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U.S. Department of State

Daily Press Briefing

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QUESTION: Could you tell us -- maybe we'll hear a little more on the plane -- but the Secretary's first stop apparently is Saudi Arabia. Could you give us an idea of what that's all about besides touching base with an important country?

MR. RUBIN: Well, I think you probably will hear more in the coming days, but Secretary Albright's last trip to the Middle East did not include a stop in Saudi Arabia, so she thought it was important that this trip did. We have a close friendship with the government in Saudi Arabia.

I would expect, given the recent heightened activity in our discussions with Russia and others about the Iraq question, that that would feature prominently in her discussion with the leaders in Saudi Arabia. I would also expect her to discuss extensively where we are in the peace process and where we're going and what steps she intends to urge on the parties in her stops in Damascus, Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

QUESTION: What would you be seeking from Saudi Arabia in terms of contributing to moving the Iraq issue forward?

MR. RUBIN: I didn't indicate that we were seeking anything. I indicated that we intended to brief them on the state of play. We certainly think it's important for Saudi Arabia and other countries that live in the region where Saddam Hussein poses the most acute threat to understand what the next steps are, to be as supportive as possible of getting all the countries of the world to support a resolution requiring Iraqi compliance, and we certainly would hope that Saudi Arabia and other countries in the region that feel the threat from Saddam Hussein most acutely would urge other countries to be supportive of what we're trying to do.

QUESTION: Today's Wall Street Journal reports that the administration is set to call for a vote next week and that there is apparently an expectation that Russia and France and China would abstain. Could you comment on that?

MR. RUBIN: I think that I can't confirm either of those basic points in that story in that normally very accurate newspaper. Let me say this: Secretary Albright spoke to Foreign Minister Ivanov this morning. They have a very good and constructive discussion about the Iraq issue.

Foreign Minister Ivanov informed Secretary Albright that he was instructing Ambassador Lavrov, their UN Ambassador, to return to New York to discuss the specific details of the resolution with our people in New York, including Ambassador Burley and others, and that we certainly hoped that that discussion makes it possible for us to move forward with the broadest possible support for a resolution.

Secretary Albright and Foreign Minister Ivanov also agreed that following the discussions between Ambassador Lavrov and Ambassador Burley that they would consult extensively on the phone over the next week.

So that is the main channel of discussion right now. She also spoke today to Foreign Minister Cook about the resolution and she has been in touch in recent days with Foreign Minister Vedrine about the resolution. So we would expect those consultations to intensify in the coming week. We certainly believe that the time has come to move quickly to a vote and that we should move to a vote very, very, very soon. We have not made a specific decision on any specific day that we intend to call for a vote, but this resolution has been discussed and negotiated and mulled over and examined from every different possible direction for many, many weeks and months now, and it's now a question of making some decisions.

We believe this resolution meets the critical test of requiring Iraq to allow the inspectors to return, requiring Iraq to fulfill the key disarmament tasks and requiring a testing period for that cooperation prior to any adjustment in the sanctions regime. So we believe this increases the chances that we can get inspectors back to Iraq, which we want to have, but also ensures that the Iraqi regime would not have access to unlimited and uncontrolled resources in order to pursue a purpose of spending additional money on it's mad military machine.

So that is what we are aiming for. I would expect the discussions to intensify and for her to talk with a number of ministers in the coming days, certainly as she and Foreign Minister Ivanov indicated their intention to consult intensively.

With respect to the report's claim as to the position of the French government and the Russian government, I wouldn't assume that it is accurate.

QUESTION: In fact, it wouldn't be a very good way to go, would it, if only two of the five Permanent Five actively supported --

MR. RUBIN: Our goal certainly would be to have the broadest possible support for a resolution on Iraq. Let's remember, we're starting from a position where the numbers in the Council are now well over ten so the question will be whether it's nearly all or almost all of the Council members support this resolution. Within the Permanent Five, obviously it is important whether there is the maximum possible support.

On the other hand, seeking that support - there are limits and the limits include the kind of points that I just made about ensuring that there is the return of the inspectors, that key disarmament tasks are fulfilled, and that there is a testing period of cooperation, and that the regime does not get unlimited and uncontrolled access to resources for nefarious purposes. So consistent with those goals, our procedural objective certainly would be the maximum number of countries including the maximum number of permanent members to support it.

QUESTION: But you're saying that it looks like the diplomatic impediments to passing such a resolution have been cleared away?

MR. RUBIN: Again, you can write your own leads; you don't need my help. I'm just telling you the situation as I see it. We've got a large body of support, well over ten countries' support, the approach that the United Kingdom and the Dutch initiated, and we are hopeful that we will get support from the remaining countries consistent, of course, with the limits I described.

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(The briefing was concluded at 1:50 P.M.)

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