16 December 2003
State Department Noon Briefing, December 16, 2003
Afghanistan, Iraq, Armitage Acting for SecState Powell, Nuclear Arms Proliferation initiative, Pakistan, Philippines, Europe, Israel/Palestinains, Haiti, China/Taiwan
State Department Spokesman Richard Boucher briefed the media December 16.
Following is the transcript of the State Department briefing:
(begin transcript)
U.S. Department of State
Daily Press Briefing Index
December 16, 2003
1:10 p.m. EST
BRIEFER: Richard Boucher, Spokesman
AFGHANISTAN
-- Completion of the Ring Road
IRAQ
-- Providing Guidance for War Crimes Tribunal
-- Constituting the Tribunal
-- Iraq Survey Group on Weapons of Mass Destruction
-- Debt Cancellation
DEPARTMENT
-- Deputy Secretary Armitage Acting for Secretary of State Powell
-- Nuclear Arms Proliferation Initiative
PAKISTAN
-- Assassination Attempt on President Musharraf
PHILIPPINES
-- Statement on Death of Foreign Secretary Blas Ople
EUROPE
-- Secretary Baker Travel to Garner Support for Iraq
ISRAEL/PALESTINIANS
-- Settlements and Unilateral Actions by Israel
HAITI
-- U.S. Delegation and Anniversary of Haiti Independence
CHINA/TAIWAN
-- Missiles Characterized as State Terrorism
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2003
(ON THE RECORD UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED)
1:10 p.m. EST
MR. BOUCHER: Today, about 30 miles south of Kabul, U.S. Ambassador Khalilzad, USAID Administrator Natsios, Japanese Ambassador Komano and represents of many other countries joined President Hamid Karzai in formally opening the 242 mile highway between Kabul and Kandahar. The opening of this vital link between the biggest cities of Afghanistan is a keystone event in the rebuilding of this country.
Together with the constitutional Loya Jirga that's being held this week, the opening of the road marks a major and historic milestone in the political and economic life of Afghanistan. Thirty-five percent of Afghanistan's population lives within 50 kilometers of this road. This road cuts the trip from Kabul to Kandahar from two days to about five hours.
Because of the road's importance, President Bush made a commitment to President Karzai and the people of Afghanistan that the highway would be completed by the end of this year. The President's goal has been met.
We will give you a more complete written statement. We have these fact sheets and kits available for people. There are also photos of the road and the project available from the USAID website at www.usaid.gov/afghanistan. Video is available from us or from our embassies, as well as publicly on thenewsmarket.com -- that's all one word -- thenewsmarket.com.
So there's a lot of information available on the road, the opening and what it means for Afghanistan. That's been one of our major goals this year, and we're happy to say one of the President's major goals this year. And we're happy to say that it's been accomplished.
MR. BOUCHER: We'll rely on you to do that. I'd be glad to take your questions on this or on any other topics.
QUESTION: Do you have any guidance on the issue of the war crimes tribunal in Iraq, kind of advice that the U.S. is giving them: the do's and don'ts, based on the vast experience of the U.S. in theses matters?
MR. BOUCHER: We have certainly provided advice based on our vast experience in such matters. We have been working with the Iraqis, as they announce their tribunal. They have set out 20-some pages of rules for the tribunal, and we will continue to work with them as this process is implemented, as this tribunal moves from law to reality, you might say.
We have made clear, the President made clear yesterday, that we believe the trial of Saddam Hussein needs to be open. It needs to be fair. It needs to be internationally acceptable. And above all, it needs to be an Iraqi-led process, a process in which the Iraqis have a very significant role.
And so, we will be talking to them and working with them about how to conduct these trials and bring us to that point where he faces justice in a way that's fair and credible, that passes international scrutiny. We have worked with them on the establishment of their special tribunal, and we will continue to work with them on the implementation of that particular tribunal.
