Daily Press Briefing
Mark C. Toner
Deputy Spokesperson
Daily Press Briefing
Washington, DC
June 13, 2016
Index for Today's Briefing
DEPARTMENT
SAUDI ARABIA
SYRIA/REGION
CHINA/PHILIPPINES
IRAQ
DEPARTMENT
BAHRAIN
TURKEY
TRANSCRIPT:
2:16 p.m. EDT
MR TONER: Hey, everyone. Well, I'd feel remiss if I didn't say something. Obviously, the tragic events that occurred yesterday in Orlando are foremost on all our minds. You heard Secretary Kerry speak to it, to yesterday's horrific attack, earlier today before his bilateral with the Cypriot foreign minister. Also, the President has spoken to it as well as FBI Director Comey, giving updates. I just wanted to also add that we've heard from over 50 nations and leaders across the world, all of whom expressed both their solidarity as well as their condolences with the American people in this – wake of this tragedy.
QUESTION: Can we start on that --
MR TONER: Sure.
QUESTION: -- specifically on those conversations? Did you receive any information from any of them regarding the shooter, connections to the shooter, any information that would suggest external plotting?
MR TONER: Well, again, the FBI has the lead on this investigation, and as I said, you heard FBI Director Comey speak to the status earlier today. I don't have any particular updates to give in terms of the shooter's trips, visits, affiliations he may have had. I'll let the FBI speak to – yeah, sure.
QUESTION: I'm just asking because you mentioned you had these 50 conversations.
MR TONER: Sure.
QUESTION: So did this not come up in --
MR TONER: Well, some of these were public statements; some of these were – but also many of them were calls as well.
QUESTION: Okay. Did you not receive any information in any of these that you found of interest?
MR TONER: Much of that, as – if it – if it has taken place, would be through law enforcement or intelligence channels.
QUESTION: And then specifically on the trips which you also mentioned, do you have – did you have any conversations with the Saudis yet? I know the Secretary has a meeting this evening to kind of learn more about what the shooter was doing there on those trips.
MR TONER: I mean, again, I think – of course, you're right. The Secretary has his meeting, I think – well, this evening, breaking iftar – or iftar, rather – with Mohammed bin Salman, the deputy crown prince and defense minister. I mean, their discussion is obviously going to touch on the full range of bilateral and regional issues, including counterterrorism, of course, as well as the situation in Yemen. I can't speak to whether – although I can certainly imagine that – this will come up to some extent.
QUESTION: Have you spoken to the Saudis yet?
MR TONER: We have not that I'm aware of, no.
QUESTION: Okay.
QUESTION: Mark, just on that specific point. The --
MR TONER: Let me can confirm that, though. Just one second, please.
QUESTION: Sorry, go on.
MR TONER: That's okay. I'm just looking. No.
QUESTION: Right. Former Secretary Clinton, Mr. Kerry's immediate predecessor, just gave a speech in which she said that one of the areas that demands attention in the wake of the Orlando attacks is "it is long past time for the Saudis...and others to stop their citizens from funding extremist organizations...they should stop supporting radical schools and mosques around the world that set too many young people on a path towards extremism." She directly mentioned Saudi Arabia by name in this speech. Obviously, Saudi Arabia has a different policy towards homosexuality than the United States does. Secretary Kerry's meeting this afternoon, will radicalization, Wahabi mosques, will that be on the agenda?
MR TONER: Again, I don't want to predict what precisely they're going to talk about in this meeting or – and meal. Look, I mean, we're a little over 24 hours past the worst mass shooting in U.S. history. There's an intensive investigation involving local law enforcement, but clearly the FBI as well as all national security agencies, looking into the motivation and the background of this individual who carried out this horrific attack. One thing that's clear, and the President spoke to this, as did Secretary Kerry, is that it was an attack motivated by hatred and intolerance. Whether it was directly – directed by, rather, ISIL or whether he was simply radicalized or motivated by ISIL, we just don't know at this point, or any other radical – any other radical group. We just don't know at this point the extent to which --
QUESTION: I think Secretary Clinton's point was not about ISIL, though, it's about Saudi citizens and the Saudi Government supporting mosques in which it is preached that homosexuals should be executed.
