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Daily Press Briefing
Richard Boucher, Spokesman
Washington, DC
December 6, 2002

INDEX:

(...)

QUESTION: Oh, thank you. I'd like to talk about Iraq for a moment, please. There are reports that the US is pressuring the inspectors to either submit a list of scientists that should be interviewed, to do that quickly. Can you tell us what you know about what the US is doing in trying to arrange for interviews with Iraqi scientists, either in or out of the country?

MR. BOUCHER: First of all, this is one of the powers that were given to the inspectors under the resolution. We think it is important for the inspectors to exercise the full range of their capabilities, as defined in Resolution 1441, and that includes immediate, unrestricted and private access to all officials and other persons that the teams choose to interview. The resolution states specifically in paragraph five that they can conduct interviews inside or outside Iraq; they can facilitate the travel of those interviewed, and family members, outside of Iraq.

So we do believe that conducting interviews is a critical tool for the inspectors to carry out their mandate and determine if Iraq has decided to take the final opportunity to comply with its international obligations to disarm.

Go back to the Secretary's remarks the other day -- I think it was in Colombia -- when he reminded people inspections are not just inspections; the inspection process as a whole is a process of discussion, of interviews, of information, of inspections, of monitoring -- a lot of different aspects to it, and all these aspects need to be used and all of them need to be directed at the goal of making sure that Iraq disarms.

QUESTION: And has the US found the UN reluctant to do this as vigorously as the US seems to be pushing it?

MR. BOUCHER: I wouldn't want to characterize the UN inspections at this point. We have tried to make sure that we and other nations offer every possible support for the UN inspectors that is required by the resolutions and we have been doing that. We have been supporting them as they have gotten geared up to do the inspections. They have started their work but they are by no means doing everything yet, and we'll continue to support them as they move forward.

QUESTION: One more, please.

MR. BOUCHER: You've got one more? Okay.

QUESTION: There are various scenarios being floated for what could happen if scientists were, in fact, brought out of the country and interviewed outside of the country. One of them is that asylum could be offered to these people or a choice to remain out of the country.

Can you say what planning the US is doing to, you know, link, you know, to go into a witness protection program? Would they be given -- come to the US, go to another country?

MR. BOUCHER: No, I can't. That would really depend on the circumstances. What I think we have made clear to the inspectors, we've also made clear in our public statements, is we think the capability should be exercised; that we will offer whatever support we can to people who want to talk to the United Nations and need to be able to talk to the United Nations freely; that we would be concerned about the safety and welfare of these individuals, as well as their family members who might remain in a repressive situation inside Iraq.

So we have had discussions with the inspection organizations about how to ensure the security of the people who are interviewed and of their family members. But again, we have always said that all governments should be supporting the United Nations inspections, as called for under the resolution.

QUESTION: Some Members of Congress, world leaders and others say that if United States has hard evidence that Saddam Hussein has weapons of mass destruction, why you not release that evidence for all to see? Is the Secretary in favor of such a release?

MR. BOUCHER: I think you've got the question wrong. The UN Security Council Resolution 1441 requires Iraq to actively cooperate and requires Iraq to present a full and complete declaration. The burden is on Iraq. The burden is on Iraq to tell the world what it has, to tell the world what these programs are, where its weapons are, where its facilities are, who the people are, and to tell the world in such a way that the inspectors can verify and then destroy the equipment, the weapons and the holdings.

We know a lot about what Iraq has. It's all been stated in previous inspection reports. It's been stated publicly by the President and others that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction. We know that from our own information, and other governments do, as well. And we know what they have been buying, and we've talked about that. We've shared a lot of information with the inspectors already.

But the burden is on Iraq to say what they've got and to comply with the resolution. And this upcoming declaration needs to be tested against those things that we know, needs to be tested against the previous inspections, against what governments know, against what Iraq has been buying.

And against that very fundamental and basic standard, is it the full and complete disclosure required in the UN resolution? And that is what is going to be tested when we see the Iraqi disclosure. That is what we'll be analyzing as we go forward and that's what we'll be discussing with other Security Council members: how to ensure the compliance by Iraq and the disarmament of Iraq.

Betsy.

QUESTION: Can you say whether, once this report is released, if the report is released this weekend, as the Iraqis have said, will the US get a report right -- will get a copy of it? Will it just go to the UN? Do you know what is being planned for this?

MR. BOUCHER: I would expect members of the Security Council to get copies of it. First, I think it goes to the UN and then they'll have to get it back to New York or somewhere, UN offices in Vienna, and then I would expect members of the Security Council to get copies.

So we'll get a copy, the guess is, sometime on Sunday, frankly, not necessarily immediately, depending on how voluminous it is. And then we'll analyze it. The inspectors will analyze it, as well. So don't expect snap judgments on this.

Jonathan. I'm sorry, I was looking beyond the front row.

