30 January 1998
TRANSCRIPT: SECSTATE SAYS U.S., FRANCE SHARE VIEWS ON IRAQ
(Albright, Vedrine press briefing in Paris Jan. 29) (2500) Paris -- Secretary of State Albright says the United States and France agree that Iraq's refusal to allow U.N. inspectors full access to suspected weapons sites is "unacceptable" and that "all options are open" for dealing with Iraq's noncompliance. "We prefer to have a diplomatic solution," Albright said during a January 29 joint press briefing with French Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine, "but we need to resolve this problem, and we have also said that we will take what necessary means in order to achieve those two objectives." Vedrine seconded Albright's comment regarding potential options for dealing with Iraq's refusal to adhere to U.N. Security Council resolutions on the weapons inspection issue. Albright is in Europe to confer about the impasse with Iraq with U.S. allies and nations represented on the U.N. Security Council. She emphasized that the goal of the United Nations is to prevent Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein from developing and using weapons of mass destruction and to limit his ability to threaten his neighbors. Neither Vedrine nor Albright would speculate on any timetable for Iraqi compliance. Vedrine said that setting a deadline would be a "contradiction" to the international community's effort to find a diplomatic solution. But Albright emphasized that "the patience of the international community is running out." Following is the State Department transcript: (begin transcript) U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE Office of the Spokesman (Paris, France) January 29, 1998 PRESS BRIEFING BY SECRETARY MADELEINE K. ALBRIGHT AND FRENCH FOREIGN MINISTER HUBERT VEDRINE Quai d'Orsay Paris, France January 29, 1998 FOREIGN MINISTER VEDRINE: Ladies and gentlemen, good evening. I am very pleased to have received this evening Secretary of State, Mrs. Albright. We had dinner together and worked over dinner and we discussed Iraq -- this will be no surprise to you -- and we also discussed the peace process. As concerns Iraq, after our conversation, I must say that all options are open. This is why, I believe, we have to intensify the work towards a diplomatic solution so as to have Iraq accept the inspections by UNSCOM. This is absolutely basic, and this is also what was provided for by the resolution and in this diplomatic work, the cohesiveness of the Security Council will be of extreme significance. And, I would also like to avail myself of this opportunity to pay tribute to the work of UNSCOM which has already done a great deal of verification and now has to be able to continue its work with no conditions imposed upon it whatsoever. I would like to add that, as usual, our conversations were extremely interesting and we are going to remain in very close contact during the coming days. SECRETARY ALBRIGHT: Je suis vraiment heureuse d'etre ici de nouveau a Paris, and I want to thank my good friend, Foreign Minister Vedrine, for hosting us on such short notice. We really had an excellent discussion. As the Foreign Minister said, obviously the primary topic of our discussion was the situation in Iraq, and the United States and France agree that the situation is very grave. We share the view that Saddam's non-compliance with the resolutions of the Security Council is unacceptable and that the resolutions must be respected. This is essential for the security and stability of the region and vital to French and U.S. interests. As President Clinton pointed out Tuesday night (January 27), UNSCOM inspections have resulted in the discovery and elimination of more weapons of mass destruction than were destroyed in the entire Gulf War. Saddam has a proven record of deception and aggression, including actual use of chemical weapons, and the world must ensure that Saddam Hussein is never again allowed to threaten the stability of the region with weapons of mass destruction. Foreign Minister Vedrine and I agree that Iraq is fully responsible for the current crisis, by its deliberate efforts to prevent UNSCOM from doing its work. These are fundamental violations of the Council's resolutions and cannot be tolerated. We discussed all the options, diplomatic and otherwise, to compel Iraq to reverse its course, and I very much appreciate the statement that he has just made, that all options are open. I explained to Foreign Minister Vedrine our view that we have all but exhausted the real diplomatic options and that the time is fast approaching for fundamental decisions. The Foreign Minister and I discussed other important matters, including Bosnia, and the Foreign Minister and I have consulted regularly on Algeria and we discussed it briefly this evening. We are both appalled by the brutality and senselessness of the massacres being committed by the terrorist groups, and condemn them