MR TONER: Well, again – and you know where we stand in terms of tolerance towards LGBTI issues, and it's something – no matter who we're talking to around the world, we uphold our values, which include tolerance towards LGBTI. We've said it many times and we'll say it again: Gay rights are human rights.
Please.
QUESTION: Thank you. Orlando shooter's father, Seddique Mateen, visited the State Department in April. He posted this picture on Facebook.
MR TONER: Yeah.
QUESTION: Why was he here? Who did he meet? What did they discuss?
MR TONER: Sure. Well, thanks, and I actually appreciate you raising that so I can address that picture. So that is, obviously, as you noted – it's a picture or a photo he took purporting to show him meeting with State Department officials. That's actually in front of our office on Capitol Hill, where we have an office that we work with consular issues for members as well as their constituents and their staff. It's located, as I said, on Capitol Hill. But we have no records of any meeting with this gentleman and any State Department policy officials whatsoever. We're obviously going back through our records, but my understanding of this photo is he simply stood in front of the door and took his picture.
QUESTION: This was on Capitol Hill, right?
MR TONER: That's correct.
QUESTION: Do you know when he immigrated to the U.S.?
MR TONER: I honestly don't, and I don't have much information I can share about how he came to the United States. I just – at this point we don't have anything.
Please.
QUESTION: Can you give us a clearer understanding of what is the fundamental purpose of Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's visit to Washington this week?
MR TONER: Sure. I mean, obviously – I mean, first of all – I mean, the timing is unfortunate because we have so many other issues, as I just mentioned, regional and bilateral, but a lot of regional issues that we're focused on right now with Saudi Arabia. Secretary often speaks with his counterpart but also with the Saudi leadership. Many of you in this room know we've been to Saudi Arabia a number of occasions, most recently, I think, a couple of weeks ago.
So we've got a lot of issues on the agenda. First and foremost, obviously, Syria, Yemen – Yemen especially right now, certainly given the nascent peace process there that's taking place, but certainly also Saudi Arabia has been a key member of the ISSG and very vocal about the political process or political transition in Syria and cessation of hostilities and the need to reinforce that cessation of hostilities and keep the peace process – or the political transition, rather – on track.
QUESTION: Was there any phone conversation today between Secretary Kerry and the Russian foreign minister on Syria?
MR TONER: There was – there was a conversation this morning with Foreign Minister Lavrov. They did discuss, as they always do, Syria, as well as other issues.
QUESTION: Can you be more specific? What did they discuss about Syria today?
MR TONER: Well, I think – I mean, not to sound like a broken record – I mean – but I think they certainly discussed --
QUESTION: Well, it's a new conversation.
MR TONER: No, no, I understand that. I'm saying --
QUESTION: They would be the broken record, not our questions.
MR TONER: Well, I mean, we talked about the fragility of the cessation of hostilities and the fact that it continues to be violated in multiple places around Aleppo, Daraya, and Latakia, and the fact that we still contend and we have seen that the vast majority of these violations are being committed by the regime. There are places – and I will point out where they are going after Nusrah, and that's generally southwest of Aleppo city. And as we've said, we recognize the legitimacy of attacks against what is a terror group that's not protected by this cessation. But we're also seeing continued attacks on those groups who are protected by the cessation of hostilities, and that includes regions near Handarat, near Hraytan in northwest Aleppo. And it's our judgment and our assessment that there's little Nusrah presence there, and certainly no Nusrah-controlled territory there.
So these are all continued discussions. We've actually presented, just to – sorry – to conclude, we presented proposals to the Russian side designed to reinforce the cessation of hostilities in those specific areas northwest of Aleppo, and we're looking to see if Moscow can be responsive to those proposals.
QUESTION: So what do those proposals – there's already a ceasefire in place there or is there not?
MR TONER: Well, I mean, there is. But as we've talked about these kinds of efforts to reinforce them --
QUESTION: Cessation.
