06 August 2002
Armitage to Visit India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka
(Reeker condemns attack on Pakistani school as "outrageous act of
terrorism") (2790)
Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage will travel to Sri Lanka,
India and Pakistan before journeying on to China and Japan, said State
Department Deputy Spokesman Philip Reeker.
Announcing the trip at the August 5 State Department press briefing,
Reeker said Armitage would begin his trip in Colombo August 22,
following up on his previous visit to the region in June, as well as
Secretary of State Colin Powell's recent visit to South Asia.
In India and Pakistan, Armitage will review both sides' efforts to
further de-escalate their conflict, "continuing to see that both sides
live up to the commitments they've made, and to see a . continuing
defusion of the tensions there," said Reeker.
The deputy secretary will also discuss "initiatives to expand U.S.
bilateral relations with both," he said.
Reeker condemned the August 5 terrorist attack upon the Murree
Christian School in Pakistan that killed five school employees,
describing it as an "outrageous act of terrorism."
The United States extends its "deepest sympathies to the families of
the Pakistani victims," said Reeker, adding that Secretary Powell had
conveyed his own condolences in an August 5 telephone conversation
with Pakistani President Musharraf.
In response to concerns raised by the International Crisis Group over
Islamic extremism taught in Pakistan's clerical schools, Reeker said
the United States supports President Musharraf's stated desire to
reform education in his country.
"[W]e've applauded his initiatives in that direction to help come up
with a unified curriculum to make sure that all Pakistani students are
getting the appropriate education that they need," said Reeker.
Musharraf's efforts against terrorism in Pakistan extend into many
areas, said Reeker, including financial measures, law enforcement, and
education to make sure "extremists cannot hijack Pakistan's government
and Pakistan's future against the wishes of the majority of
Pakistanis."
"[W]e think he's demonstrated some keen insight on what is best for
Pakistan's future as we all cooperate fighting terrorism and violence
and looking toward, in the field of education, making sure that all of
Pakistan's young people are educated to prepare them for the 21st
century, for competing in the economic world, for pursuing trade and
modern education," said Reeker.
The deputy spokesman also announced the closure of the U.S. Consulate
General in Karachi, due to security concerns. Reeker said the decision
was taken after local authorities decided to reopen the street in
front of the consulate to two-way traffic. The street was the scene of
a car bombing June 14, which killed several Pakistanis and injured
U.S. consulate employees.
"[A] t this point, the consulate is going to remain closed until a
mutually accepted agreement can be reached with the government of the
province to provide the setback that is sufficient for our consulate
building," said Reeker.
Following are excerpts from the August 5 State Department briefing
containing comments on South Asia:
(begin excerpt)
MR. REEKER: Welcome back to the State Department, everybody, on this
Monday afternoon. Secretary Powell and his traveling party arrived
back from their Asia trip Saturday night, so the Secretary is here at
the State Department today.
I would like to take this opportunity at the top to announce the
travel of Deputy Secretary Armitage, who will be going to Sri Lanka,
India, Pakistan, China and Japan for meetings with senior officials in
each of those countries. He will begin by visiting Colombo on August
22, following the Sri Lankan Prime Minister's visit to Washington last
month. Then he will travel to New Delhi August 23 and Islamabad August
24, where he will build upon his June visits to those cities and
review the steps India and Pakistan have taken since that time to
further deescalate tension, obviously following up on Secretary
Powell's visit to South Asia last month. Discussing initiatives to
expand US bilateral relations with both countries will clearly be on
the agendas in both capitals.
-----
QUESTION: Phil, this is out of left field -- I'm sorry, and if you're
not, you know, briefed on it, it's okay. But mentioning Armitage's
trip reminds me of the International Crisis Group, put out a report
recently, it's circulating in Washington, complaining about the
clerical schools in Pakistan and saying that they're breeding grounds
for extremists. The terrorism office has asked that they be reformed,
and indeed, President Musharraf has promised to do that. This Crisis
Group, which has some very distinguished members, as you know --
MR. REEKER: Indeed.
QUESTION: -- indeed, says that's not enough, the US should ask for
more. Do you happen, by any chance, to have had a chance to --
MR. REEKER: I haven't studied the report, Barry. I haven't seen any
mention of it. We do look at reports like that.
But certainly the discussion that we have had with Pakistan about
supporting President Musharraf's desire to see educational reform, to
see their educational system support the future of the country -- that
is, to educate young Pakistanis to be prepared to deal with the world
in the 21st century -- is something that we have welcomed and we have
discussed. We have applauded his initiatives in that direction to help
come up with a unified curriculum to make sure that all Pakistani
students are getting the appropriate education that they need. I am
sure we will continue to discuss that whenever President Musharraf
wants to discuss that. Any assistance we can provide in that
direction, we will endeavor to do.
QUESTION: A follow-up?
MR. REEKER: Sure.
QUESTION: Filmmaker John Christopher Turner said that Pakistani
schools and madrasas are full of al-Qaidas and Taliban, and he said he
has visited and just outside Karachi, and also Baluchistan is full of
al-Qaidas. Why the United States is not going in that area and in
those schools? General Musharraf and other Pakistanis are making
promises for the last -- before and after 9/11, but these schools are
full of al-Qaidas.
MR. REEKER: I would refer to my answer to your colleague's question
just a few moments ago and the continuing dialogue we have with the
Musharraf government on that. These are issues that President
Musharraf has spoken about and the need to stamp out terrorism, which
is certainly not going to help Pakistan and is a problem with
Pakistan. President Musharraf has made bold decisions in terms of
joining the coalition against terrorism after September the 11th,
working very closely with us and others in the international community
to stamp out terrorism in many ways.