unequivocally. We talked about Iran; as always, I was glad to hear the French views and analysis on the situation in Iran. We remain intrigued by what is occurring there. As President Clinton said in his Eid message, we have real differences with some Iranian policies, but they are not insurmountable. We hope that we have more exchanges between our peoples, and that the day will soon come when we can enjoy good relations with Iran once again. It's no secret that France and the United States still disagree about the importance of economic measures to encourage positive change, and the Foreign Minister and I are committed to working through these issues in the same spirit of cooperation that has always characterized our relationship. Finally, the Foreign Minister and I discussed the Middle East Peace Process. I had already received Foreign Minister Vedrine's report on his recent trip to the region, and I wanted to discuss with him my plans to travel to the region this weekend, and work to build upon the ideas President Clinton presented to Prime Minister Netanyahu and Chairman Arafat last week. This, of course, is no small challenge, and I appreciate very much the Foreign Minister's continued advice and support. Merci. QUESTION: Are you convinced, that should it come to that, renewed bombing of Iraq would achieve today what it has not achieved in the last few years, militarily and politically? SECRETARY ALBRIGHT: Let me say that our objective is to thwart Saddam Hussein's capacity to develop and use weapons of mass destruction and to limit his ability to threaten his neighbors. We have said many times that we prefer to have a diplomatic solution, but we need to resolve this problem, and we have also said that we will take what necessary means in order to achieve those two objectives. I think that we have to remember what our objectives are, and we have to remember that Saddam Hussein cannot keep flaunting international authority, and we would, as I said, prefer a diplomatic route, but we'll do what is necessary to achieve those two objectives. Q: Mr. Minister, the Secretary says diplomacy is just about exhausted, but you seem to be hopeful, so everybody would prefer a diplomatic solution and you seem to see some hope of it. Where is this diplomacy? What form is it taking? Where do you see some hope? (Inaudible) the Russian initiative that is over. Where is the basis for your hope, that diplomacy might succeed? FOREIGN MINISTER VEDRINE: We have both said that a diplomatic solution would be preferable. By what means are our means of persuasion, any means to be able to convey the message are good and should be used. It is vital that the message is clear and readily understandable. The message is always the same -- Iraq must comply with the resolutions. And even if we don't know what the result of this intense diplomatic effort will be, it is our duty to continue nonetheless. Q: There is no suggestion then from Mr. Primakov that some hope, some basis for hope, for...because the message has been the same for several months. FOREIGN MINISTER VEDRINE: I think we have to wait for Mr. Primakov to give us indications as to the responses that he may possibly have received before we agree further. Q: What are you expecting tomorrow from your meeting with Mr. Primakov? Have you any new information from Russia? SECRETARY ALBRIGHT: Well, let me say that I consider the meeting with Foreign Minister Mr. Primakov very important, just as I have with Foreign Minister Vedrine. We are all dealing with the same problem, and that is that Saddam Hussein is thwarting the will of the international community, and I expect that we will be able to work together, to make very clear that we are all standing together to make sure that UNSCOM is able to have unfettered unconditional inspections. So, as Foreign Minister Vedrine said, we don't know what exactly Foreign Minister Primakov is bringing, but whatever he is bringing has to, I think, make very clear that there have to be unfettered unconditioned inspections, and not any excuses from Saddam Hussein not to live up to his obligations. Q: Mr. Foreign Minister (inaudible) absolutely clear that we heard you correctly in saying the French position at this point is that while it prefers a diplomatic solution, it does in fact not forclose any of the options, including the military option. FOREIGN MINISTER VEDRINE: I am going to repeat what I said before. I must say, that at this stage, all options remain open, and that therefore we must make particularly intensive efforts to find diplomatic solutions as soon as possible. I have recalled what (inaudible) must be is to ensure the verification inspections by UNSCOM unfettered and unconditional. For the rest, everything else is yet a hypothesis. I do hope that the Iraqi leaders will understand that they have to comply with these resolutions. Q: Madam Secretary, is it conceivable that the United States would give Saddam