MR TONER: Cessation – no, I understand that. I --
QUESTION: Sorry.
MR TONER: I – that's okay.
QUESTION: Yeah, thank you.
MR TONER: I'm guilty of it myself. Look, I mean, the logic behind this is that if we did have an effective cessation of hostilities in northwest Aleppo, then it would allow the regime and the – and Russia to realign their forces to attack Nusrah in regions where Nusrah actually controls territory. We just don't see that it controls any territory in the region where they continue to carry out attacks that are, as we say, primarily hitting opposition groups that are adherent to the cessation.
QUESTION: And what --
QUESTION: Which ones --
QUESTION: Sorry.
QUESTION: Which ones – which ones are they hitting, the ones that are protected --
MR TONER: The groups?
QUESTION: Yeah.
MR TONER: I don't have a list in front of me, but the generally --
QUESTION: Northwest --
MR TONER: -- the area is – I mean, the areas are Khan Tuman – oh, I'm sorry, I apologize, I misspoke. Khan Tuman is where we have seen them hitting legitimate Nusrah targets. What we're concerned about is northwest of Aleppo where they are hitting areas that – again, while we can't exclude that there are elements of Nusrah, but we – what we can say is it doesn't control any territory.
QUESTION: But which groups are they hitting? Are --
MR TONER: Again, I don't have the list in front of me. I can check the --
QUESTION: Are the groups reaching out to the U.S. --
MR TONER: I apologize.
QUESTION: Are the groups reaching out the U.S. and saying that we're being --
MR TONER: Of course, yeah. I mean, we continue to monitor it, as do many NGOs in the area monitor it as well. But, yes, we're in constant dialogue with those opposition groups.
Please.
QUESTION: Does this not point to one of the intrinsic inadequacies of the original conception of the cessation of hostilities in which you carved out an exception or two exception – or exceptions for any groups deemed by the UN to be terrorist organizations, and therefore, you left open the possibility that any belligerent can argue, "Well, I'm going after X or Y and I have every right to do that"?
MR TONER: Which I think speaks to why we need – and we have worked on this and we've had some good conversations with Russia but we're still not there yet where we need stronger coordination about who is where. And that's what we're talking about with – you're absolutely right, and yet, we had to – you have to say, I mean, Daesh and Nusrah are clearly – I think there was universal agreement that they could not be part of any cessation of hostilities. And I think, again, that was unanimous. But where – the difficulties, as you note, are how do you de-conflict or how do you make sure that you're not going after or not finding any easy excuse to go after opposition groups or their supply lines or whatever and hit those in the name of striking these terrorist groups.
QUESTION: Given the intermingling of the groups, as you've talked about, I mean, is it – is that realistic?
MR TONER: I think we believe it is still realistic, and we've worked – we've had this coordination cell in Geneva that we've established that did have some initial success. But we still haven't seen complete adherence. And so certainly – and Secretary on down will admit to the fact that we've – we're still giving this time. We're still committed to it. But at a certain point, it becomes difficult to continue if it's not being held up.
QUESTION: Well, are you – I mean, did the Secretary raise this specific issue this morning with Foreign Minister Lavrov? And did he, yet again, ask Lavrov to get Russia to exert influence on the Syrian Government so as to cease what you say are predominantly their attacks, and also to exert pressure on the Syrian Government to provide greater – to provide unfettered humanitarian access?
MR TONER: Without getting too much into the details of the conversation, yes and yes. I mean, who he – I mean, that is a common refrain that he always raises the need to exert influence on the regime to get them to adhere to the – to the requirements of the cessation of hostility.
And just on humanitarian assistance, again, we spoke last week. We did see some progress late in the week – first, relief convoys reaching Daraya, a few other places – but then immediately after the regime struck areas, conducted aerial attacks on people of Daraya, and those continued throughout the weekend. And so we still don't have – we're not where we need to be on humanitarian access as well.
