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U.S. Department of State

Daily Press Briefing

QUESTION: Iraq is apparently making more statements about cutting back it's cooperation with the UN.

MR. RUBIN: Let me give you a few points on that. First of all, the Secretary has met with two Kurdish leaders, Mr. Barzani and Mr. Talibani. She met with the second one this morning at about 11:00 a.m. She expressed the United States' continuing engagement with the Kurds there and our concern for the Iraqi Kurds and all the people of Northern Iraq. These leaders are real voices of the Iraqi people who represent the interests of millions of Iraqi Kurds.

Obviously this situation in Iraq was discussed. The current US policy towards Iraq, the security needs of the people of Northern Iraq, and the important humanitarian assistance programs going on there. The Secretary in both of her meetings emphasized the criticality of affecting a reconciliation between the Kurdish parties. She is expected to host a meeting later in the week of those two parties, which would be the first of such meetings to my knowledge.

QUESTION: When will that be?

MR. RUBIN: Later in the week, towards the end of the week.

QUESTION: Do you have a date?

MR. RUBIN: When I have a date and a time and a place, I'd be happy to give it to you.

QUESTION: And specifically what do you expect to come out of that meeting or hope to come out of that meeting?

MR. RUBIN: At this point I'm just telling you we're expecting to be able to host a meeting. Obviously, reconciliation between the Kurdish factions -- the Kurdish parties, rather, is an important goal of the United States. David Welch has been working on a this assiduously. In recent months he visited the region at the instruction of the Secretary, and this is a step in that direction. We will have more to say about that meeting when it happens.

QUESTION: But she said that this position - in other words, is this is a meeting that has to be held because they're resisting it or is the flow in that direction?

MR. RUBIN: On the contrary, I think there's a greater recognition of the importance of working together that their common enemy is Saddam Hussein and not anyone else.

QUESTION: Isn't it a powerful incentive, though, the fact that the United States now is ready to put up, again, a substantial sum of money that these groups could use?

MR. RUBIN: Well, these discussions have been going on for many months, and I am not in a position to analyze the motivations of these particular leaders; other than to say the trend is in the right direction. Secretary Albright is expected to host a very important meeting -- I believe the first of its kind with the Secretary of State -- on Thursday or Friday, and that's a step.

QUESTION: (Inaudible) - the meeting?

MR. RUBIN: Correct. I wouldn't use the word expected if I didn't expect it to happen, but obviously I didn't use a word beyond that.

QUESTION: Is this the first meeting since they went apart?

MR. RUBIN: I don't know whether they've met before, and I will have to check that for you.

QUESTION: If they have met before and if one of your people upstairs could find out when --

MR. RUBIN: The last meeting --

QUESTION: -- that would be helpful.

MR. RUBIN: Right, but I don't believe that there's been a meeting with the Secretary of State of the two of them before.

QUESTION: With Baker.

MR. RUBIN: Since the Clinton Administration.

(Laughter.)

MR. RUBIN: Yes, now to your question, Carol, about Iraq. Why don't you re-pose it.

QUESTION: Well, apparently Baghdad is saying that it's going to cut back its cooperation or cease all its cooperation with the UN, and I wondered where you go from here.

MR. RUBIN: Let me say this -- last week, an important resolution was passed in direct response to Iraq's decision to block inspections by the UN Special Commission and the International Atomic Energy Agency.

The resolution demands that Iraq rescind that decision and stipulates that until it does, all sanctions reviews will be suspended. Should Iraq compound its defiance of the international community by now blocking all monitoring of UNSCOM as well as inspections as threatened, this would constitute yet another flagrant violation of UN Security Council resolutions and thus be a direct challenge to the authority of the Council. In that event, the UN Security Council would have to consider further action.

During the course of the weekend, Secretary Albright has spoken to several counterparts about this subject. She spoke to Secretary General Annan; she spoke to French Foreign Minister Vedrine; British Foreign Minister Cook; the Swedish Foreign Minister -- in light of the fact that Sweden is the current president of the Security Council. She also spoke to her new counterpart, Ivanov, from Russia. She emphasized the extent to which this action, if it occurs, because it doesn't come as a surprise to us, would be a ratcheting up by Iraq of its confrontation with the Council and a flouting of the will of the Council and that we would need to consider further action.

She had those discussions with those ministers to preempt what I would expect to be your next question. They made clear to her that they agree with the substance of the American position and to the extent that they can, would try to communicate the foolishness of the Iraqi position directly to the Iraqis.

QUESTION: Would military action be on the table?

MR. RUBIN: As far as military action is concerned, in the first instance it is up to the Council to respond to this if it were to occur. However, let me reiterate that the United States is watching very closely; we're watching the situation closely, and as we look ahead we will decide how and when to respond to Iraq's actions based on the threat they pose to Iraq's neighbors, to regional security and to American vital interests. And we have most certainly not taken that option off the table.

QUESTION: Another topic?

MR. RUBIN: Any more on this?

QUESTION: What are the formulas on the table for reconciliation between two Kurdish factions?

MR. RUBIN: In the run-up to this meeting on Thursday, I will try to get you more information about that subject. For now, having had these meetings, some of it obviously will have to remain private, but I will try to get you more information in the coming days.

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

(The briefing concluded at 2:20 P.M.)

[end of document]