In the end, there are many issues that need to be resolved before we can tell you, how, where, when, what court Saddam Hussein might be tried, and we'll be working through all those legal and technical issues with the Iraqis.
QUESTION: How do you overcome the fact that just about everybody associated with the legal system for the past 30 years was part of the repressive apparatus in this? It would seem to me there are not very many qualified people to choose from.
MR. BOUCHER: The provisions in their special court provide standards for judges, prosecutors, people that will be involved in the court system. So obviously, as they move to set up their court, they'll want to make sure that they find people who do meet those standards, Iraqis, and it also allows for the possibility of non-Iraqis, not only as advisors but actually as participants.
So we will work through, with the Iraqis, all these issues. We'll make sure that there is a court that is Iraqi-led, that is constituted with significant Iraqi involvement, but that also meets the standards the President laid out of being open, of being fair and credible to the international community.
Elise.
QUESTION: Just to follow up, I mean, you say it will be Iraqi-led, but in fact, it will be -- I mean, according to the article of the charter that set up this tribunal, it says it that all Iraqi, all judges, jurors and participants will be Iraqi nationals.
MR. BOUCHER: I think if you look at Part 4, Article -- no, Part 3, Article 4, Section D of the document, you'll find it worded slightly differently there.
QUESTION: But Article 28 of the charter says that all Iraqis will --
MR. BOUCHER: Yeah. There's different -- there is a provision in that court that provides for the appointment of non-Iraqi members of the court, participants in the court, in addition to the requirement in that document that there be advisors and observers for non-Iraqis as well.
QUESTION: But is that, I mean, but in terms of advisors, yes, but that --
MR. BOUCHER: No, in terms of participants as well.
QUESTION: Okay, but there is a provision that allows for the participants -- for international participation -- but that's at the sole discretion of the Iraqis, isn't it?
MR. BOUCHER: That -- there are many issues that we need to work through, technical and legal issues in the establishment of this tribunal, but also in the decision-making about how, where and when Saddam Hussein is tried. So we'll work through all those issues, and we'll decide what the most appropriate constitution of the court to try Saddam Hussein is.
QUESTION: Richard, can I just ask you very quickly if you could give us an update on the Secretary's condition, perhaps a little less salty that Deputy Secretary Armitage's comments this morning? Particularly in terms of his phone calls -- the Deputy Secretary said he called twice before 7:00. I noticed that last night, you know, I presume that the statement that went out, that he signed off on the statement that went out under his name about the Philippine Foreign Secretary's death -- what he's doing?
MR. BOUCHER: The statement that went out under his name on the death of the Philippine Foreign Secretary reflected his thinking on this matter.
QUESTION: Right.
MR. BOUCHER: He talked to several people yesterday. I think his first call after the operation was to the Deputy about ten after three. He talked to a couple other people last night, talked with the Deputy, I think, already three times this morning -- twice before7:00, and once more around the time of the staff meeting.
So the Secretary is up and looking after business, and even while he is still in the hospital.
QUESTION: Okay.
MR. BOUCHER: And he is -- I try to get less salty than spit and vinegar, but I it's a good, I think, accurate description from a man who knows him well.
QUESTION: Okay. And let me just ask you, twice, in the interviews that he's given, I guess once last night and once this morning, the Deputy Secretary mentioned the fact that when, when he and the Secretary come into office, the Secretary had signed some kind of paper giving him full authority. And I'm just wondering, does this have anything to do with the continuity in government thing? That project?
MR. BOUCHER: No.
QUESTION: Or is this something totally separate? Are there, in fact, two Secretaries of State?
MR. BOUCHER: No, there's one Secretary of State and there's one Deputy Secretary of State. But the Deputy Secretary of State has full authorization. He has a delegation of authority from the Secretary right from the beginning that he's allowed to act on any matters that are within the purview of the Secretary. And that's so if the Secretary's not available for one reason or the other, travel or, in this very rare case, hospitalization, the Deputy can sign things and they have the same effect. That's been the case since the beginning of the Administration.
