ACCESSION NUMBER:367460
FILE ID:POL103
DATE:11/14/94
TITLE:ADD STATE DEPARTMENT REPORT, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 14 (11/14/94)
TEXT:*94111403.POL
ADD STATE DEPARTMENT REPORT, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 14
(Iraq-Kuwait, China-missiles, Bosnia) (760)
NEWS BRIEFING -- Deputy spokesman Christine Shelly discussed the following
topics:
IRAQ MUST COMPLY WITH ALL SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTIONS
The deputy spokesman emphasized that "Iraq must fully comply with all of the
relevant U.N. Security Council resolutions before there can be any
discussion of modifications to the sanctions regime" imposed by the United
Nations.
The Security Council met November 14 to review Iraq's compliance record over
the last 60 days.
It is the United States' "very strong view," Shelly said, as well as "the
view of all of the Security Council members that Iraq cannot just pick and
chose among its obligations to the international community. Their
obligations have been stated very explicitly in the resolution which ended
the gulf war (U.N. Security Council Resolution 687)," she said.
Shelly also noted that Ambassador Madeleine Albright, the U.S. permanent
representative to the U.N., met briefly November 14 with Tariq Aziz, Iraq's
deputy prime minister, in her capacity as president of the Security
Council. During the meeting Aziz gave her documentation which relates to
Iraq's recognition of Kuwait's borders. She later met with Kuwait's
foreign minister.
"Our position on this remains clear," the deputy spokesman emphasized.
"Normalization of Iraq's relations with the international community must
rest on the assurance of Iraq's peaceful intentions."
U.S. NOT WRITING OFF PAST IN CHINA MISSILE TRADE
The deputy spokesman told questioners that the United States is not "writing
off the past" in dealing with China's sale of missile components to
Pakistan.
Shelly took issue with a New York Times article that said the U.S. has
offered to forgive China's violations of the Missile Technology Control
Regime (MTCR) and waive possible trade sanctions if China admits the
violations. "There were some parts of that story which were not entirely
correct," she said.
1he deputy spokesman said "there was a sort of inference that we were
writing off the past, and that is not the case. We are very concerned with
what happened in the past."
"It has been U.S. policy to work with China to build on its recent
commitments" to the MTCR, the deputy spokesman pointed out. Under terms of
an October 4 joint statement signed in Washington, the U.S. and China
agreed to hold in-depth discussions on the MTCR as a next step.
"We intend to work toward a Chinese commitment to control the missile
related exports according to the current MTCR guidelines, and it's in that
context that we wish to better understand exactly what has occurred in the
past," she explained. "We'll be continuing discussions with the Chinese to
that effect," Shelly added.
FIGHTING AROUND BIHAC SOURCE OF GREAT CONCERN TO U.S.
The deputy spokesman said the continuing fighting around Bihac in
northwestern Bosnia "is obviously a source of concern" to the United
States, NATO allies and the U.N. Protection Force (UNPROFOR).
"We are all watching the developments with great concern," she said, adding
that the five-nation Contact Group will continue to exchange information
about the fighting in the Bihac pocket which continues on three fronts as
Bosnian government troops try to repel Serb forces from both Bosnia and
Croatia.
"We understand that the Serbs have regained about 40 percent of the land
that they've lost in recent fighting," she said, noting that government
forces have warned they would attack the so-called Krajina Serbs from
Croatia if the fighting continued. "We're certainly hoping overall that
the fighting can be checked and the parties will get back to...the
negotiating table," she said.
"We have said many, many times that the Bosnian Serbs have been the
overwhelming aggressor and in that context, we certainly expressed some
understanding for the efforts by the Bosnian government forces to get back
some of that territory, particularly since many months ago they signed up
for the Contact Group plan," Shelly said. "The Bosnian Serbs have not
shown any indication of a willingness to accept the map and the Contact
Group proposal."
On November 13, five rockets hit the Sarajevo Holiday Inn, the temporary
site of the U.S. embassy, slightly wounding one U.N. firefighter, Shelly
said. In response to a question, she said the rocket attack "would seem to
me to be a violation" of the U.N.-mandated exclusion zone around the
Bosnian capital. "It is up to UNPROFOR to decide what kind of response, if
any, is appropriate," she added.
NNNN
|
NEWSLETTER
|
|
Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list
|
|
|
