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U.S. Department of State

Daily Press Briefing

INDEX
WEDNESDAY, JULY 1, 1998
Briefer: JAMES P. RUBIN

IRAQ
13-15	Assistant Secretary Indyk's meeting with Iraqi National Congress leader Chalabi/U.S. program in support of Iraqi opposition

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING
DPB # 79
WEDNESDAY, JULY 1, 1998, 12:45 P.M.
(ON THE RECORD UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED)

................... QUESTION: Apparently, Ahmed Chalabi, the head of the Iraqi National Congress, had a meeting yesterday with Martin Indyk here. Do you have any information on that?

................

MR. RUBIN: Yes, Chalabi. I spoke to Martin this morning; he didn't tell me what exactly happened in the meeting. My guess is they talked about the program that the United States is going to be preparing, pursuant to authorization we've received from Congress to better coordinate the activities of the Iraqi opposition and to create a more effective process for laying out the evidence for crimes that Saddam Hussein and his cohorts have committed - crimes against humanity, war crimes. This meeting was part of the planning that would be going on in pursuit of that program, as well as a regular contact.

QUESTION: Is this going to be a secret, covert program or something you can --

MR. RUBIN: I hardly think it would be a secret program when we've been talking about it rather extensively publicly. As far as whether every dollar is accounted for in public, that is not often the case. But certainly, the idea of the program, the idea that we want to better coordinate the activities of the Iraqi opposition, if it's a secret, is the worst kept secret in Washington. We do not - this is an overt effort.

QUESTION: Well, once you get the plans together, is it possible to maybe just lay it out step by step for the press corps?

MR. RUBIN: Well, I doubt we will ever be in a position to lay it out to your unending curiosity and interest satisfaction. But we could certainly try to brief you on the basic objectives of the program as far as possible.

QUESTION: Are there other groups in the Iraqi National Congress that you'll be meeting on this?

MR. RUBIN: There are many groups who comprise the opposition to Saddam Hussein; in fact, I would suspect that most Iraqis, if they could speak, would comprise the opposition to Saddam Hussein. But as far as who would we be dealing with and how would we best coordinate this effort, that's the kind of information that I just promised we'd get to you as the program emerges.

QUESTION: But do you look at the Iraqi National Congress as sort of the umbrella organization that you're trying to fold everybody into?

MR. RUBIN: We believe that we need the most coordinated effort possible to hold out to the Iraqi people what the future could hold. That is the objective of this program. We want the most coordinated effort so that there is an understanding on the part of the Iraqi people of what a democratic alternative to Saddam Hussein might look like.

QUESTION: You said at the outset of that answer that you assumed that's what they talked about --

MR. RUBIN: I will check that.

QUESTION: Could you post something to --

MR. RUBIN: Yes, I can confirm my assumption in a one-sentence statement posted immediately after the briefing.

..................

(The briefing concluded at 1:30 P.M.)

[end of document]