15 December 2003
State Department Briefing, December 15, 2003
Department, Iraq, North Korea, China, Cyprus, Burma, Canada, Israel/Palestinians, Venezuela
State Department Spokesman Richard Boucher briefed.
Following is a transcript of the briefing:
(begin transcript)
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING
MONDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2003
(ON THE RECORD UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED)
1:02 p.m. EST
BRIEFER: Richard Boucher, Spokesman
Index
DEPARTMENT
Secretary Powell's Condition after Surgery
Secretary Powell's Schedule/Communications
Consultations with Doctors/Initial Diagnosis
Secretary Powell's Telephone Calls to Foreign Ministers
IRAQ
Capture of Saddam Hussein
Reconstruction Process/Contributions
Arrangements for War Crimes Tribunal
Geneva Convention/International Requirements
Rewards for Justice Program
United Nations Security Council December 16 Meeting
Secretary Baker's Mission
NORTH KOREA
Six-Party Talks
CHINA
Secretary Powell's Conversation with Chinese Foreign Minister Li
Update on Charles Lee
CYPRUS
Turkish Cypriot Election Results
Visit of Ambassador Tom Weston
U.S. Envoys to Cyprus
Formation of a Government
BURMA
National Reconciliation Meetings in Bangkok
CANADA
Secretary Powell's Call to Foreign Minister Graham
ISRAEL/PALESTINIANS
Ambassador Satterfield's Meetings with Israelis and Palestinians
Role of Syria and Lebanon in Peace Process
VENEZUELA
U.S. Views on Events in Venezuela
MR. BOUCHER: Okay. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. It's a pleasure to be here. Should I take the first question or should I just start answering it from the top?
QUESTION: Might as well answer it from the top.
MR. BOUCHER: Okay. The Secretary's condition, I assume.
QUESTION: Sure.
MR. BOUCHER: I just spoke to the Secretary's doctor a few minutes ago. I'm happy to report that he's out of surgery, that everything went fine. Secretary of State Colin Powell, as you all know, underwent surgery this morning. The surgery was a removal of prostate. The surgery was performed at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Doctors say he had a localized prostate cancer. The surgery took approximately two hours. They say he did extremely well. There were no complications and a full recovery is expected.
Shall I take your questions on this or other matters?
QUESTION: I caught the word "localized." Can you tell us if there will be a test to see if there is any invasion of the glands?
MR. BOUCHER: I assume the doctors will do whatever tests are appropriate. This is the, I think, the general summary that they have at this moment, and if there's a significant change in his condition, we'll update you.
QUESTION: Are you able to give the doctor's name?
MR. BOUCHER: I don't think so. We had --
QUESTION: Why not?
MR. BOUCHER: -- it was an experienced team out there that worked on this and, obviously, they have specialists in these sorts of things, have done many operations and --
QUESTION: Oh, have you a notion of how long he might -- he's going to be on part-time duty, so to speak?
MR. BOUCHER: We're told that he should spend, probably spend several days in the hospital, and then there will be a period of recuperation at home, where he'll be on a somewhat reduced schedule. He'll certainly be fully back on the job by early in the new year, but we're also given to expect that he'll be sending us all emails and instructions within days.
QUESTION: In an answer to questions this morning, State Department officials were saying that the surgery was not an emergency procedure and had been scheduled several months ago. Is there any reason why he waited several months to have the surgery? Did he have any other treatment between when it was diagnosed and the surgery this morning?
MR. BOUCHER: He's been seeing his doctor, of course, as necessary, during the past several months in preparing for this moment. But with the, you know, consultation with his doctors and his family, he was able to schedule the surgery at a time which was relatively slower on his schedule, was able to pick a date in advance where nothing would have to be moved, changed or otherwise disrupted. And so that's why he picked this particular time period to do this.
QUESTION: I only get these questions because my mom is a nurse and she's asking me all these things.
MR. BOUCHER: Well, I'm not a doctor so I'm not qualified to answer them. But there's a limit to the amount of detailed medical information --
QUESTION: Right, I understand. But following up on Arshad, did he have -- the treatment, as I understand it from my mother, treatment -- surgery is not the first option, generally, in this sort of cancer. And so was he undergoing treatment, I mean, while he was maintaining a full schedule?
MR. BOUCHER: Once again, I'm not in a position to get into the full medical details. I don't think we're inclined in that direction. This was the decision of the Secretary and his doctors that this was the way to handle the problem that he had.
QUESTION: And this was the first treatment, as you understand it, for the cancer?
MR. BOUCHER: He's been consulting with his doctors all along. This is the course of action that they determined.
QUESTION: Can you tell us about the detection? Was it a physical that --
MR. BOUCHER: No, I can't. This is something that he and his doctors -- his doctors figured out he had that needed to be taken care of, and they've taken care of it now.
Adi.
QUESTION: Richard, can you tell us the initial diagnosis, was it made in -- during his annual physical? Was it in September, October? Can you tell us when?
MR. BOUCHER: No. Initial diagnosis was several months ago. That's as much as I can give you.
Chris.
QUESTION: Is he otherwise healthy or does he have any other health concerns? Will this affect, in any way, his decision whether to stay on in a second Bush Administration?
MR. BOUCHER: No, this has no bearing whatsoever. He serves at the pleasure of the President.
QUESTION: Has he been -- is he able to be in touch, or when might he be in touch, with his Deputy and begin sending out those e-mails?