QUESTION: Okay. But he said that even if he was just down the hall it was still the same thing.
MR. BOUCHER: Yeah.
QUESTION: Okay. But is this unusual? Or is this something --
MR. BOUCHER: It's a little -- I think different Administrations have handled it differently. Some have gone to the length of when the Secretary is out of town; many have gone to the length of when the Secretary is out of town, formally designating an Acting Secretary, which then kind of makes you wonder what happened to the Secretary. So just to leave it clean, they've just said the Secretary and the Deputy both have essentially full powers.
QUESTION: Does that mean, then, that Mr. Armitage is not, right now, Acting Secretary?
MR. BOUCHER: He is Deputy Secretary of State, yeah, and the Secretary is still the Secretary.
QUESTION: Richard, can I check one thing on the Philippines statement? If I'm not mistaken, the Philippine Foreign Minister had died a couple of days ago. I think it might have been the 13th or the 14th. But I'm just wondering, did the Secretary sign off on that statement yesterday after the surgery, or was it something that was taken care of over the weekend before his surgery?
MR. BOUCHER: We did the statement yesterday reflecting what the Secretary had sent previously to --
QUESTION: Before the surgery?
MR. BOUCHER: Before the surgery, yeah.
Adi.
QUESTION: Pardon me if we discussed this yesterday, but I don't think we did, the assassination attempt on President Musharraf and your reaction to it?
MR. BOUCHER: No, we really didn't.
QUESTION: All right. I didn't think we did.
MR. BOUCHER: Let me get you something on that.
Teri.
QUESTION: Can you talk about James Baker's trip and the fact that it looks like he's gotten Germany and France, so far, to agree to restructure Iraqi debt and forgive at least some of it?
MR. BOUCHER: Secretary Baker has been in Paris, as you all know. He met first with the Iraqis, with the Iraqi Foreign Minister and head of the central bank in Iraq. He then met with President Chirac. He's gone on to Germany, where he is now meeting with Chancellor Schroeder.
As far as the readout of his talks, we have a senior economic official on the trip with him, and he is obviously keeping us up to date on how it's -- on things that are going on. But as far as any public readout, really, Secretary Baker has done it himself at the Elysee. I don't know if he's actually done anything in Germany yet.
QUESTION: Yes.
MR. BOUCHER: He has? So I think I'll just leave it to Secretary Baker to read out his talks.
QUESTION: Has he been in touch with anyone in this building or the Secretary about his progress?
MR. BOUCHER: As I said, we're getting -- you know, being kept up to speed by our people on the trip. But as you all know, Secretary Baker was appointed by the President to do a job and he will report to the President.
QUESTION: Did he rule out the possibility in talks in Paris and Berlin that debt relief could make France and Germany eligible for competitive bidding?
MR. BOUCHER: As I said, I think I'll leave any readout of what Secretary Baker said to Secretary Baker himself, since he has been giving readouts, himself, as we go along.
QUESTION: Richard, one of the things that the Deputy Secretary addressed in his interviews this morning and last night, other than the Secretary, was the fact that or the hope that the United States has, that the capture of Saddam over the weekend would boost international support for reconstruction and stabilization.
Can you be a little bit more specific about it? Is he talking about, perhaps, people who would be talking to Baker about debt relief? Is this one of the things? Or is he talking about troops? Is he talking about both? What, specifically, do you think that Saddam's capture will lead to, or could lead to?
MR. BOUCHER: Well, I think the first answer is one has -- we have not been predicting specifically it will lead to troops, money or anything else.
QUESTION: No, no, he said he was hopeful.
MR. BOUCHER: We are. The point that we've made is that with a major positive development like this, and there's an opportunity now for everybody to look at the situation in Iraq, to understand that these forces of the past are losers, that the problems with the security situation will eventually be solved, and that in the long term the Iraqi people are going to be successful in rebuilding their country and reestablishing -- establishing a government in Iraq that represents all the Iraqi people.
