UNITED24 - Make a charitable donation in support of Ukraine!

Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

07 November 2002

Strong Resolution Can Bring Peaceful Iraqi Disarmament, Says Grossman

(Advocates North African economic integration to attract investment)
(2570)
"If you wish to avoid a conflict with Iraq then you should support the
strongest possible [U.N.] Security Council resolution in New York,"
U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Marc Grossman told
a Moroccan audience.
Speaking at a November 7 press conference at the U.S. Ambassador's
residence in Rabat, Grossman said that if a resolution provides for a
new and stricter weapons inspections of Iraq while indicating that
there would be consequences for noncompliance, Iraq could be
peacefully disarmed.
Grossman added his view that "at the end of this process, the
president's objective of strengthening the Security Council will be
achieved."
Wishing his audience "Ramadan Mubarak" on the second day of the month
holy to Muslims around the world, Grossman said that 90 percent of his
current visit to Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria has been focused upon
greater economic cooperation between those countries and the United
States.
The under secretary advocated a regional economic integration between
the three countries in order to attract investment from American and
other international businesses.
"We are great supporters of clearing away the obstacles to this
integration so that American investors can come here and provide jobs
and provide development, and the countries in this region can export
their goods to the United States and other places in the world," said
Grossman, adding that the United States was "very proud" to be
negotiating a free trade agreement with the Moroccan government.
Grossman also applauded the recent parliamentary elections in Morocco,
saying that "Moroccans are justifiably proud of the development of
democratic institutions . and I know that these developments will
continue because that is what the Moroccan people wish."
Following is a transcript of Under Secretary Grossman's press
conference at the U.S. Ambassador's residence in Rabat:
(begin transcript)
Transcript of the Press Conference by
Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs 
Marc Grossman 
at the Residence of the U.S. Ambassador in Rabat, Morocco,
On November 7, 2002, at 10:00
Ambassador Tutwiler introduces U/S Marc Grossman: I believe you are
also aware that U/S Grossman is the third ranking individual at the
State Department. We are delighted for his visit. With that I will
turn it over to the Undersecretary.
U/S Grossman: Thank you very much for taking time out of what I know
is a very busy day here in Morocco to visit with me. Ambassador, thank
you very much. And let me at the outset say Ramadan Mubarak to you. I
just had a chance to say on Moroccan television that this is a very
important month obviously, not just here in Morocco but in America as
well. Secretary Powell and others, including our President, will be
hosting important events to mark this important holy month for Muslims
around the world and Muslims in America. In fact, yesterday Secretary
Powell hosted an iftar at the State Department with a delegation of
women leaders in the region involved in politics and civil society,
including five participants from Morocco.
I want also to thank the Government of Morocco for their hospitality.
I know that it is a very busy time for them and I appreciate the
attention they have shown me. And I want also to take the opportunity
to pay tribute to Ambassador Tutwiler and the very great team of
Americans and Moroccans that we have who represent our interests here.
The purpose of my visit is to highlight the importance of the
relationship between Morocco and the United States. And my visit is
part of a series of engagements which show the importance of not only
Morocco but also of other countries in North Africa. His Majesty had
an extremely successful visit with President Bush earlier this year
and Ambassador Tutwiler and her team will be receiving Secretary of
Commerce Evans here on Monday.
All of this demonstrates our commitment to working with Morocco and
the Maghreb on important regional and international issues including
the Middle East process. And later today I hope to have the honor of
having an audience with His Majesty King Mohammed VI as well as
meetings with other members of the Government. I hope to discuss in
these meetings a broad range of issues that are of special interest to
our nations, both political, economic, bilateral and regional. And I
also want to take this opportunity both personally, and as a
representative of our government, to reiterate again that President
Bush and the American people so much appreciate the genuine
expressions of sympathy and solid support that His Majesty, the
Government of Morocco and the Moroccan people, as part of the
international coalition against terrorism, have given the American
people and government since September, 11, 2001.
That Morocco is part of this international effort against terrorism is
very important to the United States. Relations between Morocco and the