QUESTION: So it's been three and a half months now since the cessation of hostilities was first put into effect, to the extent that it has been, and, I mean, how much longer are you willing to let it roll like this with such repeated and flagrant violations? And second, what's your alternative? I mean, because most people on the outside think that the alternative to a complete unraveling of the cessation of hostilities is just accelerated violence with more arms flowing in, notably from – probably from some of your allies.
MR TONER: Well, you're right. If this falls apart, the prospects are bleak, which is why we've always said there's no military solution to what is happening in Syria. It's why we have invested so much in this diplomatic effort and this political process. I mean, I'm not going to sugarcoat the stakes. You're absolutely right in that – and the reason I'm not is (a) I don't like to sugarcoat things too much, but also, it's important that both sides – and by "both sides" I mean the opposition as well as the regime – understand the stakes. And certainly, they should. They've lived – the opposition, the Syrian people have lived through more than five years of this bloodletting.
But there's no easy, clean way out of this other than what we've laid out, which is a cessation of hostilities concurrent with a peace process or political negotiation, according to the Geneva communique, taking place in Geneva. We need to get them back to Geneva to get those talks going again, but it's hard to do that given the current climate.
QUESTION: Mark.
MR TONER: Yes, sir.
QUESTION: Is this – essentially, remind me, is it a "Shoot first, ask later" cessation right now? I mean, it sounds like you're trying to bring evidence to them that they killed people that you said they shouldn't – or hit regions. And they're saying "You haven't convinced us." Why didn't you set it up the opposite way where you actually had to show that somebody bad was somewhere before you dropped bombs, and not the opposite where you have to prove they weren't there?
MR TONER: Sure. I mean, I think part of that is there's lots of ideas on how to strengthen that coordination and with Russian – primarily with our Russian counterparts how to get a more sustainable mechanism for monitoring and enforcing the cessation of hostilities. But it's also partly a recognition of how hard it is to police a cessation of hostilities when you don't have people on the ground who can police it.
QUESTION: But --
MR TONER: And it's – and you're dependent on – sorry, just to finish – and you're dependent on – and we've talked about this a lot, it's – you're dependent on those who adhere or those who subscribe to the cessation of hostilities to police themselves.
QUESTION: Does Syria have any spare military capacity it's not using for offensive operations because of the cessation?
MR TONER: I don't have – because of the cessation --
QUESTION: Would the cessation – if it means anything, it means the Syrians are doing fewer offensive operations.
MR TONER: Right. I just don't have – I don't have an assessment.
QUESTION: It seems to me they're doing everything they can.
MR TONER: I mean, I just don't have a – I can't give you a good assessment of that.
Please.
QUESTION: Mark, for the political process, what will happen? We're getting closer to August 1st. You've set with the Russians a goal to start the transition by that date.
MR TONER: Sure. I mean, look – I mean, August 1st, we've also said, is not a hard deadline, but it is a deadline. And we have not seen progress. We're now in early, almost mid-June. Staffan de Mistura spoke about it last week. He briefed the UN Security Council, I believe. But the – again, with the current climate, the current environment, it's hard to get the opposition, certainly, back to Geneva.
QUESTION: And what will happen in this case? The whole situation will stay as it is till after the elections, the American elections?
MR TONER: No. I mean, look, we're going to keep working at this. I mean, we're clear-eyed, I guess, about the situation. It's not great. But it's better than it was before we started this, and we still believe that it could be viable, this process that we put in place, if we get the right kind of coordination and buy-in from Russia and from the other – all members of the ISSG, and then most importantly, the parties on the ground.
QUESTION: Do you get any sense that the Russians are running out the clock on this Administration?
MR TONER: I just can't say that for a fact. I mean, I just --
QUESTION: The process is – it turns four years old later this month. And they only have --= they only have another seven months to go.
MR TONER: I mean, all I can speak to, Brad, when – for an answer to – a response to a question like that is – and again, the Russians have – what they had said is that they're not there for the long haul. It's certainly not a viable long-term prospect to be invested in Syria and defending the Assad regime. The fighting, as Arshad noted and all of you know, is only going to get worse if this falls apart and collapses, and that's going to mean increased burden on Russia.