So it's a chance, it's an opportunity for people to look at that situation again. We would hope that the discussion today with the Iraqis and the Secretary General at the United Nations would reflect that as well, that people would say there's an opportunity now to focus again on Iraq, to focus on the prospects of rebuilding Iraq, and to see what they can do to help.
How that will translate into particular decisions by governments to do this or do that or support this or support that, we'll just have to see. But I think we're hopeful that people will want to take that opportunity now to look at the situation again.
QUESTION: But there isn't anything that you are going out with and calling up Secretary General Annan and saying, "Hey look. Look at this. Maybe now is the time to get your guys back into Baghdad," or that Secretary Baker isn't going to President Chirac or Chancellor Schroeder or whoever and saying, "Okay, here's a major positive development, why don't you see what you can do, be as generous as you can on debt relief?" There's nothing specific that you're suggesting?
MR. BOUCHER: Well, I think first of all, for Secretary Baker, I'll let him describe his approach, if he wants to. We're looking at the session -- when the Secretary talked to the foreign ministers, 23 of them on Sunday, and said this is a significant development, a major development, a new opportunity to show support for Iraq and for the political and reconstruction process that's underway, he focused, as well, on the session that's taking place at the United Nations today. And today is a chance for council members to express their support for the process, to send a unified message of support to the Iraqi people.
At this particular juncture, with a new Iraqi political plan on the table and encouraging developments on the ground, strong support from council members would signal anew the international community's commitment to Iraq's successful transition. So it's a chance to express support for the political transition. It's a chance to express support for the United Nations' role. And we have continued to be very supportive of the United Nations playing as much of a role as they can, and have tried to help work out with them the security matters that have prevented the United Nations from perhaps playing a greater role on the ground. And, obviously, we are also -- would also welcome any further contributions of money or troops that people want to make.
QUESTION: Right. But that exact statement that you just read could have been said on Friday, before -- so you're saying now that since Saddam's capture -- this is what you said the Secretary is saying -- that even -- that, I mean, the UN meeting was previously scheduled --
MR. BOUCHER: Yeah.
QUESTION: -- was scheduled before that.
MR. BOUCHER: Yeah.
QUESTION: And you would have been looking for this anyway, right? Or are you saying that now you're --
MR. BOUCHER: We're more hopeful that people will step forward and say, "Yes, I want to be part of Iraq's future because Iraq's future is a little bit clearer now."
QUESTION: Okay. More hopeful since the capture?
MR. BOUCHER: Saddam was captured.
QUESTION: All right.
MR. BOUCHER: That's where we started, yes.
QUESTION: Okay.
MR. BOUCHER: Sir.
QUESTION: Can you talk a little bit about the nuclear arms proliferation situation initiative?
MR. BOUCHER: Let me get -- let me get you some more on that later. There is a meeting on proliferation security initiative that we are holding today and tomorrow here with the countries involved. We've, in fact, expanded by a few countries, so this is an ongoing process.
They're working together to plan how we can interdict shipments of weapons of mass destruction on the high seas. And this is an ongoing, if not, I would say, even accelerating process involving now more countries and more planning to make sure that we can keep these kinds of shipments from reaching their intended destinations.
Elise
QUESTION: On the weap -- did you have a question on --
QUESTION: Yeah, on this same thing.
MR. BOUCHER: Yeah.
QUESTION: In the previous expert level meetings that have been held on this, there have been statements released at the end of that meeting. Is that the plan for this one, too?
MR. BOUCHER: I don't think it's quite the same kind of meeting. So I don't think there will be a big statement, but we'll try to get you some information on the meeting.
QUESTION: What level of (inaudible)?
