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20 November 1997

TRANSCRIPT: SECRETARY OF STATE PRESS CONFERENCE IN GENEVA NOV. 20

(Iraq must follow unconditionally all UNSC resolutions)  (2070)
Geneva -- Secretary of State Madeleine Albright says the five
permanent members of the U.N. Security Council demonstrated at their
November 20 foreign ministers meeting in Geneva their solidarity on
the necessity for the unconditional return of United Nations Special
Commission (UNSCOM) weapons inspectors to Iraq, and "the unconditional
and complete fulfillment by Iraq" of all relevant Security Council
resolutions.
At a press conference following the early morning Perm Five talks,
Albright said she and the other participants appreciated Russian
Foreign Minister Yevgeniy Primakov's efforts to convince Iraqi
officials to readmit the UNSCOM personnel.
However, she noted, it is now a matter of watching to see if Iraq
keeps its pledge.
"I have to make the following statement unequivocally," she said. "The
United States has not agreed to anything. Our position has been clear,
is clear, that Iraq must be in full compliance with all relevant
resolutions.
"So we are now watching to see the reversal," she said, "and then the
proven fact that the inspectors who have been kept out of the country
for almost three weeks, or have been kept from their work for almost
three weeks, will be able to resume their work. Any discussion of any
changes of military deployments is completely premature. Mr. Primakov
is hopeful that we have taken a step that will make sure that this
decision of Saddam Hussein's is reversed. The United States has made
no agreements on this subject. We have looked at what Foreign Minister
Primakov has stated, and we are now waiting for proof that this has
really happened."
Following is the State Department transcript:
(begin transcript)
Press Conference by Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright
following the P-5 Meeting to Discuss Iraq
Palais des Nations -- Geneva
November 20, 1997
SECRETARY ALBRIGHT: I have just been reporting to the White House what
the meeting has been about this evening. Let me remind all of you what
this whole crisis is about: that is, to make sure that Saddam Hussein
is not in a position to threaten the international community with
weapons of mass destruction. President Clinton has made quite clear
that Iraq must not be allowed to be in this kind of a position, and
that no outcome, short of having him accept unconditionally the return
of UNSCOM, is acceptable.
I would like to say that I think we've had a good meeting here this
evening. What it did was to restate and reclarify yet again the
solidarity of the P-5 on this issue of the necessity for the
unconditional return of UNSCOM. If you go back over the statement that
was issued jointly, it is very clear that the P-5 is together in
calling for, again, the unconditional and complete fulfillment by Iraq
of all of the relevant resolutions of the U.N. Security Council.
The meeting was primarily one in which Foreign Minister Primakov was
reporting on his conversations with the Iraqis, and his hope that his
discussions would -- and it is stated in here -- lead to the
unconditional decision by the leadership of Iraq to accept the return
of the personnel of the Special Commission of the U.N. Security
Council -- UNSCOM -- in its previous composition for work as
stipulated in Security Council Resolution 1137.
We noted with appreciation what Foreign Minister Primakov had done.
Now it is a matter of us watching to see whether Iraq will indeed
fulfill what it said to Foreign Minister Primakov that it would do. So
it's now a matter of Iraq's actions.
QUESTION: We understand that the Iraq General Assembly is about to
reconvene in the next couple of hours. Would you expect them to agree
to let the inspectors back, including the Americans? Would it be the
same group, or could this group change in any way? What would you
expect at the New York meeting in terms of making the sanctions more
palatable to Iraq, and more effective in terms of this statement?
ALBRIGHT: First of all, let me say it is my expectation -- this is
what Foreign Minister Primakov believes, so my expectation is based on
what he told us -- that this decision will be announced by Iraq, that
they will accept the UNSCOM group back, as is stated in here, in its
previous composition for the work stipulated in (Resolution) 1137.
Which means that it is able to go back and do the kind of work it was
doing before. That was all that we discussed tonight in terms of what
Foreign Minister Primakov expected. The meeting in New York on Friday
-- basically the UNSCOM Commission on a six-month basis to review the
work. They are going to be having that kind of a meeting again on
Friday. But I think it's very important that people understand what
UNSCOM is about and what it's like. This is a group of professionals,
experts, who are chosen for their expertise by the chairman of the
commission. They do their work as experts, and we rely on them as
experts. I expect -- and I have no reason to expect otherwise -- that
it would be exactly that group that would be returning. Clearly they
have rotations. But what we talked about tonight is very clear, and
again I'm saying what Foreign Minister Primakov, who talked to the
Iraqis about it, agreed to: That would be back in its previous
composition for the work as determined by 1137.
Q: What happens to the Russian proposals to expedite the lifting of
sanctions?
ALBRIGHT: You have to ask Foreign Minister Primakov. He has had
discussions with the Iraqis. We did not talk about that this evening.