QUESTION: Well, I was going to ask pretty much the same thing. But when you say don't expect snap judgments, the Iraqis are talking about several thousand pages of documents. When do you think you will have any kind of judgment on that?

MR. BOUCHER: I don't know. But the questions to ask are: Are they going to deal with all these issues, not just the number of pages or the weight of the tome? I don't think any of us in school got good grades just because we produced voluminous papers. Some of us didn't get good grades, anyway.

But the point is not how heavy is it; the point is does it disclose their programs, does it name the people, does it identify the facilities, does it identify the holdings that previous inspectors found and were not able to destroy? Those are the questions to ask, not how many pages is it.

Joel.

QUESTION: With these inspections that are coming to an end, I believe it's the night of the 8th --

MR. BOUCHER: Just beginning in a real, solid way.

QUESTION: Okay. Do they have -- do the inspectors have the provisions from the United Nations to specifically order personnel away from a particular building or facility? In other words, it could be a gray area and maybe the Iraqis aren't --

MR. BOUCHER: They have all the authorities that are specified in the resolution, including the ability to freeze a site, or even a broader area, as they need to. And I think at least the press reporting I've seen from Iraq indicates they have used that authority.

QUESTION: Do you have any confirmation that yesterday's attack on Macedonian consulate in Karachi was a terrorist act, like Mr. Kristian said today in Skopje? Do you have any details from the investigation in this case?

MR. BOUCHER: I don't think we have any real information on the perpetrators or on the motives for the attack. We are certainly aware of the reports. Apparently, murders and a bomb attack on the office of the Honorary Consul of Macedonia in Karachi. There is an investigation Pakistani police are conducting right now.

Obviously, we strongly condemn the attack and extend our sympathies to the families of the victims, as well as the people of Macedonia and of Pakistan.

QUESTION: Could I swing us to Venezuela and ask you --

QUESTION: Can I ask a question on Iraq first?

MR. BOUCHER: Okay, let's finish with Iraq, then.

QUESTION: Right. Translation. Where is it going to be done for the official -- is it going to be done at the UN or here at the Department?

MR. BOUCHER: I don't know. I haven't seen it yet. I'm sure it will be a combination of things, that when the UN gets a copy, I assume they would do what they normally do with documents like this. I'm sure that we will, once we get a copy, we'll have people look at it. Many of the people looking at it probably would speak Arabic or other languages that might be contained in it. Whether we do a translation ourselves or not, I don't know. I'll leave that to the experts.

But I guess if I were you, if you're looking to find the answer to how it goes to other Security Council members and what languages the UN might turn it into, you'd have to ask the UN.

QUESTION: The Pentagon won't be involved in the translation?

MR. BOUCHER: I don't know. I'm sure Pentagon has experts who will help us analyze the document. Whether they translate it or not, I don't know.

(...)

QUESTION: My question goes back to Iraq a bit. Yesterday, a Pentagon official said that the Saudis have changed their mind about letting the United States use Saudi air space in case of a possible attack. Can you confirm that?

MR. BOUCHER: No, I can't. I didn't see any official statement from the Pentagon. You're talking about a statement by a Pentagon official and I'm looking for an official statement from the Pentagon.

QUESTION: I wouldn't say you should go looking for an official statement on a website, but -

MR. BOUCHER: There's a difference.

QUESTION: There are. But it's not --

MR. BOUCHER: I'll stick with the official statement from the Pentagon. But no, I don't have any specifics. I don't think we have been trying to put out specifics on any country in terms of what we might have talked about or what we might expect or what they might have agreed to or what we may be working on in terms of specific cooperation in the event that it should come to military force. Obviously, we're working with all these countries and trying to secure a peaceful resolution, trying to get Iraqi full and complete compliance with the UN requirements.

QUESTION: Would it save time if I asked if that answer applies to Iran's zig-zag statements?

MR. BOUCHER: Even more so.

QUESTION: Even ruling out, and yet not ruling out and depending on whether the UN approves or whether they don't approve, or under no circumstances would they help the United States?

MR. BOUCHER: It's too early to start interpreting what everybody might do were it to come to that. We're all trying to work very hard, and certainly the United States is trying to work very, very hard to ensure that Iraq complies, that Iraq disarms peacefully, and that we don't need to resort to military force. But we know quite clearly that the willingness of the world community to use military force is a key element in securing Iraq's peaceful compliance.

(...)

QUESTION: Yes. Turkish Justice and Development Party leader, Mr. Erdogan, is coming to Washington, D.C., next week, and I believe he will meet with President Bush about the Iraq subject. And do you think the Secretary has a separate meeting with him or he will join the President?

MR. BOUCHER: I'll have to talk about that at the appropriate time. I don't have anything on meetings quite yet.

(...)

Okay, thank you.
[End]