United States are based on a long history of friendship and
cooperation. Morocco is an important friend and ally of the United
States and I join our Ambassador in applauding Morocco's recent
parliamentary elections. Moroccans are justifiably proud of the
development of democratic institutions in Morocco and I know that
these developments will continue because that is what the Moroccan
people wish.
I also join the Ambassador and others in applauding Morocco's economic
reforms. It is surely true that the more open and liberal Morocco's
economy the greater interest U.S. companies will show in trading with
and investing in Morocco. And the planned U.S.- Moroccan Free Trade
Agreement which was one of the great outcomes of His Majesty's visit
to Washington will significantly deepen our bilateral economic
relationship. We are very proud to be negotiating a free trade
agreement with Morocco. I know that you all have a lot to do and I
would be glad to answer any questions anybody might have.
Question : Did you come to the Maghreb region for a specific purpose,
or to discuss the many regional and global concerns?
U/S Grossman: I have come to North Africa, to Tunisia, Algeria and to
Morocco to highlight in each country the importance of the
relationship between each country and the United States. But very
importantly, to stress the importance of this region to the United
States. One of the themes that has run through my visit is the
importance of regional economic integration among these three
countries to attract investment, and especially American investment.
We are great supporters of clearing away the obstacles to this
integration so that American investors can come here and provide jobs
and provide development and the countries in this region can export
their goods to the United States and other places in the world. But of
course, I have taken the opportunity to discuss issues like Iraq and
the Middle East, answer questions, discuss our views. But I will say
to you sir that over 90% of the time that I have spent in meetings has
been about how we can do more together economically. This is the news
in North Africa and I believe it is the news here today as people look
forward to the negotiation of a Free Trade Agreement.
Question: The Arabic Secretary General this week in reference to a
possible war against Iraq said it would destabilize the region and
increase the fury of the people. What is your view of this assessment?
U/S Grossman: With respect to the Secretary General's statement, I
have not read it and really wouldn't comment on. But with regard to
the comment that somehow the purpose and the policy of the United
States of America is to have a war against Iraq, I must with all due
respect disagree with that assumption. In fact, our assumption is
exactly the opposite, and President Bush's speech to the United
Nation's General Assembly on September 12 was not a declaration of war
but was a declaration of purpose. And the purpose was to strengthen
the Security Council, to disarm Iraq and to do so without a conflict.
And I would submit to you, sir, that the policy that we have pursued
for the past 8 weeks in trying to get a security council resolution
has been a policy to achieve those objectives. And our message to
everyone is that if you wish to avoid a conflict with Iraq then you
should support the strongest possible Security Council resolution in
New York. And we believe we introduced just such a resolution
yesterday. So my message is simple: we can achieve these objectives
without conflict if the Security Council is united and passes a
resolution that declares the fact that Saddam Hussein is out of
compliance with security council resolutions, that makes for a new and
stricter inspections regime and says there will be consequences if
Saddam Hussein does not comply and we can do all of those things
without conflict.
Question: My question is, are you satisfied with the position of the
North African nations you've visited regarding the Iraq question, in
other words, do you believe that they support the United States or
have reservations.
U/S Grossman: I believe that the North African countries as I
understand their position support the proposition that President Bush
laid out on September 12, that this is an issue for the Security
Council, that inspectors should return to Iraq and carry out their
obligations, and that the time has come to deal with this issue.
Question: So you are satisfied with the North African countries
response..
U/S Grossman: The North African countries have to speak for
themselves, I can only tell you that President Bush laid out a very
effective and very proper course of action on September 12, and I
believe that around the world there is an acceptance of this. Don't
forget that we spent 8 weeks now negotiating the Security Council
resolution, I believe the resolution will pass and when that Security
Council resolution passes, I believe that most, a vast majority of
countries in this world are going to say that is the right approach.
Question: How is the U.S. promoting economic integration, trade, and
investment in the countries of North Africa, especially given the
