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U.S. Department of State

Daily Press Briefing

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Turning to our subject of Iraq, which there may still be some questions left after Mr. Berger's event at the National Press Club, I can say that the Argentine Government has announced in Buenos Aires that it is prepared to lend its full support to the international effort to require Iraq to fully comply with all UN Security Council resolutions - particularly with regard to permitting UNSCOM to fulfill its mission. Specifically, it has stated that in the case that diplomatic efforts are exhausted, it is prepared to deploy military medical personnel and equipment. This decision to make a military contribution, should it be necessary, is reflective of the courage and leadership of the Argentine Government, which, in addition to participating in Desert Shield/Desert Storm, has provided troops for peacekeeping missions around the world in recent years.

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QUESTION: Oh, no, that puts me on the spot. I wanted to ask you a little bit more about the newspaper report regarding UNSCOM and Russia, from yesterday. Secretary Cohen, having raised the issue of dual-use technology in Moscow, issued statements saying that Russia and the US agree on the need to put a halt to programs for weapons of mass destruction, that sort of thing.

Included in the newspaper story was a clear implication that Russia, in fact, had blocked efforts to locate things in Iraq; that they had debriefed Russian UNSCOM members, and in fact the implication was that they had let the Iraqis know where the searches were going to take place.

What can you say about that - if you can say anything at all -- but about the status of Russia's cooperation with UNSCOM's efforts to uncover weapons of mass destruction.

MR. RUBIN: Let me start by saying that as a Permanent Member of the Security Council, Russia helped create UNSCOM and has supported it with expertise since its inception. As far as -- we know Russia understands the need for UNSCOM's activities to remain confidential.

Russia has also taken the position that Iraq must comply with UN resolutions that mandate UNSCOM's right to investigate, without restrictions, Iraq's programs. Let me also say that if, as the subtext of some discussions indicate, that the Iraqis feel that they are so wired into what's going on in UNSCOM that they can foil it or that it's compromised, I suspect Iraq wouldn't be going to such extraordinary lengths to try to prevent UNSCOM from acting within Iraq - from going to the sites it needs to go. So that fact tends to belie this broad-based assertion that whatever may or may not be going on has compromised UNSCOM.

As far as any specific intelligence issue, I would not, obviously, be able to comment. But we do believe UNSCOM is independent; it is effective; and that if that weren't so, I suspect the Iraqis wouldn't be trying so desperately to undermine the independence and effectiveness of UNSCOM.

QUESTION: Without asking you about any particular individual in the incident, to the best of your knowledge, you're unaware of any occasions where UNSCOM plans have been thwarted due to - your plans for inspections or for visiting specific sites have been thwarted by discussions of this sort?

MR. RUBIN: I'm not going to be able to get into specifics, and that is the substance of an intelligence issue that was raised in various news accounts. But what I can say is that, in general, UNSCOM's independence and integrity is intact. We believe it is the organization that should get to the bottom of whatever may or may not have gone on with this biological weapons case that was referred to, and we have confidence that they will be in the best position to investigate these matters.

We had received indications that UNSCOM had obtained information about such an issue, but we didn't have any - and still don't have, to my knowledge - any independent confirmation of whether this report is accurate. So it's up to UNSCOM to get to the bottom of it. But we do believe this UN agency has been independent and effective, and that's why the Iraqis have been fighting to undermine its independence and effectiveness.

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