28 December 2001
Transcript: Powell Speaks Dec 28 With Indian And Pakistani Leaders
(No plans for Zinni to return to Israel) (1640)
Deputy Spokesman Philip Reeker told reporters at the Department of
State December 28 that Secretary Powell conferred by phone with
India's foreign minister and Pakistan's president to urge both
countries to continue to act responsibly in order to avoid a conflict.
Speaking to reporters earlier December 28, President Bush praised the
arrest by Pakistani authorities of 50 extremists in Pakistan who may
be connected to terrorist attacks against Indian officials in New
Delhi.
Secretary Powell emphasized that ending terrorist attacks is an issue
of critical importance to both nations, according to Reeker.
Turning to Afghanistan, Reeker indicated that the State Department has
not received any official request from the Afghan Interim Authority
regarding coalition bombing of Taliban and al-Qaeda positions.
"The Interim Authority is continuing the task of restoring peace and
order to Afghanistan with the full support of the United Nations, the
United States and the rest of the international community," he said.
Asked about reports surfacing in the Israeli press that U.S. Special
Envoy to the Middle East Anthony Zinni would be returning to the
region shortly, Reeker said he had nothing to announce December 28 on
a perspective visit.
During the briefing, Reeker underscored U.S. concern over reports
appearing in the media December 27 that UN personnel in Bosnia were
involved in the illegal sex trafficking, which the United States
considers a gross violation of international law and human rights
standards.
"We are encouraging the United Nations to investigate this matter
fully and, if culpability is found, to take appropriate disciplinary
action. We are confident that the vast majority of officers serving
with the UN's international police task force in Bosnia are performing
their duties in a highly professional manner, reflecting great credit
on both their home countries and on the United Nations," Reeker said.
(begin transcript)
REMARKS TO THE PRESS BY DEPUTY SPOKESMAN PHILIP T. REEKER
December 28, 2001 Washington, D.C.
2:15 p.m. EST
MR. REEKER: I put out a statement already on the resignation. We note
with regret the resignation of Hans Haekkerup, the Special Rep for the
Secretary General for the UN Interim Administration in Kosovo, so you
can read that on paper. And then shortly, later this afternoon, we
will have a statement welcoming the Council of the European Union's
adoption of a common position on terrorism as framework regulation. So
that will be out on paper as well.
A couple other questions people had. I can get to those afterwards.
Why don't we start with whatever you guys have.
QUESTION: What about the Afghans now, asking -- you know, saying, "Get
out of Afghanistan. You did your work. Thank you. Let us run our
country"?
MR. REEKER: I think folks from Kabul responded to that. Nobody had
made any particular requests of that. The President, I think, talked a
bit about that from Crawford more generally. I don't have anything
else. Obviously, the Interim Authority is continuing the task of
restoring peace and order to Afghanistan with the full support of the
United Nations, the United States and the rest of the international
community. And, even more importantly, it appears as well to have
broad support among Afghans. So we've got the international
peacekeeping force operating there and expanding its presence, and I
think that's really all there is to say at this point.
QUESTION: And what about -- has Pakistan told the US that it is going
to have to move troops from the Afghan border to the border with
India?
MR. REEKER: As I said to some of you who called earlier, I am not
aware of anything particular on that. I saw some press reports cited
to unnamed officials, but I don't know. If I get anything more on
that, I would be happy to give you a call this afternoon, but I
haven't seen anything on that. You might check with DOD.
QUESTION: What can you tell us about the phone calls today the
Secretary made?
MR. REEKER: The Secretary was in shortly this morning and then he also
participated in the video teleconference with the President, which the
President mentioned from Crawford. And he also had phone calls first
with the Minister for External Affairs of India Singh, and then with
President Musharraf of Pakistan and continued to reiterate the same
points that we have been talking about for some days.
As the President noted in his remarks from Crawford, the Secretary
stressed the need for calm and restraint, urging a lessening of
tensions between India and Pakistan. We expect both countries to
continue to act responsibly in order to avoid a conflict. And, as
we've been saying, they need to resolve their differences through
dialogue.