QUESTION: Yeah.
QUESTION: Just to clarify something you just said – you said it's not a hard deadline, but it is a deadline.
QUESTION: Yeah.
MR TONER: Well, I mean --
QUESTION: What does it mean, and how hard is it?
MR TONER: No, I mean – I mean – I just mean – sorry, I don't mean to --
QUESTION: And is it a deadline for whom?
MR TONER: Well, I mean, we've – we talked about – and certainly we've talked about it in the context of the Iran negotiations, but we've talked about – it's not like August 2nd we're going to throw in the towel and everybody walk away. But they're action-enforcing events – you have a deadline for a reason, to try to motivate and try to focus the parties on achieving results by a set date.
QUESTION: Can you extrapolate on "action-enforcing events"?
MR TONER: I just mean to get to Geneva – we've talked about the next steps that are needed – actually, the last session – and again, I'd refer you to Staffan de Mistura for his assessment, but he was actually somewhat positive that they were able to start – begin to talk about the process a little bit and not just logistics.
Yeah, please.
QUESTION: If we don't have discussions on transition by August the 1st, who will have missed the non-hard deadline?
MR TONER: Well, I mean certainly both sides are culpable. But --
QUESTION: And Staffan de Mistura?
MR TONER: Look, I mean --
QUESTION: The ISSG?
QUESTION: Russia?
MR TONER: Well, I mean --
QUESTION: The United States?
MR TONER: I mean, look, I mean, sure. We all would bear some responsibility. But again, Staffan de Mistura, the ISSG, we're all working to guide the parties on the ground towards what we view as the only option, which is a political solution. But again – and we've talked about this before – it's incumbent on all members of the ISSG to subscribe to that and to exert influence where they can.
QUESTION: I don't quite understand the idea of setting a deadline but saying if it misses nothing happens. That – I'm a little – well, what – then it isn't a deadline, actually. A deadline implies a consequence or a change of course or failure.
MR TONER: Sure.
QUESTION: "Dead." Something has to die. So you're saying if they miss the deadline they get a new deadline or something?
QUESTION: Sort of like a New Year's resolution?
MR TONER: Look, I mean, we had similar deadlines in the Iran negotiations. They were, again, put in place to motivate the various – the parties to make progress. And that's what we want to see. I'm not going to say – but --
QUESTION: That's a big difference. Iran adhered to an interim agreement, as you guys --
MR TONER: Right.
QUESTION: -- so often said. Here you're saying that the regime is actually breaking it every single day. Those are two completely different scenarios.
MR TONER: Look, I mean, I acknowledge that the cessation of hostilities in particular, but also humanitarian assistance, have not been well enforced. And we are deeply concerned about it. But we're not ready to throw in the towel.
On that note, am I – have I --
QUESTION: I have one on --
MR TONER: Please go ahead, yeah.
QUESTION: -- a separate issue.
MR TONER: Certainly.
QUESTION: The – seems that the Secretary is going to meet Foreign Minister Zarif in Oslo. Do you have any more details about that meeting?
MR TONER: I don't and – I don't. We'll hope to confirm that and his other bilats I think later today. We're still finalizing.
QUESTION: Okay.
QUESTION: The Iranians have confirmed it already.
MR TONER: Apologize?
QUESTION: The Iranians have confirmed the meeting.
MR TONER: I am aware of reports out of Iran.
QUESTION: He's not – he's not planning to open a custodial bank account for the foreign minister or anything like that?
MR TONER: Not that I'm aware of, Brad.
QUESTION: Okay.
MR TONER: Yes, sir.
QUESTION: Sorry, on China-Philippines. Do you have any comment on the Chinese coast guard intercepting the Philippine – a boat of Philippine nationals trying to board the Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea?
MR TONER: I'm sorry, you're talking about a Chinese coast guard vessel that --
QUESTION: They prevented a group of Philippine nationals trying to board the – trying to land on the Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea.