Hussein an ultimatum just like George Bush did and would it be conceivable that France would also support that possibility giving him two weeks to comply with this resolution otherwise? SECRETARY ALBRIGHT: What our message is, is that the Security Council members, starting with the United Kingdom, France, Russia, all five united, and in our determination to make sure that the Security Council resolutions are abided by, and that we are prepared to look at other options. I am not into the ultimatum business at this time, what I think is most important, is that Saddam Hussein listen to what is being said here tonight, and what will be said in the next few days, in terms of our determination to make sure that the Security Council resolutions are abided by, and that there be unfettered and unconditional access to the sites. FOREIGN MINISTER VEDRINE: I agree entirely with that response. Q: If I could ask you, Monsieur le Ministre,...tonight you seem to be urging Saddam Hussein to listen urgently to what you're saying. The Russians are trying to find, they oppose force (inaudible) and they're clearly trying to find some way around it. How much time do they have, I mean how much time do you think (inaudible). I really would like you to answer that, I think it would be very interesting. How long are you willing to wait (inaudible) answer from Saddam Hussein (inaudible). Is there (inaudible) to recognize the danger of uninspected sites in terms of security, as well as the danger to the credibility of the Security Council? FOREIGN MINISTER VEDRINE: I think that setting a deadline would be in contradiction with the determination that we have been showing. Therefore, it is important to show determination vis-a-vis the solution which is to be found. SECRETARY ALBRIGHT: Can I add to that. I do think that there is a concern about too long a time when the inspections are not going forward, and that it is very important to know that the patience of the international community is running out. Q: ...If Israel is attacked this time, will it have the right to strike back? SECRETARY ALBRIGHT: I think that we're not going to deal in hypothetical situations, but as I said yesterday, that any contemplation of attack on Israel, would be a serious mistake. Q: Minister, today you had a meeting with the Iranian Foreign Minister, and I would like to know if you could tell us about his feelings vis-a-vis the Iraqi situation. Now a question to Secretary of State and the Minister. Could you tell us more about the present situation of the peace process as you are going to visit the region during the trip. FOREIGN MINISTER VEDRINE: Indeed, this afternoon, in Geneva, I met with the Iranian Foreign Minister. I had already met him in New York last September, and we had decided to meet again if we had the opportunity to do so. I was in Geneva, and he was in (inaudible), therefore the opportunity did arise. Our meeting wasn't specifically focussing on the situation in Iraq, we wanted to have a general overview of the situation, and also, we too are intrigued, I believe that's the word the Secretary of State used, by the developments in Iran, and I wanted to hear more from him. It was very interesting for me, but it's not directly related to our subject. As to the peace process, I would like to say once again, that we are very grateful, and very much impressed by the considerable efforts deployed by President Clinton and Mrs. Albright, and I would like to thank them for all their efforts. We too in Europe and France, are very resolved to play our part in it, and this is why we have these very regular and intense consultations on the subject, because we are very very (inaudible) situation.... SECRETARY ALBRIGHT: And for my part, the reason that I'm going to meet with Prime Minister Netanyahu and Chairman Arafat, is because President Clinton laid out some ideas to them, and they are thinking about them and I wanted to hear what their reaction to these ideas are. Q: For Foreign Minister Vedrine. First of all, (inaudible), and secondly, did you discuss with the Americans this evening, changing the terms of the (inaudible) with Iraq (inaudible) FOREIGN MINISTER VEDRINE: The Iranian Foreign Minister did indeed express the interest of his government to engage in discussion both with the United States and Europe. And I said to Mrs. Albright, because she is familiar with our position, that we are very much in favor of the enlargement of the conditions of Resolution 986 and its minimum doubling. Because we must constantly recall that the provisions of the resolutions aim at deposing sanctions on decisions taken by Iraqi leaders. And the case of Iraqi leaders is completely different from the case of the Iraqi people. Everything must be done to prevent the Iraqi people from suffering over much of the situation because they are not responsible for it. (end transcript)
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