White House Calls Talks in Beijing on North Korea "Useful"
(White House Report) (1110) The preliminary talks in Beijing on North Korea's nuclear program among U.S., Chinese and North Korean officials "were useful. We were able to express our position directly to the North Koreans in a multilateral forum, and our position is unequivocal, that it's important for North Korea to proceed with the irrevocable dismantling of its nuclear weapons program," White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer told reporters April 25. "[D]uring these talks, we made clear to the North Koreans our policy, which is the policy of our allies in the region, that North Korea must verifiably and irreversibly dismantle their nuclear weapons program. This is the goal of our allies. This is the stated policy of China, which played a very productive role in these talks and a very helpful role through the act of participation of the Chinese government." President Bush "has said, and he continues to believe, even having watched what took place this week, that the solution to this will be achieved through diplomacy. And diplomacy is a process. It takes time. Even an issue that is as serious as North Korea having nuclear weapons, it is an issue that takes time to deal with," Fleischer said. "The North Korean way of dialogue is often to engage in as bad a behavior as they could possibly engage in, with the expectation that the world will reward them for ceasing their bad behavior. That has been their previous actions. And the President has made clear that the United States will not reward bad behavior," Fleischer said. "So we'll analyze what North Korea is doing, what North Korea is saying. And the President continues to believe that this can be a matter that will be solved through diplomacy," the Press Secretary said. Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly, who represented the United States at the Beijing talks, was going to Tokyo and Seoul to consult with Japanese and South Korean officials, Fleischer said. U.S. WELCOMES CAPTURE OF TARIQ AZIZ The United States welcomes the capture of Tariq Aziz, the former deputy prime minister of Iraq, Fleischer said. Aziz turned himself in to coalition forces on April 24. Aziz will be questioned by coalition officials, and U.S. Central Command is responsible for determining where he will be held, Fleischer said. It will be a matter for the international community to determine whether Aziz will be tried for war crimes, the press secretary added. SEARCH FOR WMD CONTINUES IN IRAQ As the war in Iraq winds down, "a more involved search" for hidden weapons of mass destruction is under way, Fleischer said, helped by "the more involved conversations with Iraqis who hold the keys to where some of these weapons may be. " "As you watch events in Iraq, certainly every day new information surfaces. The capture of Tariq Aziz, for example, was new information that just surfaced. So that will be a continuing flow of information, including WMD new information as it arrives. It is a lengthy process. And I remind you, that some of the nation's best reporters, who are some of the best expert in this exact field, are embedded in some of the units that are doing the searching, who have reported with their own eyes and ears some fascinating details about the process and what this process is finding." Fleischer told reporters that they are "watching a story unfold, and I can only assure you, at the end of the story the president has every confidence it will be exactly as described, a process that leads to the discovery of the WMD. "What we have seen so far is evidence they [the former Saddam regime] may have dispersed some, may have destroyed some. "But, again, to bring it around, you can't destroy something you don't have. And the evidence suggesting that they, indeed, destroyed some on the eve of the war is proof that the president was right that they had it. We're fortunate if they destroyed it, because that means they didn't use. They certainly could have made a very different decision because they did have it. It could have been used. Mercifully, it was not." BUSH HAVING REGULAR BRIEFINGS ON SARS President Bush has been having repeated briefings on severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), the deadly virus that has infected more than 4,000 people worldwide. Bush receives reports from the Center for Disease Control, the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Homeland Security, and a variety of scientists and experts, Fleischer said. "He's regularly kept up with the prevalence of the disease, where it is found," Fleischer said. "He gets information, what the World Health Organization has assessed. He is kept very closely on top of it." More than 250 people have died from SARS worldwide, a respiratory infection caused by a relative of a common cold virus. THE WEEK AHEAD Monday, April 28 -- Bush will travel to Dearborn, Michigan where he will participate in a roundtable discussion with Arab-Americans and Iraqi-Americans about the future of Iraq. Following the roundtable, the president will make remarks on Operation Iraqi Freedom. In that speech he will talk about his "optimistic vision of a liberated Iraq, and how Iraq can live in peace with its neighbors and become representative of an Islamic democracy," Fleischer said. Tuesday, April 29 -- Bush will make remarks on the global HIV-AIDS initiative in the White House Rose Garden. Wednesday, April 30 -- Bush will make remarks to the 2003 National and State Teachers of the Year in the East Room. He will sign the Protect Act of 2003, also known as the National Amber Alert, in the Rose Garden. Wednesday afternoon he will meet with President Alvaro Uribe of Colombia in the Oval Office. Thursday, May 1 -- Bush will travel to San Diego, California and then be flown out to sea where he will board the U.S.S. Lincoln, an aircraft carrier that is returning from combat missions in the Gulf. Bush will spend Thursday night aboard the ship and return to California Friday. Friday, May 2 -- Bush will visit Santa Clara, California, where he will make remarks on economic security and national security. He will depart California for his ranch in Crawford, Texas. Friday evening President and Mrs. Bush will welcome Prime Minister John Howard of Australia and his wife to Texas. Saturday, May 3 -- Bush will participate in meetings with Prime Minister Howard of Australia. (Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