MR. BOUCHER: Well, he was giving instructions to his Deputy this morning on the phone on the way to the hospital, and I wouldn't be surprised whether he gets further involved by the end of the day. We'll just have to see whether it's today, tomorrow or the next day.
But, as I said, he's going to be in a position to be communicating with us fairly soon, even while he's still at the hospital.
QUESTION: Has he requested a backup?
MR. BOUCHER: No comment.
Sir.
QUESTION: Can you confirm that the Secretary got a call or called the Chinese Foreign Minister Li, and what was the contents for this discussion?
MR. BOUCHER: Well, let me -- yes, he did talk to Foreign Minister Li. He talked to 23 foreign ministers yesterday.
As you all know, the Secretary has been carrying a pretty busy schedule for the last -- well, for as long as we can remember. But if you look in the last few weeks, he had the trip where he did -- was in Europe twice and three countries in North Africa within the space of five days. I think that was his second time in Europe in two weeks. Then he was back for a pretty busy week last week, and the weekend with the capture of Saddam Hussein, he was very busy yesterday talking to other foreign ministers, and, in fact, talked to 23 of his counterparts.
I'll leave it to the White House also to run down the President's phone calls. The President was quite -- in touch with quite a few of his counterparts. But let me kind of go through the list.
Very early in the morning, starting at 6:20 a.m. or so, he talked to British Foreign Minister Straw, Spanish Foreign Minister Palacio, and then as they worked their way through the morning he talked to Italian Foreign Minister Frattini, Polish Foreign Minister Cimoszewicz, Japanese Foreign Minister Kawaguchi, Egyptian Foreign Minister Maher, Jordan Foreign Minister Muasher, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud, NATO Secretary General Robertson, German Foreign Minister Fischer, Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed Al-Sabah, French Foreign Minister de Villepin, EU High Representative Solana, Israeli Foreign Minister Shalom, UN Secretary General Annan. That brings us to lunchtime.
After lunch he talked to Russian Foreign Minister Ivanov, Bulgarian Foreign Minister Pasi, Australia Foreign Minister Downer, Turkish Foreign Minister Gul, South Korea Foreign Minister Yoon. And then in the evening he talked to Indian Foreign Minister Sinha and Chinese Foreign Minister Li.
QUESTION: Was this primarily about Saddam Hussein? Because you have a Korean situation.
MR. BOUCHER: This was primarily about Saddam Hussein and the capture of Saddam Hussein. The basic point the Secretary was making is that this should have a political and psychological effect on the situation, that we were steadfast and steady on course, in terms of dealing with the security situation and rebuilding Iraq, and that we look forward to the cooperation with the international community, including he talked to many members of the coalition, many of the countries already involved in Iraq.
They're all looking at the meeting at the United Nations this week, December 16th, where the Iraqis will be there to present their plan for the political progress, and we'll also hear further from the Secretary General about how he can be involved, and UN involvement is obviously something we encourage.
Now, with various members of the international community who he talked to, he did talk about other subjects. Some of the countries are potential contributors or thinking about moving forward on contributions, obviously, with the Japanese, the Chinese, the South Korean. He also talked about the situation vis-à-vis North Korea.
QUESTION: So he did -- or did he speak to, at least, some of them, about -- in fact, solicit some of them, to maybe think about sending some peacekeeping troops in there? And the question --
MR. BOUCHER: I would say they talked, in general terms, about the fact that this event was a political and psychological blow to those who harbored any dreams of stopping the process of reconstruction, stopping the process of the Iraqis taking charge, and that that process could best succeed with international support, and that that international support was going to be discussed, demonstrated, in terms of the meetings this week with the Iraqis at the UN, and in terms of what we did with the UN when we heard from Secretary General later this week as well.
So there was not a specific discussion or request, although with some of them, who are in the process of making contributions, or have already become involved there, they talked about the status of their contributions.
QUESTION: Is there a judgment here, that this event will result in more countries being willing to contribute?
MR. BOUCHER: I think it's hard to predict that. I know the President was asked a very similar question, and it's hard to predict, particularly in the inferences that we're really talking about, some of the European countries that might have held back at Madrid, or held back before. It will be up to them to decide what to do as we move forward.
Clearly, the forces that have tried to stop reconstruction will suffer a blow, but there are already 60-some countries involved in Iraq one way the other in the reconstruction process, and we would always hope that more would come and join that process, which is bound that -- which is -- I think we are determined will succeed.
Charlie.
QUESTION: Richard, to go back to the Secretary's medical condition and the surgery that he had this morning, did his upcoming surgery, since you've known about it for the last couple months, play any role in the Administration's decision to ask former Secretary Baker to play the role he is currently playing, knowing the Secretary would be out of the mix for that kind of a job?
MR. BOUCHER: No.
Chris.
QUESTION: Can you tell us when the Secretary found out about the capture of Saddam Hussein and who telephoned him?
MR. BOUCHER: The Secretary heard Saturday afternoon from Dr. Rice that they had captured an individual who was believed to be Saddam Hussein. And then, I think as you see in the other accounts given by members of the Administration, this was confirmed 5:30, 5:45 or so on Sunday morning when they knew for sure it was Saddam Hussein.
QUESTION: And he decided that Jerry Bremer should have the pleasure and the role of making the announcement?
MR. BOUCHER: I don't know that. I don't think that was the Secretary's decision. I'm not quite sure whether that was made in advance or at the White House or where.
