Yeah, if there are any outstanding issues that Burns
reports to me as we go in for a landing, I can talk to Maher about
them. But there are always outstanding issues when you're working on a
statement. That's nothing new.
QUESTION: And what about the Moroccans saying that they weren't coming
to the meeting?
SECRETARY POWELL: The King was concerned about some difficulties that
he's had in the kingdom, so he chose to stay in the kingdom.
QUESTION: Domestic reasons, you mean?
SECRETARY POWELL: Yes.
QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, how important is it at the Sharm meeting that
you get from the Arab leaders a strong endorsement of Abu Mazen as the
Prime Minister and as a way of getting them to distance themselves
from Arafat?
SECRETARY POWELL: The Arab leaders have already expressed their
support for Abu Mazen. I'm sure they will convey that again at Sharm.
QUESTION: How sincere is Israel in this process? Are you confident
that they are sincere about going forward?
SECRETARY POWELL: Prime Minister Sharon says he is committed to moving
forward, he is committed to peace. You will hear from him directly on
Wednesday.
QUESTION: Did you speak to the Italians or the Vatican about Mr.
Arafat, and the importance of isolating him? And do you plan to do
that for the Egyptians as well?
SECRETARY POWELL: We've been clear with the Europeans about our
feelings with respect to Mr. Arafat. We know that he is the elected
President, we know that he is held in a unique position by the
Palestinian people, but we felt all along that his leadership has been
a failed leadership. That's why we have not dealt with him since last
year. I once again conveyed that to Minister Frattini today. As the
Presidency of the EU, he will have to reflect the views of the EU on
this subject, and they still feel that a purpose is served in working
with Abu Mazen and showing their support for Abu Mazen, but at the
same time also having conversations and meetings with Chairman Arafat
so that they can present their views to Chairman Arafat. It's not a
position that we share with them but that's their position.
With respect to the Arabs, we've made the same point and they also
support Abu Mazen as Prime Minister, but they are not prepared to
exclude having conversations with Chairman Arafat.
QUESTION: It seems like one of the difficulties for creating a viable
Palestinian state is the settlement issue. This is, the Israelis have
tried to make a distinction between what they've called legal
settlements, and illegal settlements. Have you reached any sort of
understanding at this point with the Israelis as this process moves
forward, how one defines what settlements would need to be dismantled,
moved back, frozen, in order to set the groundwork for such a viable
Palestinian state?
SECRETARY POWELL: The outposts, I think, are clearly, it's clearly
understood that they have to be dealt with at the very beginning of
this process. Then we'll get into discussions on territorial
contiguity of a Palestinian state and what will have to be done in
order to provide that territorial integrity and contiguity. And I
think you'll hear about this later in the week.
QUESTION: Just one completely unrelated question, an odd follow-up.
While we've been away, there's been a big crackdown in Burma. They've
put Suu [Aung San Suu Kyi] into protective custody. What is your
reaction, and does this make it more likely that the Administration
might support some sort of legislation for an import ban towards
Burma?
SECRETARY POWELL: We have joined with other nations in condemning the
placement of Aung San Suu Kyi into protective or any other sort of
custody. The Burmese authorities say they did it as a way of
protecting her during a disturbance. If that is the case, therefore we
expect she will be immediately or promptly released. We have conveyed
this through diplomatic channels to the Burmese government.
With respect to specific legislation, I won't comment because I don't
have it in front of me, and secondly, let's see whether she is
remaining in protective custody or not. If it's protective custody and
the need for protection has gone away, we assume that she will be
released and we expect her and want her to be released as soon as
possible.
(end transcript)
(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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