21 April 2003
Boucher Says Syria Taking U.S. Concerns Seriously
(Says Syria has closed its border with Iraq) (2400) State Department Spokesman Richard Boucher said the United States is "seeing some progress" in its efforts to get Syrian cooperation to close its border with Iraq to all non-humanitarian traffic, and said the government in Damascus has taken steps and shown "they are taking our concerns seriously." Syria had been accused of harboring leaders of Saddam Hussein's Iraq who had fled the fighting, and possibly allowing in Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. "As the president said yesterday, we've seen some indications that they're taking our concerns seriously. And we will continue to pursue these issues, including during the anticipated visit by the secretary of State," said Boucher, speaking at the April 21 State Department briefing in Washington. Boucher said Syrian authorities had "basically closed the border between Syria and Iraq," and denied entry to a number of members of the former Iraqi regime. On April 20, President Bush told an audience at Food Hood, Texas that he was confident that "the Syrian government has heard us. And I believe it when they say they want to cooperate with us." As for the oil pipeline that had operated between the two countries, Boucher said it would be one of many topics of discussion Secretary of State Colin Powell anticipated for his visit to Damascus. "Fundamentally these decisions on who, how to export, what to export, will be made by Iraqis. So there'd be a limit to the amount that we are in a position to make any commitments or even discuss the issue, but I'm sure it'll come up," said Boucher. Following is an excerpt from the April 21 State Department briefing containing comments on Syria: (begin excerpt) MR. BOUCHER: As I think we've all mentioned before, and certainly, Secretary Rumsfeld has talked about it, that we have been concerned in recent weeks, but we've made clear going back over any number of months about the fact that conventional equipment, dual-use items, even personnel had transited through Syria towards -- on its way -- on their way to Iraq. And this was the issue that we've been raising throughout, and that's the issue which we think we're seeing some progress, as the president mentioned yesterday -- some progress in terms of getting the Syrian government to take this seriously, getting them to close off the border to everything but humanitarian shipments, getting them to take seriously our concerns about individuals who may have ended up in Syria. I think you've seen them close the border, you've seen them refuse boarding to people who might be headed that way for refuge or for -- to hide. And so, there have been some steps that they've taken and we think they are taking our concerns seriously. Okay, sir? Q: Can I -- MR. BOUCHER: No, I -- Q: Can I follow-up? MR. BOUCHER: -- something more, Betsy, yeah? Q: I meant things going from Iraq into Syria, not things coming from Syria into Iraq. MR. BOUCHER: Into Iraq. Again, look back at what Secretary Rumsfeld had said in recent weeks, that there were reports of, certainly, people and, possibly, equipment. But no, I don't have anything specific that I could confirm in that regard. Q: (Inaudible) -- nothing to -- MR. BOUCHER: I didn't say that. I said I had not seen -- don't have anything I can confirm for you. Q: Well -- MR. BOUCHER: I'm just not at liberty to discuss about what information we may or may not have about things that have passed over the border or certainly about this issue of whether or not weapons of mass destruction have passed over the border. Q: But so far as examples of progress, you gave one real example -- boarding. MR. BOUCHER: I thought I gave three. But anyway -- Q: No, no. Well, you gave the other two. You dealt with it the way the White House dealt with it yesterday, which is they promised and they said they would do this, they would -- MR. BOUCHER: They basically closed the border between Syria and Iraq. Q: They closed the border, but the secretary -- MR. BOUCHER: They've denied boarding to a number of people that we know of. Q: That's right. MR. BOUCHER: And we think they've taken seriously our concerns about individuals that are in Syria. But obviously there's more to be done to identify these individuals, whether/where?? they are there, to make sure the border is properly closed to people who might be trying to hide or hide things in Syria. And we'll keep working on this. Q: Sure. I realize everything can't be done overnight. But he said -- the secretary -- about the border -- yes, they've said they would, but the border's porous. It's