Adi.
QUESTION: Can we go ahead to the possible trial for Saddam?
MR. BOUCHER: Change the topic? Okay. It's all yours.
QUESTION: As you envision this trial for Mr. Hussein, how internationalized do you expect it to be in terms of support from the UN judges, international judges, not just Iraqi judges, things that like, Richard?
MR. BOUCHER: Those are questions that are being worked through. As you know, the Iraqis have just announced a war crimes tribunal arrangement that they are setting up. That arrangement provides for international advisors. It also provides an opportunity for an international role as judges, prosecutors and other members of the court. So the establishment of that apparatus, that legal apparatus, court structure, in fact, is something that will be taking place in the future.
We'll be working with the Iraqis as they set up the court, and obviously, they -- and we'll be consulting with them closely as they make the decisions as we can proceed to some sort of justice for Saddam Hussein. We'll be in close touch with the Iraqis all along. But exactly the final structure of the court and how some of these decisions will play out, I can't tell you.
QUESTION: Do you anticipate those decisions being made ultimately by the Iraqis?
MR. BOUCHER: Well, there are provisions in this process for advisors from -- international advisors to participate in this. Certainly we have been working with the Iraqis in the announcement of the court and our Ambassador Prosper will go back to Baghdad probably very early in the new year to work with them on the actual establishment of the court.
And as the President said this morning, that we'll work through all these issues with the Iraqis, and it's going to be up to the Iraqis to make many of the decisions.
QUESTION: Did they make the decision, or is there a decision, that he's not a prisoner of war? Apparently he is being -- it's being handled in some mixture of international and Iraqi law.
MR. BOUCHER: No, the international law basically says you treat somebody under the Geneva Convention as with the privileges of a prisoner of war unless some competent tribunal decides otherwise. So, for the moment, I think our military people have said quite clearly that's what they're doing, and, you know, the people who have him in custody are the ones who decide to follow those rules. And, indeed, the American military does follow those rules. They respect all those international requirements.
QUESTION: Richard, I'm a little bit confused. You've made several references to advisors, international advisors, and I think you made a reference to a possible role or a role for international judges and lawyers. But straighten me out. Do you expect international judges, non-Iraqi judges, to be part of this?
MR. BOUCHER: I can't tell you the final answer on that at this point. The statute that the Iraqis set up for the court provides a specific role for international advisors. It also provides an opportunity for members of the court, international members of the court. So those are the kind of issues we'll work through with the Iraqis as the tribunal is set up and as the decisions on how to hold Saddam Hussein accountable are finally made.
As the President made clear, this needs to be a fair trial, it needs to be a trial that is seen as fair in the international community, and it is something that we will work closely with the Iraqis on as we proceed towards holding Saddam Hussein accountable.
Joel.
QUESTION: We've heard -- what about the mix of that proposed trial? You don't certainly give the citizens of Halabja a choice of what they want to do. There would be probably no trial, immediate execution. And what's to keep the Sunni and Shiites from battling this out and creating a type of religious war between them?
MR. BOUCHER: I don't -- I don't think it's good to speculate along those lines at this point. The United States has made clear, the President has made very clear it needs -- there needs to be a fair trial that can be perceived as fair in the international community, but that Saddam Hussein definitely needs to be held accountable.
When we were in Halabja, I know many of the people there were saying, quite openly, that they wanted to try Saddam Hussein in Halabja for the crimes committed by his government, that he and his government committed there, in terms of the murders, using chemical weapons. Many of those things are quite well known, but the final structure, location of the court, are things that we'll work through as we proceed.
QUESTION: The International Red Cross says that it does consider Saddam Hussein a POW and wants access to him, wants to visit him. Has a request like that been made to the U.S. Government, and would you have any problem with such a visit, whether or not he is declared a PO -- an official POW by the Administration?
MR. BOUCHER: I think, for the moment, that's a question that the U.S. military would have to address. But if I find my notes, I think they already have. I probably can't find my notes.
Those are judgments that would be made by the lawyers as we go along, but one need not worry that he'll be treated in a humane and professional way; that was Secretary Rumsfeld's answer to the question. So I'll have to leave it at that for the moment, don't have anything more.
QUESTION: Was there a request for a visit?
MR. BOUCHER: I don't have anything more on that at this moment, no.
QUESTION: What about the death penalty? Does the U.S. have a view on whether it would advise the Iraqis setting up the tribunal to make the death penalty possible?
MR. BOUCHER: We'll stick to the answer the President just gave on that.
Adi.
QUESTION: Richard, given the nature, in terms of how this capture went down, interrogation of a person loyal to Saddam's regime, is it -- is it likely, therefore, that the Rewards for Justice Program will not play a role in this, that someone, that an Iraqi national probably not receive a reward, whether it's 25 million or 5 million, whatever the amount is?
MR. BOUCHER: I wouldn't want to speculate at this point. It's not -- I wouldn't want to speculate on rewards, at this point. There was a reward. I think the terms and conditions are quite clear, in terms -- in the -- under the program on the website. But whether anyone might somehow be referred or qualify, I think is purely very speculative at this point.
Yeah.
QUESTION: Is it -- can you confirm whether or not the person who was involved in turning over Uday and Qusay ever got his money?
MR. BOUCHER: Yes, $30 million was paid for that.
QUESTION: You are certain, right?
QUESTION: Are you sure?
