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U.S. Department of State

Daily Press Briefing

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QUESTION: Richard Butler is going to issue a report this afternoon on Iraqi compliance with UN Security Council resolutions. I wonder if you have your own evaluation of Iraqi compliance.

MR. FOLEY: Well, we have commented over the course of the last week or so on how the inspections appeared to be going. But we were also very careful to say that we would await Chairman Butler's formal report on the overall level of Iraqi compliance before commenting in any sort of formal, definitive way ourselves. However, I would note that Iraq has blocked at least three inspections in recent days: first, a site belonging to an Iranian opposition group; second the -- Baath Party Headquarters, and third, a CW inspection last Friday, December 11. Iraq also delayed a BW inspection team from beginning its work on Friday, December 4. All of these incidents are simply unacceptable.

When Iraq blocks an inspection, we assume Iraq has something it doesn't want inspectors to see. In terms of the timing that you mentioned, I've heard also that Chairman Butler may be delivering his report to Secretary General Annan in short order. I don't know precisely when he's doing that, but we're expecting that imminently, I believe.

In terms of what happens next, though, I'd have to refer you to the UN. I believe Secretary General Annan will distribute the letter to the members of the Security Council - or the report - and then convene or call a meeting of the Security Council. I don't know when that is scheduled to take place, but we would expect that sometime this week.

QUESTION: Jim, two questions, that's four inspections out of how many they've blocked?

MR. FOLEY: I'm sorry, I didn't hear your question.

QUESTION: You say they blocked four inspections -

MR. FOLEY: I said three that were blocked and then on December 4, they delayed an inspection.

QUESTION: And that's out of how many attempts?

MR. FOLEY: I don't have the exact figure of how many inspections actually were conducted or attempted, but we'll get that, certainly, in Chairman Butler's report.

QUESTION: And also the Secretary General yesterday laid out some rather stark differences between Washington and him on Iraq policy regarding sanctions and the sort of the approach to easing them. I wonder if you have any comment on it.

MR. FOLEY: Well, I can restate our position; it's clear, and it's well-known. In the view of the United States, Iraq must comply with all of its obligations under all the relevant UN Security Council resolutions. We've said repeatedly that the United States Government is not opposed to a lifting of sanctions if Iraq should meet all of its obligations. Of course, we remain skeptical that Iraq will do so. We have, it goes without saying, the utmost respect for the Secretary General of the United Nations, who has demonstrated resourcefulness and resolve in dealing with Iraq's non-compliance over the past year.

The fact is, however, that the Security Council has sole responsibility for framing and interpreting its resolutions. The Council itself has been resolute and unified in the face of Iraqi non-compliance over the past year, and we expect that to continue.

QUESTION: So the bottom line is even if Butler endorses - says the Iraqis are complying and closes the file, the United States will not veto an easing of the sanctions until they meet the requirements regarding prisoners of war and repayment of money for the destruction they caused during the war?

MR. FOLEY: Well, you're correct in that we oppose them. We will oppose the lifting of sanctions, absent Iraqi compliance with all of Iraq's obligations under all the relevant UN Security Council resolutions. Of course, the question of the day or the week that you've been asking me has had more to do with the question of a comprehensive review. That issue is more closely tied to the specific question of Iraqi compliance with UNSCOM and the IAEA; and our assessment will at least be informed by those reports by the IAEA and Chairman Butler.

QUESTION: Jim, I think the point that Kofi Annan raised, however, had to do with the United States -- (inaudible) -- in the otherwise unmentioned issue of bringing Iraqi opposition into the mix - that the United States has brought the opposition leadership into this whole equation where it was never brought into a Security Council resolution.

MR. FOLEY: But really those, Jim, are separate issues. If you're talking about what action we will or will not support in the Security Council, be it a comprehensive review of Iraq's compliance and of sanctions, or be it the lifting of sanctions, our position will continue to be determined by the overall question of Iraqi compliance with all the relevant Security Council resolutions.

The question of US support and encouragement to democratic forces inside Iraq to the effort to help make the Iraqi opposition a more viable alternative to Saddam Hussein do not, strictly speaking, have anything to do with the question of UN Security Council judgment of Iraqi compliance or non-compliance. They're separate issues.

QUESTION: I think the point I derived from the interview in The New York Times was that he thought that it was not within the purview of the Security Council or any international body to support an internal opposition.

MR. FOLEY: Well, we've certainly not asked the United Nations to play a role in that regard. This is an effort on the part of the United States to assist the Iraqi opposition to become more cohesive, to become a more viable and effective alternative to Saddam Hussein. We've never said this was going to be an easy challenge that we would expect - we've never said that we would expect to help effect change in Iraq overnight. But we want to allow those opposition forces to put themselves in a better position to provide the Iraqi people with an alternative to a regime which has done nothing but terrible harm to the interests of the Iraqi people and the interest of the people of the region for lo these many years.

QUESTION: (Inaudible) - overstepping its authority without international approval.

MR. FOLEY: The United States does not believe it requires international approval to assist democratic forces, especially in a country that's been so ill-governed as Saddam Hussein's Iraq, especially in relation to a regime which has visited terror not only on its people but on its neighbors.

But let me hasten to add, though, that what we're not talking about here is a US effort as such to unilaterally affect change in Iraq. What we are attempting to do is to help Iraqis help themselves to better offer an alternative to the current regime in Iraq.

QUESTION: Can you give us an update on the status of travel warnings, authorized departures, and so forth in the Middle East right now? I think there was a worldwide warning quite some time ago in November; is that still current?

MR. FOLEY: Yes, there was a public announcement covering, I believe, a worldwide caution. I don't have that before me, so I can't read from it.

QUESTION: But does it still stand?

MR. FOLEY: It still stands, yes - but David, your question about the posture of our embassy and specific travel announcements or warnings on any given post in the Middle East is not something I can just pull off the top of my head. I'd be happy to go back with you after the briefing and dig out the existing announcements that we've issued over the last few months.

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QUESTION: On Iraq, you were talking earlier about the imminent Butler report. Did I understand you to say that now, once the report is given to Security Council, the next move is up to the Security Council? And if so, did you mean by saying that to rule out the possibility that the United States or the US and its allies might regard this - if the report is negative - regard this as evidence that must be acted upon, that Iraq must be punished for?

MR. FOLEY: Well, you haven't been here in recent days, and I was asked that question specifically yesterday, and I ruled out in any way answering a question about the timing, the nature or the very fact of military action. It's not something that we can comment about publicly for obvious reasons.

The immediate purpose of a Security Council meeting to assess Chairman Butler and the IAEA's reports will be to determine whether or not there's a basis for proceeding with a comprehensive review of sanctions. The other question that you raised, I can only say that all options are on the table, including the military option, as far as the United States is concerned. That is not an issue that, in our view, requires debate or let alone determination in the Security Council. Secretary Albright the other day made it crystal-clear that as far as we're concerned, diplomacy is no longer necessary and warnings are not necessary, either.

(The briefing concluded at 2:00 P.M.)

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