issue of the Western Sahara?
U/S Grossman: We are trying to focus our attention in two areas in
order to increase economic integration and the creation of a market in
North Africa. First, as you say, there is the question of the Western
Sahara and here our policy is absolutely clear. We support the efforts
that the United Nation's representative, former Secretary Baker is
making to solve this problem. Here is a man of creativity and
integrity who has offered himself to try and solve this problem and we
hope everyone will listen carefully to his views. If there was a
settlement of this problem, I think it would be a very great incentive
to this kind of integration.
But there are other avenues as well. We are interested in political
reform and economic reform in North Africa. These will open doors to
integration. We are interested in pursuing agreements with countries
in North Africa like trade and investment framework agreements or free
trade agreements. And these will also promote integration and
investment. So there are political, economic and democracy questions
and we believe that there is a great opportunity here, first and
foremost for the people in each country of the region and also for the
United States.
Question: Could you please give us information on the results of the
Assessment Team that was recently in Morocco?
Ambassador:  Do you want me to help you on this?  
U/S Grossman: Sure.
Ambassador: In all fairness to the Under Secretary who has a lot on
his plate, I am not sure he is as familiar with the specific team that
was just here. It was an AID funded team assessment team and they just
turned in their first draft report that we just received.
U/S Grossman: If I could just follow up with two points on what the
Ambassador has just said. The Ambassador and our mission here are
committed to providing technical assistance as Morocco moves forward
with this Free Trade Agreement. And I think the important thing is
that teams will come and go but we are committed to beginning the
negotiation of this Free Trade Agreement.
Question: Back to the Iraqi solution, do you believe that given the
many changes that the U.S. had to make to the draft resolution before
the UNSC, you will actually have a resolution that meets Presidents
Bush's demands?
U/S Grossman: We would never have proposed a resolution at the United
Nations that did not meet the President's requirements. As Secretary
Powell has said a number of times over the past few weeks, we have
been talking and listening to the concerns of other members of the
U.N. Security Council. That is the job of international diplomacy. But
I assure you that this resolution meets our objectives.
Question: Will the resolution be adopted tomorrow?
U/S Grossman: I believe that there will be a resolution adopted, yes.
But given that we are here in Rabat, and these negotiations are taking
place in New York, I can't tell you precisely when. But I am sure that
there will be a resolution adopted.
Question: We note that there is a great deal of discrepancy in the
position of the members of the UNSC on this resolution. Because of
unexpected opposition, did the U.S. have to do much work to convince
the others?
U/S Grossman: The UN Security Council is not the old Soviet politburo.
The President of the United States set out a path on September 12 to
participate in a negotiation in the Security Council for a resolution.
If we had wished to dictate to the Security Council, then on September
13 we would have put down a piece of paper and said vote for this.
That is not what we did. We have spent, at the President's direction,
the last eight weeks talking to members of the Security Council,
listening to members of the Security Council, taking the views of
members of the Security Council into account, and I believe as I said
to the gentleman before, that we have a resolution that will be
adopted. And I believe that, at the end of this process, the
President's objective of strengthening the Security Council will be
achieved.
Question: Arabs are mystified at the U.S. position on Iraq which
differs from your position on North Korea even though it admitted that
it has weapons of mass destruction? Why do you treat the two regimes
differently?
U/S Grossman: We don't have the same foreign policy for every country
around the world. In the case of North Korea, we are working with our
Japanese and South Korean allies, and with other countries in the
region to deal with that question. You will know that President Bush
met with the leaders of those countries in Mexico last week. But we
have a path on North Korea, and we want them to also come into
compliance with their obligations. But you can't do the same thing in
every case all around the world.
Ambassador: I regrettably have to end this conference as the Under
Secretary has a schedule to keep, but I want to once again thank you
all very much for coming here today. I know you are pulled in a lot of
directions and it is a big day in Morocco and so I greatly appreciate
it. Thank you.
(end transcript)
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)



NEWSLETTER
Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list