hard to know for sure that the border was sealed. And secondly, on -- MR. BOUCHER: As I said, they say they've done this. It's important to make sure they properly -- it's properly closed. Q: All right. Now what of the notion of taking in, giving refuge, haven, so forth, to Saddam Hussein people? Will they turn them back to us? Will they turn them back to the U.S.? Will they turn them in for prosecution? Or is it too early? MR. BOUCHER: I think it's -- I can't speak on behalf of the Syrian government on that. Q: Well -- MR. BOUCHER: You've observed some of the steps that we have observed. This is an issue that we'll continue to take up with the Syrian government. Our embassy has been very active in this regard, in working and talking to the Syrian government. As the president said yesterday, we've seen some indications that they're taking our concerns seriously. And we will continue to pursue these issues, including during the anticipated visit by the secretary of State. Q: One last question. Q: (Off mike) -- Richard? Q: One last point on that. Messages going back and forth, other governments weighing in with the U.S., the latest being the Spanish foreign minister having been there, carrying a message, this weekend. Are there any results you can give us of this intervention? MR. BOUCHER: Not wishing to speak for other governments, I don't want to speak for anybody in particular. But I would say the secretary's been in touch with his counterparts. Our embassies have been in touch with their counterpart missions. We find that these concerns are widely shared among other nations. And it's not so much "carrying a message for the United States," but making clear that these concerns about not allowing members of the Iraqi regime to take refuge or hide in Syria, not allowing equipment or other material to be transferred -- these are widely shared among the international community. And others that are talking to Syria are raising these issues as well. Q: Richard -- MR. BOUCHER: Yeah, Pauline (ph). Q: -- what do you mean by "denied boarding?" MR. BOUCHER: The news reports that I saw, and I'll stick to news reports for the moment, say that individuals who wanted to travel to Syria from missions overseas -- Iraqi diplomats or officials who ended up somewhere else -- were not being permitted to travel to Syria. Q: But how is that the Syrians -- how are the Syrians playing an active role in that? MR. BOUCHER: They're the ones that issue instructions to Syrian Airlines on who to let on board and who not to. Q: (Inaudible.) MR. BOUCHER: Okay. And other foreign airlines, I guess. Q: I'm sorry? MR. BOUCHER: And other foreign airlines, as well, who might be flying there. Yeah. Q: Mr. Farouk al-Shara, the foreign minister of Syria, has welcomed the comments by President Bush, and two congressmen have visited President Assad -- they came and they spoke about the Syrian concern about the shutting off of the pipeline, Iraqi pipeline, through Syria. Is the United States, in the visit of Mr. Colin Powell next week -- next coming days, going to discuss this issue and settle it, as well? MR. BOUCHER: I'm sure we'll discuss all the issues involved in the situation in Iraq, including leadership in Iraq, U.N. resolutions regarding Iraq -- Syria's on the Security Council -- and issues like the pipelines or Iraqi control of their oil resources. And fundamentally these decisions on who, how to export, what to export, will be made by Iraqis. So there'd be a limit to the amount that we are in a position to make any commitments or even discuss the issue, but I'm sure it'll come up. Q: (Inaudible) -- some describe that shutting off as a use of oil as a weapon. Would the United States refrain from that, and -- (inaudible) -- MR. BOUCHER: Again, I wouldn't describe it that way. Certainly, I think it may be one of the consequences of what happened, but I'd have to look back exactly on how this happened. I think the Iraqis, in some cases, shut off pipelines before there was any fighting. So it's not clear to what this shutoff might be due. But in the end, it's the Iraqis who need to take possession of their oil resources, the Iraqis who need to decide how to pump it, where to ship it and how to sell it. Q: On the arrest of Mustafa Abdallah, Jamal Mustafa Abdallah, the son-in-law of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein -- the Syrians apparently have returned him back, or something, the 8th, the 9th -- do you have any information on this -- MR. BOUCHER: No, I don't have any information on that. You'd have to get that from military forces that we have in Iraq who -- and the groups in Iraq, I think, who may