QUESTION: Are you sure?
MR. BOUCHER: I was when I walked in here. Am I supposed to be less sure right now? I will double, triple check for you.
QUESTION: As of last week, I don't believe that he had received the money.
QUESTION: Like Friday.
QUESTION: So, perhaps -- so, perhaps, you have new information?
MR. BOUCHER: No, my -- let me double check for you.
QUESTION: Thanks.
QUESTION: Could we go to something else?
MR. BOUCHER: Something else.
Sir.
QUESTION: North Korea.
QUESTION: Unsurprisingly, they had some critical things to say, accused the U.S. of delaying tactics. Of course, you've said in the past, you expect these kind of -- this kind of rhetoric. But do you have a real problem now, getting the talks resolved?
MR. BOUCHER: I hadn't seen their latest.
QUESTION: Well, there's one every day.
MR. BOUCHER: What -- what I will tell you, that we've kept in touch with the Chinese, and with the other parties to the talks -- Japanese, South Koreans, in particular -- that we have continued to work diplomatically to try to make it possible for talks to start. The Chinese have looked at the schedule with expectation we might have talks this week, and have come back and said it's really not technically possible to do that.
So, we're now looking at holding a round early in the new year. And for our part, I have to say we are ready to hold a round as soon as possible in the new year. We call on the North Koreans, once again, to drop their preconditions for talks, and restate that we are working and are willing to work with the Chinese to produce a productive round. So that's -- that's kind of where we stand right now.
QUESTION: Well, the statement says that you are not offering them the simultaneity they wanted. Your description of what -- the countries, I suppose includes Russia, (inaudible) sounded kind of simultaneous, that is stages of things. But you say you haven't seen the statements. So I guess it isn't fair to ask.
MR. BOUCHER: Well, that's a word that they have often used before. That's part of a North Korean proposal, and to say, "I won't go to talks unless you accept my whole proposal in advance," that's the kind of preconditions that we don't think is justified or merited. The point is that there can be a common basis, but it shouldn't be a precondition of accepting the other side's proposals before you even sit down and talk.
The United States has made proposals in these talks, and we're working with the Chinese to try to establish that fundamental basis for discussions that can make them productive. But we have not set any preconditions for the talks and we don't think the North Koreans should either.
Okay, let's go back there. Sir.
QUESTION: Do you have any reaction to Chinese Foreign Minister Li's comments regarding the United States, his hopes for the United States to take a more flexible and practical attitude for the next round of talks?
MR. BOUCHER: I think what the Chinese have said is they are looking for all the parties to the talks to take a flexible and pragmatic attitude, so I would merely restate the position of the United States is we have been working, are willing to work with the Chinese to establish a good basis for talks, but point out at the same time that we have not set preconditions on discussions.
Sir.
QUESTION: Richard, can I follow up on that?
QUESTION: On -- back to Iraq for a minute.
QUESTION: Oh, sorry. Just --
MR. BOUCHER: Let's try following up. Let's finish North Korea and go back. Okay.
QUESTION: On that question of flexibility, you said you were willing to work with the Chinese, but you haven't indicated any flexibility on the baseline U.S. demands of a complete, irreversible, verifiable dismantling of the North Korean nuclear program. Are you willing to show actual flexibility prior to holding these talks, or that bedrock position remains unchanged?
MR. BOUCHER: That has been our position from the beginning in starting these talks. The President stated the position that we would be prepared, in return, to provide security assurances from the multilateral group involved. And I have to say that the premise that was discussed at the last round that the Chinese conveyed was a consensus among the whole group, including, at that time, they said, the North Koreans, that there should be a denuclearized Korean Peninsula. And that's what the talks were about.
So for the United States to say that we're looking for a verifiable, complete and irreversible end to North Korea's nuclear weapons program doesn't contradict that in any way; it supports it, in fact.
QUESTION: Are you willing to show any flexibility on the issue of the timing of steps?
MR. BOUCHER: We're not looking to negotiate in advance and in public through public statements. We're looking to start discussions on how these twin goals can be achieved of achieving a verifiable, complete and irreversible end to North Korea's nuclear weapons programs while providing whatever multilateral security assurances are necessary for the North Koreans as that process goes forward.
QUESTION: One last one, and I apologize if you covered it while I was walking back in. But did you say, or can you now say, that there is no prospect for holding talks this year?
MR. BOUCHER: I did say that the Chinese got back to us and said looking at the way the schedule had been anticipated, it was technically not possible to hold it this week, so we're now looking at early in the new year.
Mr. Ota.
QUESTION: If it's possible, could you elaborate the Secretary's conversation with, you know, Chinese Foreign Minister and also South Korean and Japanese?
MR. BOUCHER: It really is just along the lines of what we discussed here. With the Chinese Foreign Minister, they discussed the recent visit by Premier Wen to the United States, they discussed Iraq and the capture of Saddam Hussein, and they discussed our efforts in working together to set an early date for the next round of North Korea talks along the lines of what we've been talking about.
Teri, you had something?
QUESTION: I actually want to go to Middle East. Do you want to finish this?
MR. BOUCHER: Well, we had a change of subject to Iraq somewhere around here.
More North Koreans? Sir.
QUESTION: On North Korea. I just wanted to know the call from Chinese Li is placed by the Secretary or received?
MR. BOUCHER: I think the Secretary made the phone call, yeah.
QUESTION: The Secretary made the phone call.
