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U.S. Department of State

Daily Press Briefing

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QUESTION: On Tariq Aziz'visit to Moscow, it would seem that Iraq is not really any more excited about the extension idea than they were since he has now said that you can't do more in two weeks than buy a suit, a pair of shoes and sell some potatoes. So I wondered if you had any reaction to his visit?

MR. RUBIN: I think there is nothing new about Tariq Aziz tromping around the world pathetically seeking support for a position in which Iraq increasingly finds itself isolated in all over the world. The fact that he is indicating that Iraq wants to have sanctions lifted somehow magically without any focus on the fact that Iraq is required to meet the requirements of the Security Council resolutions, we have put forward what we think is a quite reasonable approach that would entail the unfettered return of inspectors, would entail the fulfillment of key disarmament tasks and that would entail the testing period for that work, and that would be sufficient to enable adjustments in the sanctions package.

That is a very reasonable proposal. It has the support of an increasingly large number of members of the Security Council. The fact that Iraq still believes that sanctions will magically disappear is only self-delusion on their part. In the meantime, with respect to the specific Oil for Food resolution, the point here is that if we can get action on the comprehensive resolution that deals with inspections, deals with the sanctions regime and deals with the Oil for Food program then we won't need to have constant roll-overs of the Oil for Food program.

With respect to what Tariq Aziz can and can't do in a two-week period, I am sure that his finely tailored suits - at the prices he's probably paid for them - were done quicker than two weeks. With respect to the Oil for Food program itself, there is plenty of oil and food and medicine in the pipeline and funds in the pipeline and we see no reason why the program itself need be interfered with.

QUESTION: Will the Secretary of State speak again to Ivanov on the issue of the resolution, and are we any closer to Russia falling in line with the -- (inaudible) - visit?

MR. RUBIN: Falling in line with?

QUESTION: With the resolution, with the rest --

MR. RUBIN: I would expect that Secretary Albright will have a number of conversations in the coming days on this resolution, including with the French foreign minister, the Russian foreign minister, the British foreign minister and others, because the issue has now reached beyond the kind of technical discussions that can be conducted by Under Secretary Pickering and Assistant Secretary David Welch with counterparts in New York and in various capitals, and it's now in the political realm.

My experience has been that decisions on a difficult question like this often require a large number of phone calls and consultations, so I would expect her to have continued discussion with Foreign Minister Ivanov about it; and if she's continuing to have discussions, you can therefore assume that the Russians have not - we don't expect the next phone call to be one in which everything is resolved.

QUESTION: But are you closer than you were before Aziz went to Moscow, or are you further away?

MR. RUBIN: I don't think there is a marked difference because I don't - first of all, let me say I don't know because she hasn't spoken to him since Tariq Aziz has been in Moscow. She didn't speak to him in the last couple of hours, and I wouldn't expect evolutions to occur in any dramatic, overnight kind of fashion.

QUESTION: Can you give us any update on the status of the American woman who was briefly detained in Moscow and sort of what's next and what the level of involvement is right now in the US end on this?

MR. RUBIN: The short-in answer to that is, no, I can't give you much of an update on that other than to say that the individual remains in Moscow and to indicate, as I did yesterday, that there was an incident that took place. I'm not going to comment on alleged intelligence matters.

QUESTION: Can you say whether Ambassador Collins has been summoned to the foreign ministry?

MR. RUBIN: He has not, as of now. I don't know what's expected. It's quite late already in Moscow.

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

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