30 December 1998
WHITE HOUSE REPORT, DECEMBER 30, 1998
(Iraq, Yeltsin) (520) US RESTATES DETERMINATION TO ENFORCE NO FLY ZONES IN IRAQ "Allied aircraft will continue to enforce the no-fly zones both in north and south Iraq," David Leavy, spokesman for the National Security Council said December 30 following the same day anti-aircraft firing at allied aircraft on routine patrol in the southern no-fly zone of Iraq. "The no-fly zones are a key element of our containment policy preventing Saddam from using his aircraft to repress his own people and threaten his neighbors. We will continue to vigorously enforce this in the future," Leavy said, noting that President Clinton has stressed this point. The two no-fly zones were established in 1991 to deter the Iraqi army from attacking minority Kurds in the north and Shi'ite Moslems in the south of the country. Iraq's anti-aircraft firing December 29 and 30 at allied aircraft patrolling the no-fly zones is apparently Saddam's way of testing US policy, Leavy said. CLINTON PHONES RUSSIAN PRESIDENT BORIS YELTSIN President Clinton talked 40 minutes December 30 with Russian President Boris Yeltsin, the first time the two had talked personally since their meeting in Moscow in September. Clinton phoned Yeltsin from the Oval Office shortly before leaving on a holiday vacation in South Carolina, NSC spokesman Leavy reported. The two leaders "agreed that despite differences over Iraq, it was important to continue to build the US-Russian relationship and to move forward in 1999 the important common agenda that we have," Leavy said. They reviewed plans for US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright to meet January 25-27 in Moscow with Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov and for US Vice President Al Gore to meet in March with Russian Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov. Yeltsin told Clinton he still strongly supports Russian ratification of the START II nuclear arms accord that awaits approval by the Russian Duma before taking effect. The US Senate has already ratified the treaty. Clinton reiterated US support for economic and democratic reform in Russia. He thanked Yeltsin for his New Year's message to him and extended New Year greetings to the Russian people, and told Yeltsin "it's great to hear you sounding so well," Leavy reported. Regarding Iraq, Yeltsin "stated his views, but the President explained why force was necessary," the NSC spokesman said. Russia had protested the joint US-British air strikes on Iraq earlier this month (December 16-19) after receiving the UNSCOM report that said Iraq didn't cooperate fully with the UN Special Commission in Iraq. Clinton expressed his "concern about the continuing threat that Saddam poses" in the Persian Gulf region, and told Yeltsin that "allied air crews will take the necessary precautions to protect themselves and carry out their mission." Leavy said the two leaders did not specifically discuss the December 29 and December 30 incidents in which Iraq fired missiles at allied planes monitoring the no-fly zones in Iraq. But, he said, Clinton made clear that the United States and Britain would continue to patrol those zones.
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