MR. BOUCHER: Yeah. Sir.
QUESTION: You mentioned early next year. Do you have any concrete idea -- January or middle of January or February?
MR. BOUCHER: We're ready to go as soon as possible in the new year. We've always left it to the Chinese to try to pin down specific dates. But we're ready as soon as possible in the new year. We've been ready for some time to go to talks.
Okay, North Korea. We're finishing? Sir.
QUESTION: You said the January, but there's -- because it supposed to be, you know, conveyed in Beijing, but the Chinese has a new year going on then.
MR. BOUCHER: The Chinese, I think, are well aware of Chinese New Year, and I'm sure as they work this out they'll pick some dates that work for them as well as the others.
Okay? Are we still on North Korea? Okay. He had first -- who had first dibs on changing the subject? I can't remember who it was. Who had first dibs?
QUESTION: I think I did.
MR. BOUCHER: All right, we'll just pick somebody at random. Sir.
QUESTION: Yes. Now just -- on the meetings this week at the UN with the Iraqi members of the Governing Council, is that -- are those informational and on their government plans, or is there some action required on the part of the Council?
MR. BOUCHER: Well, there's two things that are going on on the 16th in the Council. The first is the Secretary General's most recent report on Iraq. I think we discussed this somewhat last week when the report came out. But that will be discussed with the Security Council. And with regard to that, I'd say U.S. policy is to encourage the United Nations to play as full a role as possible in the reconstruction and the political process in Iraq, as circumstances permit, the way it says in the UN resolution.
The Council, I believe, has accepted the Iraqi letter describing their November 15th decisions as the report that was required by the latest UN resolution, and then the Council will have a chance to discuss that with the Iraqis. So that's a two-pronged meeting: One is with the Secretary General and his plans, how the UN can be more involved in Iraq; and the second is with the Iraqis about how the political process can unfold.
Yeah, Warren.
QUESTION: Follow up on that. The Secretary, in his conversations with the Russians, French and Germans, did he hear anything new about their willingness to accept sort of the streamlined resolution we want, which merely accepts what the IGC has done?
MR. BOUCHER: We're not pushing a new resolution at this point, so it wasn't -- it's not a topic, particular topic of conversation, at this moment.
Yeah, Tammy.
QUESTION: In the Secretary's conversation with Kofi Annan, did -- did the Secretary General provide any indication that the UN -- or that he's rethinking the UN role at all, in terms of the security situation, based on the capture of Saddam Hussein? And I know I stated that question incredibly well.
MR. BOUCHER: You certainly did. But it provides me an opportunity to say I'm not the spokesman for the Secretary General and I'm not going to prevent -- pretend to convey his thoughts indirectly through a television -- telephone conversation --
QUESTION: Can I rephrase?
MR. BOUCHER: -- so I'll leave it to the UN to talk about the Secretary General's thoughts. But, obviously, we all look forward to hearing his thoughts more completely at the session this week.
QUESTION: Is there any expectation that we'll hear something different?
MR. BOUCHER: That's a question you can ask of the Secretary General.
QUESTION: He also kind of spoke at the Arab League, but are you able to say that there was unqualified jubilation, or, at least, commendation to the U.S. for getting Saddam Hussein? There are accounts that suggest, certainly, people on the street aren't thrilled about it. And, of course, there were regimes in that part of the world.
MR. BOUCHER: Do you mean the people dancing in the street, the people shooting off their guns in their streets?
QUESTION: No, no, they're saying things like --
MR. BOUCHER: You see people celebrating in the streets?
QUESTION: Well, there are in people in Cairo, for instance -- check the Christian Science Monitor, if you'd like -- people say, he helped -- helped us with -- on the Palestine problem. He was helpful on that front.
No, no, the question is --
MR. BOUCHER: Yeah.
QUESTION: And there are other autocratic, despotic regimes in that part of the world, and, again, these kind of accounts suggest maybe they're getting a little nervous about what the U.S. might do next. So, long question, but have the Arabs been as pleased as the rest of the world is, as far as the State Department knows?
MR. BOUCHER: I would -- I think I am not in a position to go through every conversation and give you quotes.
But I would say, in general, generally, say almost pretty thoroughly, our contacts in the Arab world indicate people are happy that this dictator is gone, this man who murdered hundreds of thousands of his own people, this man who invaded his neighbors, his Iranian neighbors and his Arab neighbors in Kuwait, that this brutal dictator, who was a threat to all, and to his own people, is departed the scene, is no longer causing turmoil and trouble in this region.
I suppose there is all kinds of arguments that are made when these things happen, but if there is any contribution that the man made to the region, it was only by leaving power and finally surrendering himself.
QUESTION: Richard, (inaudible) the week, there has been a vote in the northern section of Cyprus. What are you hearing from both Ankara and Athens? And also, any comments by Rauf Denktash?
MR. BOUCHER: Well, the -- we've been following the developments in Cyprus with the election very closely and have been keeping in touch with people on the island, especially also, to some extent, obviously, people in Ankara and Athens, where those governments are following events as well.
In their vote on Sunday, Turkish Cypriots expressed their desire for a comprehensive Cyprus settlement that will enable them to join the EU next May 1st, alongside the Greek Cypriots. A pro-solution party won the greatest number of votes, and more than half of all voters supported candidates who favor having a settlement approved by the Cypriots in referenda before May.