MR. BOUCHER: A variety of levels. Under Secretary Bolton's obviously participating for us. He carries the baton on this one for us. I think Dr. Rice met with him this morning. I think Under -- Deputy Secretary Wolfowitz will be here at some point in the meeting, so a variety of senior, quite senior levels. This has been a very important initiative for us. It was announced by the President, but it's -- it's ongoing and accelerating.
QUESTION: When you say it's a different kind of meeting, what --
MR. BOUCHER: It's not exact. It's -- I don't know what the nomenclature is, but it's not a full plenary of the whole group, or something like that. But they're not -- they're not planning on a big statement this time.
QUESTION: But can we get something, perhaps --
MR. BOUCHER: Yes, I did --
QUESTION: -- tomorrow?
MR. BOUCHER: I promised three times something.
QUESTION: Oh, you did?
MR. BOUCHER: Yeah.
QUESTION: All right.
MR. BOUCHER: But I'll promise again, something.
QUESTION: Tony Blair said today that the Iraq survey group hunting for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, found massive evidence, of huge system of clandestine laboratories to produce weapons of mass destruction. Do you know anything about this?
MR. BOUCHER: No, I don't have the page you're, you're reading it off there.
QUESTION: Well, he said -- he actually said it a while ago.
MR. BOUCHER: Oh. I'd refer you back to David Kay's report. The Iraq Survey Group has already released an interim report that describes the large quantity of information that they found, but also ongoing research and development programs for biological-chemical weapons, making of weapons, an intention to revive all those programs, including nuclear. So there's already a fair amount of evidence on the public record. I don't know if that particular quote referred to something additional or not.
QUESTION: Yeah, that was my question. Does this -- do you know anything about a recent --
MR. BOUCHER: I don't have any updates. They would have to give any updates themselves if they had new information to disclose. Yeah.
QUESTION: Thank you.
MR. BOUCHER: Sir.
QUESTION: There were reports in Israel that Prime Minister Sharon told his ministers yesterday that Israel should be ready to leave settlements in Gaza. Do you think that would be a good thing, or does that fall into the category of potentially unilateral steps that you would not wish to encourage?
MR. BOUCHER: Our view throughout this ongoing discussion, and I can't confirm any particular reports, I don't think Prime Minister Sharon has yet had a chance, or has yet taken the chance to speak publicly about his particular plans in this regard, but I think we've tried to make clear throughout this discussion that's been going on that we certainly would see as positive any steps that reduce settlement activity since it is our goal to reduce settlement activity, to stop settlement activity; so any steps that were taken in that regard would be positive.
At the same time, we've also repeated, as we've said before, that you can't -- such steps don't, in and of themselves, solve the problem nor could any series of unilateral steps, even positive ones, bring a solution to what is essentially a problem that needs to be negotiated and needs to be agreed by both parties.
QUESTION: There seems to be some misunderstanding, at least in some parts of the Israeli media, particularly Israel Radio, about this, who, on Friday reported that the Secretary had told Foreign Minister Shalom that the U.S. opposed, you know, any unilateral steps and we got into this kind of absurd conversation on Friday about whether he would oppose -- you only opposed unilateral negative steps or unilateral positive steps. And they reported again on Monday, yesterday, that Dr. Rice had said the same thing to Foreign Minister Shalom. Is that -- it's not -- I'm just trying to figure out what --
MR. BOUCHER: I tried to put the two together in a sentence to avoid that complication, that unilateral steps, even positive ones, don't resolve --
QUESTION: Right.
MR. BOUCHER: -- the issue, don't constitute a settlement. A settlement can only be reached by negotiation between the parties, a durable, stable settlement.
QUESTION: But that doesn't mean you're opposed to --
MR. BOUCHER: Positive steps are positive, that ending settlement activity and by negotiation between the parties of a durable, stable settlement.
QUESTION: But that doesn't mean --
MR. BOUCHER: Positive steps are positive, that ending settlement activity and moving in the direction of easing life for the other side, those are good things. But whatever steps might be taken in that regard don't resolve issues that need to be negotiated.
