01 February 2002
Excerpt: U.S. Has Released $2.4 Million to the Iraqi National Congress
(Boucher says U.S. not funding INC activities inside Iraq) (990) State Department Spokesman Richard Boucher said the United States is continuing to look for ways to support the Iraqi National Congress (INC), but said that U.S. policy continues to be not to fund its activities inside Iraq. Speaking at the daily press briefing January 31, Boucher said the decision not to support INC operations inside Iraq was based upon two policy considerations. "[O]ne is the viability of any operations that they might try to conduct and the second would be the safety and security of people who might be involved. So those are the two policy considerations that have led to that being US policy," said Boucher. Boucher said the approximately $2.4 million allocated to the INC to support its activities for the next three months was in response to the INC's willingness to address weaknesses identified in a 2001 audit by the Office of the Inspector General. "It is a recognition of the good efforts that they have made to resolve these issues. There are still some aspects of it that need to be cleared up, but it is a recognition that they have made a significant step forward in terms of accounting for the funds and that we feel we are in a position to work with them financially again," said Boucher. Following is an excerpt from the January 31 press briefing: (begin excerpt) QUESTION: Did King Abdullah and the Secretary discuss anything about Iraq? If so, could you tell us? MR. BOUCHER: They went through a number of subjects. Obviously, as the Secretary said, we welcome the visit of close friends, and we talk about a lot of things. They talked about the need to restore calm between the Israelis and the Palestinians. That was, I guess, the principal topic. They also talked about Iraq. They talked about the need for Iraq to comply fully with all the United Nations resolutions. And that is a determination from our side. That is the determination from the Jordanian side as well. QUESTION: Could you clarify -- you may have said this before, but what is the US position now regarding the Iraqi National Congress, given that Mr. Chalabi is a criminal -- considered a criminal in Jordan? MR. BOUCHER: Nothing like that was discussed here. And I think you know that we are funding the Iraqi National Congress, and I think we had information yesterday, in fact, about the new funding that we are providing. QUESTION: On the Iraqi National Congress, during the meetings yesterday, was there discussion about their desire to do operations inside Iraq and whether or not the State Department might reconsider its position on that? MR. BOUCHER: The meetings yesterday, I think first of all, recognized the good faith effort that they are making to address the weaknesses that were identified by the Inspector General. So that principal topic at the moment with them. As you know, we have released approximately 2.4 million for them to continue their full range of activities over the next three months. In terms of negotiating a new grant, we look forward to doing that. We are not -- the process hasn't formally started yet. We will continue to work with them to support a wide variety of programs. As far as work inside Iraq, I think you remember there are some issues with some of the programs already raised by the Inspector General. We will have to deal with those non-inside Iraq issues as well. Liberty TV Broadcast is one issue raised. The need for a viable humanitarian aid proposal as well. So for the question of inside Iraq, we are still in the same position. We don't fund activities inside Iraq at this time because of concerns for the viability of such operations and for the safety and security of those who might be involved in such projects. QUESTION: And you wouldn't be reconsidering that policy in the wake of the President's comments the other night? MR. BOUCHER: What we are looking for is ways to continue to support the INC, to expand and support the programs that they have. But at this point, that is the policy on not pushing this into Iraq. QUESTION: Richard, can you clarify whether you're not ready to let them operate inside of Iraq because of the viability of their specific proposals for the programs, or because there hasn't been a policy decision whether you are ready to support groups to go inside Iraq? MR. BOUCHER: As I said, it's these two considerations: one is the viability of any operations that they might try to conduct and the second would be the safety and security of people who might be involved. So those are the two policy considerations that have led to that being US policy. QUESTION: No, but is it a general concern of the viability of any such program, or is it the programs that this particular umbrella group is proposing? MR. BOUCHER: I suppose both of those are factors with regard to this particular group and the particular kinds of activities that they might propose. ------------------------ QUESTION: Going back to Iraqi opposition, you said that you are looking forward to grant new aid, 2 million plus. Did you mean that you settled the case, the issue, and the funding, end the suspension of funding? MR. BOUCHER: Well, the suspension of funding, yes, is ended by this allocation of 2.4 million for the next three months to support their activities. It is a recognition of the good efforts that they have made to resolve these issues. There are still some aspects of it that need to be cleared up, but it is a recognition that they have made a significant step forward in terms of accounting for the funds and that we feel we are in a position to work with them financially again. (end excerpt) (Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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