We hope that a new administration will be in place as soon as possible that will carry out the will of the majority of Turkish Cypriots. This vote advances the cause of peace in Cyprus. It's a vote for hope over fear, and it's all the more noteworthy, given the pressures that are faced by Turkish Cypriot voters during the pre-election period.
The United States will continue to promote a just and durable solution to the longstanding division of the island on the basis of UN Secretary General Annan's peace plan. We hope the Turkish Cypriot desire for a settlement will be honored by the swift resumption of UN-brokered negotiations, beginning with the necessary expression of political will to Secretary General Annan by all the parties.
Okay. In the back.
QUESTION: Yes, before the elections, Mr. Weston has predicted that opposition groups will be with them, but, unfortunately, is the desire or the result is 50/50, is equally divided. Is it giving some signal to you? As the United States, did you get some signal?
MR. BOUCHER: I don't -- I don't think we ever took an official endorsement of a particular result. We've looked at the result. Obviously, elections are for voters to decide. We've looked at the result and how the voters in the north, northern part of Cyprus voted, and give you the assessment today.
Sir.
QUESTION: Can you say when Ambassador Tom Weston is going to Cyprus again to meet the leadership?
MR. BOUCHER: He leaves today for Athens, Nicosia and Ankara. It's a six-day trip. The purpose of his trip is to press the United States' view of the way ahead, particularly in light of yesterday's election results, and he will offer our assistance in moving toward renewed talks on the basis of the Annan plan.
Okay, sir.
QUESTION: Last Friday, a delegation of the eight members of the House Homeland Security Committee --
MR. BOUCHER: I guess we'll come back to you, then.
QUESTION: -- they met in Damascus with President Bashar Assad. Congressman Christopher Cox said that based on his discussion with President Assad he is encouraged and there is a prospect for getting the U.S.-Syrian relationship back on track.
Did you have chance to share the details of this visit and do you feel you can share the same positive view of the discussion that Congressman Christopher Cox expressed?
MR. BOUCHER: I think first of all I'd say we always are pleased when foreign governments accord opportunities for our congressmen and senators to learn more directly from them about foreign events and certainly welcome meetings like this. We are usually in close touch with congressional delegations and do get some kind of rundown of how things went. For some of these meetings we have people in the room. I'm not sure if we accompanied them on this particular visit or not.
But as far as any assessment of those discussions, I really think I have to leave that to the congressmen and senators, given that under our government they have their own -- they find their own facts and create their own points of view.
Okay. You had another question on Cyprus?
QUESTION: On Cyprus. Do you think the results of this election is going to make more difficult to start the negotiation process between Turkish and Greek Cypriots because the two leading parties have almost same number of parliamentarian, and it seems that it's going to take time to form the government?
MR. BOUCHER: We'll have to see how things worked out politically. What is clear is that there is a very strong expression from voters, from a majority, small majority, but a majority of voters, in favor of a solution. We think that's quite notable given the pre-election pressures and statements that were made. So we do think it's time for both the parties on the island to step up and seek new U.S. -- new UN-brokered talks under the Annan plan, and that's what we're going to try to make happen.
Sir.
QUESTION: Richard, the Thai Foreign Minister quotes the Burmese Foreign Minister as saying that Burma plans to hold a constitutional convention next year, and that the NLD opposition party would be invited to it. What's your reaction? Does this seem like a step in the right direction, or do you not expect this to actually to come to pass?
MR. BOUCHER: The Deputy Secretary, Deputy Secretary Armitage, spoke this morning with Thai Foreign Minister Surakiat. Among other things, they talked about Burma. They did talk about Iraq a little bit. The Thai Foreign Minister gave him a rundown of the meetings that are going on in Bangkok with the Burmese.
Our view is that we hope that the meetings will lead to tangible and real progress in Burma. We have always made clear that the participation of representatives of ethnic minorities in democratic opposition in a political dialogue is essential to national reconciliation in Burma.
If those kind of steps are promised, we certainly look for them to happen, and to happen sooner rather than later. We urge the Burmese authorities to release Aung San Suu Kyi and all others detained for the peaceful expression of their political beliefs immediately and unconditionally.
QUESTION: Speaking of the military junta's past record, do you have any reason to actually expect that they will permit broader political participation?
MR. BOUCHER: I think indirectly that was the point I was trying to make, that we have seen promises, we have seen floaters, we have seen ideas, and others have heard these sorts of promises from Burmese authorities. What we want to see is the kind of action that would demonstrate that they're really going to allow the political forces in Burma and the ethnic minorities to participate in Burma's future, that they're going to release these people from jail and allow the political parties to become involved in the future of their nation, as they should.
Joel.
QUESTION: Richard, President Bush just spoke within the last day or two with the new Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin, and he said that they have roughly 225 million Canadian dollars which were set aside for Iraqi reconstruction, and I guess a bit of grumbling, and that the Canadians were excluded from the reconstruction contracts.
Did it have to specifically wait to a change of prime ministership in Canada for this discussion? And will former Secretary of State Baker on his trips to France, Russia, Britain, Italy and Germany take on extra duties from President Bush and/or Deputy Armitage because Colin Powell is now out on sick leave?
MR. BOUCHER: No, Secretary -- excuse me -- let's start up. As far as the President's discussion with the new Canadian Prime Minister, Scott McClellan, over at the White House, has done a rundown of that. And I think he's tried to address, to the extent you can, the question of Canadian assistance, which we definitely appreciate and welcome as part of the international effort to meet our common goals to reconstruct Iraq and help the Iraqis stand on their own two feet.