There probably will be discussions of some kind. But I have to make
the following statement unequivocally: The United States has not
agreed to anything. Our position has been clear, is clear, that Iraq
must be in full compliance with all relevant resolutions.
Q: Is it your understanding that the Iraqis have agreed to back down,
to let the inspectors go back in and do their jobs, and that no
concessions have been made whatsoever in exchange for that
undertaking?
ALBRIGHT: It is my understanding from what we were told this evening
that they have said there will be an unconditional return of all the
UNSCOM inspectors, that they would be allowed to do their work, and
that that was all agreed to, that we saw this evening. I have to tell
you: What you see is what you've got. Basically all we talked about
this evening was the fact that Foreign Minister Primakov had had these
discussions with the Iraqis, and that they are prepared to have the
inspectors return unconditionally. We are still waiting to see whether
their actions really will follow through. The announcement is to be
made sometime later this morning. We then have to see whether it's
really carried out.
Q: Mrs. Albright, did Mr. Primakov give you any indication as to why
he is so optimistic that an announcement of this kind will be made
later today? And what happens if it doesn't come today?
ALBRIGHT: All I can tell you is what he said, which is that he had had
these discussions with the Iraqis and they agreed to this, and we have
to see whether they will or won't. I think that perhaps they saw and
understood what we saw this evening, which is the unity of the
Security Council in our determination to make sure that there is a
status quo ante, that we can go back to where we were when Saddam
Hussein expelled the monitors, the UNSCOM inspectors. Again, I have to
tell you that as you have heard me many times before on other
subjects, I want to see what happens. I will believe it when I see it.
What we have been told is that they agreed to do this. The
announcement is going to come later. This is one of these things that
is a provable fact. Either the UNSCOM inspectors will go back, or they
will not, but we will all be able to see them going back and doing
their work. So I am going to be watching and waiting just the way you
are. I am basing what I am telling you on the meeting that we just
had, which I thought was important because of its reaffirmation of the
unity of the P-5, the unity and solidarity of the P-5 on our
insistence that Saddam Hussein reverse his decision and accept the
inspectors. So we will see, we will know it when we see it.
Q: Madam Secretary, could you give us some kind of explanation of what
UNSCOM is doing? It might seem that the discussions in New York to
make UNSCOM's work more effective might seem as if they are designed
to expedite the work as a carrot or an incentive. Can you explain the
details of this, because this was not originally scheduled?
ALBRIGHT: No, it was (scheduled). What has happened is that there are
regular meetings of this UNSCOM Commission. I don't know whether the
date was Friday or Saturday or next week, but clearly -- and an expert
can fill you in on this -- these meetings do take place at a regular
time.
I think that as this paragraph says, there are those who would like to
see UNSCOM's work be carried on, as we said, to be more effective, and
to make sure that it continues to work on the basis of the resolutions
of the Security Council. I think that there will be discussions about
whether more inspections should be added and how it should work, but
as far as we are concerned, we believe that UNSCOM is working
effectively, that it needs to get back on the ground working, and as
many of you know that have just been traveling with me, I met with the
UNSCOM inspectors in Bahrain, I was most impressed by their
dedication. I think we have a problem however in that they have been
out of the country for I think 20 days, so one of the things they are
going to have to think and look and talk about is how to make sure
that they can reconstitute the work that they were involved in.
Q: I was wondering whether the results of this meeting tonight mean
that you have at least temporarily defused any military confrontation,
whether the military buildup that both you and the British are doing
in the Gulf will continue as a sort of insurance against Iraq backing
down on its agreement.
ALBRIGHT: First of all let me repeat something that I have said. Let's
take what happened tonight at face value, which is that we saw the P-5
come together to reaffirm our unity in making sure that Saddam Hussein
reverses his decision. We listened to Foreign Minister Primakov report
on his conversations with the Iraqis, and as a result of those,
expressed the hope that they would in fact announce a reversal of the
decision tomorrow morning. We have not yet seen whether the
announcement is going to happen, or whether they will, in fact,
reverse.
So we are now watching to see the reversal, and then the proven fact
that the inspectors who have been kept out of the country for almost
three weeks, or have been kept from their work for almost three weeks,
will be able to resume their work. Any discussion of any changes of
military deployments is completely premature. Mr. Primakov is hopeful
that we have taken a step that will make sure that this decision of
Saddam Hussein's is reversed. The United States has made no agreements
on this subject. We have looked at what Foreign Minister Primakov has
stated, and we are now waiting for proof that this has really
happened.
We would obviously be pleased if in fact Saddam Hussein does what he
should do, and that is reverse his position and unconditionally allow
the inspectors to do their work so that we can make sure that Saddam
Hussein is not a threat to the region, and to security generally,
because of an ability that he might have to acquire and possess
weapons of mass destruction.
(end transcript)