QUESTION: Regarding Iraq's debt, has it not always been the U.S. position that the Paris Club was the appropriate forum to resolve that issue? And also, do you think it's conceivable that the U.S. would cancel all of the debt that is owed to the U.S. by Iraq?
MR. BOUCHER: I don't want to speculate at this point. Secretary Baker is working this issue on his trip on behalf of the Administration, and I really do want to leave it to him to give any readout he wants of the issues that he's discussing and what he may or may not be offering.
QUESTION: Richard, don't you think it's hypocritical that the U.S. has yet to take --
MR. BOUCHER: Can I say no before you finish the sentence? (Laughter.) Okay, go ahead.
QUESTION: The United States could take a strong leadership role on this matter by declaring that the amount of debt that the former regime owes the United States, that they restructure that or that they reduce it or do away with it, in spite of what other members of the Paris Club or Germany or France or whomever might do or not do. Why hasn't this Administration taken that step as a way to jumpstart negotiations and provide support for Baker on his trip in Europe?
MR. BOUCHER: Well, the first thing is there's nothing hypocritical about this at all. The United States has been at the forefront of finding support for the Iraqi people. We were at the forefront of leadership to get to the Madrid conference that resulted in finding the support that the Iraqi people need. We were at the forefront of producing almost $20 billion ourselves to help the Iraqi people with reconstruction. And we've been at the forefront of the debt issue all along, whether it's in the G8, the donors group or the other committees that have been looking at the debt issue.
We are also at the forefront of the debt issue right now with Secretary Baker's trip. And so he will be out there. He will be leading there. We've made clear all along that we were interested in a significant restructuring of Iraqi debt. And Secretary Baker is working with all the tools at his disposal in the U.S. Government to do that, and I am sure he can be very effective in that regard.
QUESTION: When you say "all the tools at his disposal," what do you mean by that?
MR. BOUCHER: That's where I want to leave it vague. Whatever the United States might decide it can do with regard to Iraqi debt.
QUESTION: Does Secretary Baker have plan to go to other countries (inaudible) Tuesday, like Japan or some Asian countries?
MR. BOUCHER: At this point we have announced the trip that he's making this week. If he makes other trips, we'll tell you when he does.
QUESTION: Maybe early into next year?
MR. BOUCHER: I don't want to speculate at this point.
QUESTION: Thank you.
QUESTION: No, no.
MR. BOUCHER: One more.
QUESTION: Last night you put out a statement on the situation in Haiti, and not a very positive statement. I'm just wondering, in light of --
MR. BOUCHER: Not a very positive situation.
QUESTION: What's that?
MR. BOUCHER: Not a very positive situation.
QUESTION: I'm just wondering, they have a big celebration coming up on -- in less -- in about two weeks' time. It's the 200th anniversary of their independence. This is, as you know, this is only the second country in this hemisphere to become -- are you aware -- I realize this is a White House decision, but do you know what the thinking is in terms of whether you guys, considering the situation there and your condemnation of the government's actions, are planning to send any kind of a delegation?
MR. BOUCHER: I don't know. I have to check. I'll have to check. Sorry.
Arshad.
QUESTION: Last one. Taiwan's Vice-President today described the Chinese missiles pointed at the island as a form of "state terrorism." Do you have any reaction to that?
MR. BOUCHER: I don't want to get into the political rhetoric that's in Taiwan or how various people phrase things. We've always made clear that we felt that China's ballistic missiles opposite Taiwan heighten tensions. They have always been a factor in our thinking as we seek to make sure that we're living up to our obligations vis-à-vis Taiwan's legitimate defensive needs. We have felt that missile deployments are not conducive to a dialogue. We've also supported resolution of the issues in this region by dialogue.
QUESTION: Thanks.
MR. BOUCHER: Thanks.
(The briefing was concluded at 1:30 p.m.)
(end transcript)
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