Obviously, we have talked a great deal about ending terrorist attacks,
that being an issue of critical importance to both. As I said
yesterday, reports of missile deployments and various military
movements only heighten tensions and uncertainty in this situation,
and we would just reiterate, as I'm sure the Secretary did in his
phone calls, it's important for each country to avoid actions that
could raise tensions and spiral out of control.
I think we talked a little bit yesterday about the SAARC meeting, that
is the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation. They have a
ministerial, a summit meeting in Kathmandu the first week of January.
And, as I mentioned to some of you yesterday, this is obviously a good
opportunity for Indian and Pakistani leaders to seek to make progress
toward resolving their current differences and to lower tensions. So
our message continues to be the same.
QUESTION: Can we do the Middle East?
MR. REEKER: Middle East. I don't think there is much there --
QUESTION: Israeli Television is saying as things are getting quiet,
Zinni might go back in a few days.
MR. REEKER: I don't have anything for you on Zinni; haven't talked to
him, haven't seen him.
QUESTION: Well, Israeli Television never makes any mistakes.
(Laughter.)
MR. REEKER: Sorry, don't have anything on that. That's really about
it.
QUESTION: Do you have anything to say about the OPEC decision to cut
oil production?
MR. REEKER: I don't think so. We usually do not comment on such
market-setting news or rumors of news. I don't think there is
anything.
QUESTION: No?
MR. REEKER: No. Now, yesterday we mentioned briefly but then somebody
called me again and I promised I would do it, the question of Mr.
Pasko, your journalistic colleague in Russia. There have been a number
of press reports about him.
The trial, as everybody realizes, was conducted in closed session and
we don't have sufficient information to comment on the evidence
presented or how the prosecution brought their case, but we note that
prominent human rights activists and political figures in Russia have
raised questions about whether Mr. Pasko is being punished for
legitimate journalistic activity, and the legal basis for determining
whether he collected classified information.
I think Ambassador Vershbow in Moscow also in a press availability he
had earlier today noted some of the questions about that and also that
the Russian court previously had acquitted him of treason charges in
'99 and that the Judge in this case threw out nine of the ten
espionage charges. Our hope is that his appeal will be heard promptly
in accordance with Russia's law and constitution and that, as a
humanitarian gesture, he might be released from detention pending his
appeal.
And, as I mentioned yesterday, we had an officer from our Vladivostock
consulate at the reading of the verdict, which was the only part of
the proceeding that was open; the rest was closed. So we continue to
watch that case with some interest.
And the other one that was an interest to some of your colleagues,
there was a Washington Post story on this issue of UN police,
allegations of sex trafficking in Bosnia. And I did promise that we'd
look into that because, as you know, we take trafficking of persons
seriously and are very concerned about accusations of this gross
violation of international law and human rights standards. You are all
familiar with our International Trafficking in Persons Report, which
calls such activities fundamental and crucially important challenges.
So we are very concerned about the allegations reported in the press
on Thursday, which we expect the United Nations to address thoroughly.
We are encouraging the United Nations to investigate this matter fully
and, if culpability is found, to take appropriate disciplinary action.
We are confident that the vast majority of officers serving with the
UN's international police task force in Bosnia are performing their
duties in a highly professional manner, reflecting great credit on
both their home countries and on the United Nations. And, of course,
we work closely with the contractor, DynCorp, to ensure that American
police officers serving in the IPTF adhere to the highest standards of
conduct.
I don't know if it was one of you guys who asked me about that, or one
of your colleagues, who can read it in the transcript.
Other things anybody is interested in?
QUESTION: Phil, one more on Pakistan. You may have been asked this
when I stepped away, but there was at least one report that the
Pakistanis have told us that they're going to have to divert troops
from the Afghan --
MR. REEKER: Elise asked me about that and I had seen a couple of wire
reports on that citing unnamed officials. I am not aware of anything
here. You could check with DOD. And if I get something later in the
day, I would be happy to give you a call or come back down. But I just
don't have anything on that subject.
2:30 p.m. EST
(end transcript)
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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