The Secretary did talk to Canadian Foreign Minister Graham on Saturday afternoon to congratulate him also, that he is remaining as Foreign Minister.
As far as the other question of Secretary Baker's mission, Secretary Baker is leaving today on a mission. He'll be in a number of countries. The first meetings are tomorrow in Paris. The first meetings are actually with the Iraqis. He's meeting with the Iraqis, the Iraqi Interim Minister of Finance and Central Bank governors because, first and foremost, Iraqi debt involves Iraqis. But his mission remains focused on Iraqi debt, and he will report back to the President as he thinks appropriate.
QUESTION: Paris is to (inaudible), right?
MR. BOUCHER: Paris is to see the Iraqis first and the French government, then he goes on to Berlin and other stops.
QUESTION: Could you give us, if you could, an itinerary, if you have that?
MR. BOUCHER: I can give you the order of countries. I don't think we're going to be putting out the details of his itinerary; and for me to do that, I would have to find it.
All right. We have it. He'll be going to France, as I said, beginning with meetings with the Iraqi economic officials. He'll also see French leaders, German, then he'll go on to Germany, Italy, United Kingdom and Russia.
QUESTION: All this week?
MR. BOUCHER: All this week, yeah. Yeah.
Teri.
QUESTION: On the Middle East, could you give us a readout on David Satterfield's meeting, as long as it's not three, four pages, and say whether there's been any progress from that meeting towards a possible meeting between Sharon and Qureia?
MR. BOUCHER: David Satterfield is now in Jerusalem for meetings with a wide variety of Israelis and Palestinians. He'll continue on to Cairo tomorrow. In his meetings, Ambassador Satterfield has underscored the immediate security steps the Palestinians must take to end terror and violence and made clear that both sides have obligations and responsibilities.
He met today in a three-way meeting with Israeli and Palestinian representatives, also attended by other representatives of the major donors to discuss a practical agenda to improve the lives of Palestinians. This is an initial meeting following the ad hoc liaison committee meetings in Rome last week. It also comes as part of an initiative proposed by Foreign Minister Shalom and welcomed by the United States and others to work directly on a practical set of steps to improve humanitarian situation in the West Bank and Gaza.
They discussed permits, they discussed checkpoints, closures, movement, in general, for Palestinians, as well as the ideas that the Israelis have. The meeting was intended to encourage both sides to consider a set of constructive and useful steps that will help us move forward with an agenda aimed at improving Palestinian lives.
As far as the meetings between the two parties, between the two prime ministers, that's a process that has been discussed by the parties directly with each other. Obviously, we've been kept informed, and we've been keeping in touch with the parties. But as far as making the meeting materialize and moving to that point, it's really in the hands of the parties right now.
QUESTION: With the meeting, I mean, did this look like more progress than there has been in --
MR. BOUCHER: I think we're certainly pleased with the -- with the discussion, the fact that we can focus on these steps that we think are necessary to show movement, to show an effort to meet the needs, the daily needs of Palestinians, and we continue to press, as well, for other steps to move forward on the roadmap, particularly the end to violence, steps by the new Palestinian Government to end the violence, and to carry out their other obligations as well.
QUESTION: But last week, Satterfield was rather displeased with Israel's follow-through --
MR. BOUCHER: Not if you read the whole statement.
QUESTION: -- saying that, you know, he had heard these things -- we've all heard these things -- the State Department has heard all these things before.
MR. BOUCHER: No, don't exaggerate. I mean, I went to great lengths to describe exactly what it is that Satterfield said, and he didn't say what you're saying.
QUESTION: Well, that's the report I was looking at.
MR. BOUCHER: So, anybody that's interested, read the remarks.
QUESTION: I was [not] there and [but] I read -- I read his remarks. But that was just the lead-up to the question, whether he heard new things from Israel today. Did he hear new resolve? Did he hear new -- what should I say, assurances, of a follow-through? Because that's a rather upbeat report you gave us.
MR. BOUCHER: I would say it's always good to sit down and start discussing some of these issues in very practical terms. We welcome the fact that last week when the Secretary met with the Israeli Foreign Minister that the Israeli Foreign Minister had various ideas about how to move forward.
As I said last Friday, Ambassador Satterfield in the meetings, in Rome and elsewhere, the international community had also focused on some of the steps that can be taken to improve the lives of Palestinians. This meeting in Israel managed to bring together some of the ideas that the Israelis had, the Palestinians have and that we have about how this process can move forward.
And so it was a chance for all the parties to focus on this. We certainly welcome the opportunity to focus on the issue of practical steps to improve the daily lives of people who live in the region, but that's part of the bigger picture of trying to get progress on the roadmap, where action against violence and other action by the parties to meet their obligations is necessary as well.
QUESTION: Do you happen to know if -- whether -- when the last time there was a three-way meeting of this -- of this nature?
MR. BOUCHER: I'll have to check and find out.
QUESTION: Would it be fair to say it's been quite some time? Months?
MR. BOUCHER: Well, my understanding is that some of the meetings in Rome have both Israeli and Palestinian participants as well --
QUESTION: As part of (inaudible).
MR. BOUCHER: -- in this particular -- well, there were others there from the major donors in Israel as well. So whether this meeting is that distinctive, let me check and see if this is a particular meeting that hasn't been held for a while or if it's just a variation on some of the other themes.