MR TONER: You know what? I'm not aware of that. I apologize. I just haven't seen it. I mean, look, we would – I'd have to get more specifics about the incident, but we'd, again, be concerned about any action that attempted to or in any way escalated tensions in the South China Sea.
Yes, sir.
QUESTION: Have you seen the reports about Iraq making arrests over reports that Sunni men have been executed and tortured in Fallujah following the recent battles? And if you believe these reports about the killing and mistreatment of Sunni men, what does that say about the odds of restoring --
MR TONER: Oh, I'm sorry.
QUESTION: -- peace, peace in Fallujah following Iraqi military offensives to retake areas?
MR TONER: Sure. I mean, we talked a little bit about this, but I'm – obviously, there's actually – it sounds like there's been arrests. I haven't seen those reports. We're very concerned about reports that civilians in Fallujah and in the surrounding area have been subjected to torture, abuse, and in some cases even murder. Prime Minister Abadi, though, has clearly laid out instructions to Iraqi forces – and that includes the PMF, the Popular Mobilization Forces – to protect civilians and respect humanitarian rights. And we support that message, we support that approach. We've seen other PMF leaders also publicly commit themselves to protecting civilians and also holding abusers accountable. And as you note, there's reports now that, in fact, arrests have been made and investigations are underway.
I think that to your broader question, a long-term solution to the instability that we see right now and the tensions that we see in Iraq are ultimately going to be something for Iraq's political leadership to make the kind of decisions that bring the country together and don't promote sectarianism. And so we continue to support the government and certainly Prime Minister Abadi's efforts in that direction.
QUESTION: I got one more.
MR TONER: Of course. Please, yeah.
QUESTION: Has the Legal Adviser's Office made any further progress in its review of the excising of part of the December 2013 briefing?
MR TONER: Yeah, I don't. I don't have any update beyond basically where we were last week. They're – as Secretary Kerry asked the Office of Legal Affairs to – or Legal Adviser, excuse me, and others to conduct additional fact-finding. And they're still actively involved in that effort, so we're going to let them complete that process. And if we have additional details to provide at that point, we'll share them.
QUESTION: I have one more.
MR TONER: Please, sir.
QUESTION: There's reports about --
MR TONER: Yes.
QUESTION: -- Nabeel Rajab, the president of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, being detained or arrested.
MR TONER: Right.
QUESTION: Do you have clarity and do you have a response?
MR TONER: Yeah. Well, we're deeply concerned that Nabeel Rajab – excuse me – was arrested and – I think at his home this morning. We do not, at this point, know what charges have been leveled against him. We are following the case very closely. We don't believe anyone should be imprisoned for or prosecuted for engaging in peaceful expression or assembly, even if controversial. And we believe that societies are strengthened, not threatened, by peaceful expression of dissent. And anticipating your follow on, we have raised our concern about his arrest with the Government of Bahrain.
QUESTION: At what level?
MR TONER: I don't know. I can try to check on that. I assume via our embassy there.
QUESTION: Okay.
QUESTION: Mark, one quick question regarding Muhammad Ali's funeral last week. Turkish president also came to attend the ceremony, but he then cut his trip short because of some organizational problems according to the presidential source. What is the protocol in that kind of situation? I mean, were they contacted with you, for example, since the president came to U.S. soil, and were you somehow involved with this ceremony?
MR TONER: I don't believe we were directly involved – certainly not with the actual visit to Kentucky. I'm sorry, did I --
QUESTION: Yeah, Louisville. Yeah.
MR TONER: What's that?
QUESTION: Louisville.
MR TONER: Louisville, yes. Thank you. I'm not sure whether the Secret Service would also be involved, given that he's a --
QUESTION: Yeah, Secret Service provided the security.
MR TONER: -- national – or a world leader, yeah. But I'm not sure that we played any facilitating role. I mean, there were a number of leaders or former leaders and dignitaries who came to that funeral, including President Erdogan.
QUESTION: Yeah.
MR TONER: I just don't know. I can try to find out more if we had any role in that.
Thanks guys.
(The briefing was concluded at 2:48 p.m.)
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