have particpated in the arrest. Yeah? Q: (Off mike) -- two brief things on this. One on the pipeline. In answer to his second question, or the one before the last one, which was using oil as a weapon, you seem to leave it open as a consequence, but is it really? I thought this -- wasn't this pipeline -- the operation of this pipeline in the first place a violation of U.N. sanctions, something that you've been trying to -- that should have been shut down -- shouldn't have ever even started -- MR. BOUCHER: Yeah, it was. It was. But I don't want to imply by that that we necessarily went out to shut it down for that reason. We do recognize that now that the regime is gone, that we don't need the sanctions, we don't need the same kind of controls. And the Iraqis need to be put in charge of their resources and allowed to do what they want with them. So, I don't want to imply that that just either -- becuase of that, we intentionally shut this down. I just don't know how it happened. Q: And then the second brief thing is about 10 days ago, you had said from here that you guys, presumably through the embassy, through Ambassador Kattouf, had gotten assurances from the Syrians that they had closed the border to all nonhumanitarian traffic. Yet -- I think that was on Thursday or something of the week before last -- MR. BOUCHER: Yeah. Q: And yet, and then on that Monday, the secretary came out and in response to a question, said you would consider economic and diplomatic sanctions, and the rhetoric kept going up. So, when the president yesterday speaks about progress, does that mean or does that imply that immediately after the initial Syrian promises to shut down the border, that they hadn't, and that it was only in the weeks and the 10 days since then that you guys have seen some progress? MR. BOUCHER: No. Q: So progress predates or dates back to their initial promise to shut -- MR. BOUCHER: You've got statements saying you've got execution, but you also have other issues. The issue the president specifically referred to was that they should not harbor high-ranking Iraqi officials. I'm confident the Syrian government has heard us. Okay? So closing the border was one of the steps in that direction, but there were other things we're still looking for in order to show that our concerns were being taken seriously. The president has looked at all these things, particularly the issue of not harboring high-ranking Iraqi officials, and feels comfortable that Syrians are, indeed, taking steps that will prevent that. Q: And I understand that since you haven't mentioned it yet, there hasn't been any secretarial-level conversations with the Syrians directly about this, right? MR. BOUCHER: Not in the past few days, no. Let's let some others. Andrea? Q: Richard, was the president's statement yesterday in any way related to the movement by Saddam Hussein's son-in-law, Mr. al- Tikriti, to turn himself in -- was that at all related? MR. BOUCHER: That's a great way to ask the question, but it's essentially the same question I was asked before: Did the Syrians kick him out or not? And I don't have any information on that. You'd have to get that out in the field. Terri? Q: When we say that you're confident Syria is pursuing weapons of mass destruction, which they've denied, what do you think that they have? MR. BOUCHER: This has been a subject of repeated U.S. government reports. There's the biannual, what's called the 721 Report to Congress on the Acquisition of Technologies Relating to Weapons of Mass Destruction and Advance Chemical Munitions. In those reports, for a long time -- they go up every six months, for a long time -- I haven't gone back to search them all -- we have made clear that Syria's pursuit of weapons of mass destruction and missiles was a concern. We've carefully monitored Syria's programs for many years; remain highly concerned about Syria's continued acquisition of missile, chemical, biological weapons-related technology, materials, equipment and expertise. Q: Okay. So they have the delivery means and you believe they're at least at work developing chemical -- MR. BOUCHER: Again, I'd refer you to the report for exactly where they stand on these things. I'm not in a position to expand on it. Q: Okay, what's the official name again? MR. BOUCHER: It's called the 721 Report; it's the Central Intelligence Agency's Biannual Report to Congress on the Acquisition of Technologies Relating to Weapons of Mass Destruction and Advance Chemical Munitions. It takes three pages to print the title, I think. (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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