A lot of that includes financial steps; it includes law enforcement
and information coordination, intelligence sharing. It also includes
broader themes in terms of education and making sure that extremists
cannot hijack Pakistan's government and Pakistan's future against the
wishes of the majority of Pakistanis. So I would refer you back to the
President's speeches in that regard. We will continue to have that
dialogue with Pakistan about our bilateral relationships, about
regional issues, and certainly cooperating on counterterrorism.
QUESTION: But he keeps misleading the United States that he had
changed the education system in the madrasas, but he has not.
MR. REEKER: Goyal, changes don't occur in split seconds; they are
things that evolve. We have noted the speeches -- that President
Musharraf has talked about, where he has discussed the future of his
country and what his vision is for it. We have welcomed some of that
because we think he has demonstrated some keen insight on what is best
for Pakistan's future as we all cooperate in fighting terrorism and
violence and looking toward the field of education, making sure that
all of Pakistan's young people are educated to prepare them for the
21st century, for competing in the economic world, for pursuing trade
and modern education. And that is something that the Pakistanis will
continue to work on and develop.
Joel.
QUESTION: The President and many others in the administration have
talked about the financial aspect of the war on terror being very
important. With that respect, talking about the madrasas in Pakistan,
what steps have been taken on the financial side that you know of to
cut off funding, or the funding streams that come from outside
Pakistan and go into the madrasas? Saudi Arabia comes to mind, Syria.
MR. REEKER: I don't know. I don't have any figures with me at this
time. We can check back with the counterterrorism people and look at
that.
-----
QUESTION: Back to Pakistan. Can you give us any more details about the
closing of the consulate, what kind of security threat exists there
that led to that decision?
MR. REEKER: Sure.
QUESTION: And whether any other locations in the country are affected?
MR. REEKER: The US Consulate General in Karachi, Pakistan has
suspended its public operations beginning today, August the 5. This
follows a decision of the Government of Sindh Province to reopen
two-way traffic on Abdullah Haroon Street in Karachi. The northbound
lanes of that street had been closed following the June 14 car bomb
attack that injured several consulate employees and killed several
innocent Pakistani bystanders.
We are discussing this with the officials in the province, their local
officials, but at this point the Consulate is going to remain closed
until a mutually accepted agreement can be reached with the government
of the province to provide the setback that is sufficient for our
Consulate building. The American community in Karachi was informed of
that through our Warden System, and any American citizens requiring
emergency services should contact the Consulate General. They can
still be reached in the usual manner.
I would just remind you that our July 19, 2002 Travel Warning for
Pakistan, which remains in effect, did note that posts in Pakistan may
temporarily suspend operations or close to the public to review
security posture and ensure adequacy of security. That is obviously
what they're doing.
QUESTION: There was no specific threat? This was just a decision
taken, a blanket decision in -- while you --
MR. REEKER: This was taken in Karachi, a decision to close while they
work out the arrangements for the necessary setback, coordinating with
local authorities.
QUESTION: But was there a setback before this July -- I'm sorry,
before the June bombing, or is this just a measure you decided to put
into effect after that incident?
MR. REEKER: The street, as far as I know not having been there, the
northbound lanes had been closed following the June 14 car bomb
attack. And you will recall, at the time we had discussed a number of
the security changes and things that had been done prior to that time.
The decision to reopen the street to two-way traffic is now one that
prompts us to need to discuss that.
QUESTION: Sorry, I meant before the bombing. Was there already -- was
there a setback before the incident in June or will this setback be
new?
MR. REEKER: As I just answered --
QUESTION: You didn't answer it.
MR. REEKER: Terri, what I said was there was a setback. I can't tell
you what the setback was. There was additional setback after the June
14 because traffic was closed in one direction. So now we are talking
with them, with the local authorities, about what we can do to get the
appropriate setback. And that is going to, you know, be decisions that
I can't predict at this point.
QUESTION: I asked about before June 14. I understand what has happened
since then. Was there a setback before then?
MR. REEKER: Right. I said there was a setback, I don't know what the
setback was. I can't tell you the specific setback in any measure.
Following the June 14 incident, traffic was closed in one direction,
creating an even greater setback. The decision to reopen traffic
prompts us to close until we can work out how that can be arranged so
that we have sufficient setback as we both discussed. Clear?
QUESTION: -- actual number of Christians have been murdered or killed?
MR. REEKER: No. And in fact, let me take advantage of you brining that
up to note, however, that at about noon today, local time, two or
three unknown gunmen attacked the Murree Christian School, which is
located 50 to 60 kilometers outside of Islamabad. The initial reports
that we had were that five Pakistani employees of the school were
killed and at least four persons were wounded. We condemn this
outrageous act of terrorism and extend our deepest sympathies to the
families of the Pakistani victims.
Secretary Powell spoke earlier today with President Musharraf, and
among the topics they discussed was the Secretary extending his
condolences to those killed and their families and those injured in
this terrorist attack. There were no American citizens reported killed
or injured in the attack at this point.
-----
QUESTION: Phil, if we can back to Deputy Secretary Armitage's visit --
MR. REEKER: He hasn't gotten there, yet.
QUESTION: I know, but the question is that these high level officials
have been in the area two or three times, including the Secretary just
came back from India and Pakistan. Now Deputy Secretary is following
his visit now because of maybe Secretary Powell's visit was a failure?
At least to India?
MR. REEKER: No, not at all. So I would suggest you read some of the
transcripts, even read the news reporting from those trips and listen
to what I said earlier, because I don't think I can expand upon it. It
is very clear our engagement with both countries, India and Pakistan,
and what we are trying to do there in terms of our bilateral relations
with each country, but also in continuing to see that both sides live
up to the commitments they have made and to see a continuing defusion
of the tensions there.
QUESTION: Even politically?
MR. REEKER: I have nothing more to add for you, Goyal. The lady in the
back.
(end excerpt)
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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