QUESTION: Did you make any reference to the security barrier in that -- I don't think you did. Did that come up? Is that still a controversial -- I suppose it still isn't --
MR. BOUCHER: It certainly still is something that we've had views on, and certainly is something that many of the parties in the region have views on. But I don't have any update on that now.
QUESTION: (Inaudible.)
MR. BOUCHER: Okay. Well, we've got a couple more. Let's go one, two, three. Sir.
QUESTION: Syria and people -- are Syria and Lebanon part of the peace efforts, the American peace efforts in the area, and if they are, do -- are they -- going to be included in the roadmap? There are lots of questions in the --
MR. BOUCHER: We've always made clear during the Secretary's visits and in any discussion by the Quartet or of the roadmap that we looked for a comprehensive progress, we looked for a comprehensive peace, and that I think the roadmap itself even makes reference to that, that we are looking for progress on all fronts when we can make it and Syria and Lebanon definitely are part of the picture on that.
QUESTION: But these two countries are not included in any of the, almost any of the visits by the U.S. officials to the area.
MR. BOUCHER: But that's not really true, because we've had officials in Syria very recently. Bill Burns was out there. I think he went to Lebanon, as well. So we definitely keep in touch with both those countries on a variety of issues, ending the support for terrorism that emanates from those countries, but also keeping in touch on the possibility of progress on the peace process, too. Yeah.
Okay. Ma'am.
QUESTION: It's on the Chinese report on the capture of Saddam Hussein. I'm talking about the report read by the Chinese inside China, as well as the Chinese outside China, because 80 percent of them rely on Chinese media for information. And it's impossible for me to translate all and I'll just read some titles. The Xinhua NewsNet, from yesterday and today: "Outside witness, Iraqi have a complicated feeling about the capture of Saddam." Commentary: the capture of Saddam Hussein have a limited impact on Iraq situation.
MR. BOUCHER: I don't -- I need to stop you, I think, because I'm not in a habit of commenting on press reporting or trying to make observations on the media in various countries. We certainly look for full and complete reporting on the events in Iraq. As I mentioned to one of your colleagues earlier, the celebration by many Iraqis is quite clear, it's quite vocal, it's quite visible. We'd always hope that the full panoply of views would be represented in any media. But I'm not in a position to offer particular commentary on how news outlets are -- outlets in a particular country are handling the story.
Okay?
QUESTION: On Venezuela, last Saturday, there's editorial on The Washington Post suggesting the U.S. should do more to push the democratic advancing in Venezuela. Has your position --
MR. BOUCHER: In where? I'm sorry.
QUESTION: Venezuela
MR. BOUCHER: Venezuela.
QUESTION: Yes, has your position towards the referendum has changed or what's your comment on that?
MR. BOUCHER: No, the United States has been a very active participant in the friends of Venezuela. We've been very active in saying that the constitutionally authorized process of the referendum should be allowed to proceed without interference. We've been quite outspoken when it came to infringements on the media in Venezuela. We've been quite outspoken when it came to the sometimes violent tactics being used against the opposition in Venezuela, and we've called on all the parties in Venezuela to proceed in a peaceful and constitutional manner to try to resolve the political turmoil that unfortunately has affected the lives of so many people in Venezuela.
Yeah. We're going to --
QUESTION: Can we go back to Cyprus again?
MR. BOUCHER: Sure.
QUESTION: Yeah, okay. You mentioned that unites a small majority, but when Weston goes there, will he be also open to any suggestions by the, let's say, the bigger minority?
MR. BOUCHER: Our envoys in going to Cyprus, and I know this from my time there, have always met the leadership on both sides. They've met with sometimes political leaders on both sides. I think the issue that faces Turkish Cypriots now, and in particular, Mr. Denktash, is formation of a government. And normal practice has been to call upon the group that has the largest number of seats, who has the majority of the votes. It may be a small majority, but the pro-solution parties do have that majority. And we would hope that the government that's formed would represent the will of the majority. But certainly, our envoys are always interested in all the ideas and currents throughout the society and meet with a variety of people when they go out.
QUESTION: But the others who want, you mean, they want it not pro-solution?
MR. BOUCHER: I think they've generally been described -- and I leave it more for political commentators to describe them -- but they've generally been described as less supportive of the kind of solution proposed in the Annan plan.
Sir.
QUESTION: On lesser problems. We seem to be in a row between ourselves and Brazil on lumber imports, and activists from Greenpeace are complaining that these lumber imports from Brazil are stripping the country or their forests --
MR. BOUCHER: I think I'm going to have to stop you and say that I'll leave the lumber to the Trade Representatives office for the moment.
We have one more for the lady back there. Sorry.
QUESTION: (Inaudible) update to.Charles Lee?
MR. BOUCHER: Just periodic update on his situation and what we know about it. U.S. consular officer from the U.S. Consulate General in Shanghai met with Chuck Lee on November 25th. The meeting on November 25th was the 22nd time that consular officers have spoken with Mr. Lee since his arrest in January 2003. Consulate officers have met face-to-face with Mr. Lee 14 times since his arrest. He appeared in good health at this meeting, November 25th, and we'll continue to monitor his welfare.
Thank you.
(The briefing ended at 2:00 p.m.)
(end transcript)
(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
This page printed from: http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-english&y=2003&m=December&x=20031215185210ssor0.216427&t=usinfo/wf-latest.html
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