U.S. Department of State 96/02/16 Daily Press Briefing

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U.S. Department of State

96/02/16 Daily Press Briefing

Office of the Spokesman

DEPARTMENT--Statements/Announcements
[...]
U.S. Condemns Rocket Attack of Embassy in Athens .......2,6-7,17
U.S.- Internat'l. War Crimes Tribunal Agreements .......2-3
FORMER YUGOSLAVIA
Rome Conference ........................................3-4,19-20,23
A/S Holbrooke's Departure/Amb. Gallucci's Bosnia Role ..4-6
IFOR Raid of Bosnian Safe House ........................17-19,21-23
Presence of Foreign Forces .............................17-19,22-23
Equip and Train ........................................20-21
Report of Closing of Independent Broadcaster in Serbia .25
[...]
TERRORISM
Terrorism List/Report ..................................14-15
The PKK ................................................16
HUMAN RIGHTS
Release of Human Rights Report .........................15-16
CONSULAR AFFAIRS
Consular Information Sheet on Greece ...................16
RUSSIA
Report of Proposal for Chechnya Arrangement ............23-24

[...]

I have a couple of announcements to make to you before we go to questions.

[...]

Another statement: As the President stated last night, the United States strongly condemns the act of terrorism against our Embassy in Athens yesterday. This was a cowardly act on the part of those who carried it out. The facts are that there was a rocket attack against our Embassy building, our chancery, a little after 11:00 p.m. last evening in Athens. Fortunately, no one was wounded or killed; but the perimeter wall around the Embassy was damaged, as was one building inside our compound and four cars in the parking lot behind our Embassy. Windows of nearby buildings and cars parked nearby were shattered.

Fortunately for us, Greek authorities have responded very quickly and efficiently to the attack. The Greek Government is investigating it, and we are working very closely with the Greek Government. High- level Greek officials visited the scene of the attack shortly after it occurred, and the Greek Government has denounced those responsible for this attack.

We will continue to cooperate with the Greek Government, and we'd like very much to be able to bring those responsible for this attack to justice.

Finally, I wanted to let you know that this week two agreements entered into force between the United States and the two international War Crimes Tribunals -- that for the former Yugoslavia and the one for Rwanda -- and the agreements pertain to the surrender of any persons charged or convicted of war crimes who might in the future be found in the United States.

These agreements were concluded in October 1994 in the case of the Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, and in January 1995 in the case of the Tribunal for Rwanda. They could not enter into force until the United States notified the Tribunals that our domestic legal requirements for accepting surrender obligations had been met.

The United States has done so this week as the result of the signing into law on February 10 of the Defense Authorization Act. The Defense Authorization Act included provisions authorizing the application of existing U.S. extradition laws to the surrender of any persons charged or convicted of war crimes by the War Crimes Tribunals.

Although we have no reason to predict that war crimes fugitives will in fact attempt to flee to the United States in the future, we want to be sure that we would be in a position to fulfill our obligations to the Tribunals if people indicted or suspected of war crimes did flee to the United States. We think this is an important move. We think it helps strengthen the War Crimes Tribunals, of course, which we fully support.

With that, Carol, let me go to your questions.

Q Do you have any readout yet from the meeting in Rome?

MR. BURNS: No, I don't have a readout from the meeting in Rome. It has actually not yet begun formally. But I can tell you that Dick Holbrooke is in Rome, along with Bill Montgomery, who is Ambassador Bob Gallucci's deputy, and Jim Collins, who is also there, and a number of other officials -- John Kornblum is there -- of our government.

The three leaders from Serbia, Croatia and Bosnia will be arriving in Rome this evening. The formal meetings don't start until tomorrow afternoon, but Dick Holbrooke and his associates there plan to have discussions all throughout this evening into the early morning hours. He has one meeting scheduled for midnight tonight, all tomorrow morning, and then I think at mid-afternoon tomorrow Italian Foreign Minister Agnelli will open up the public part of the Rome conference. She will make a presentation on the issues to be discussed. She'll be followed by Carl Bildt, Dick Holbrooke, Deputy Foreign Minister Afanesyevsky of the Russian Federation. They'll all talk; and they'll be seated around a plenary table, and the press will be there to cover it.

After they make their presentations, the press will be asked to leave. This is very similar, you remember, to Dayton on November 1. Then I understand that Admiral Smith and General Joulwan will make presentations in private to the conferees about their evaluation of compliance with the Dayton accords. Mr. Bildt, Mr. Holbrooke and others will do the same on the civilian side, and there will be a number of discussions throughout the afternoon and evening on these specific issues that have to do with compliance with the Dayton accords.

I'd expect those meetings to continue all Saturday evening, all throughout Sunday, and then sometime, probably at three, four or five o'clock Rome time, on Sunday there will be a joint press conference, probably by the political directors of the Contact Group. That would be Dick Holbrooke, Carl Bildt representing the European Union, Mr. Afanesyevsky, and others.

Q Why isn't Gallucci there?

MR. BURNS: Ambassador Gallucci just returned from, I think, more than two weeks away; and he decided on his own that he would send his deputy, Bill Montgomery, to this meeting. But that gives me an opportunity to say something about Bob Gallucci's role here.

As you know, Dick Holbrooke is going to be departing the State Department and government service on Wednesday, February 21, and he is going to receive a big sendoff from the Secretary of State and others. He'll be given an award by the Secretary, and I'll tell you more about that on Tuesday and Wednesday of next week.

His duties will be taken over in large part by Ambassador Bob Gallucci. Ambassador Gallucci, as you know, has been part of the peace team since October. He was at Dayton throughout most of the Dayton period. He has made a number of very lengthy trips to the area, and he will become our point person for all matters Bosnia when Dick Holbrooke leaves.

I can tell you that all of us here at the Department, including the Secretary and Deputy Secretary Talbott, have great faith in him. He's a person who was very successful as our point person on the difficult problem of North Korea in 1994 and 1995, and all of us are looking forward to having his leadership on this issue in the future.

Q That begs the question again, if he is taking over for Holbrooke, why is he not there at this critical moment? Why wasn't he there last weekend when Holbrooke went and had --

MR. BURNS: He was there last weekend.

Q He was there the whole weekend with Holbrooke?

MR. BURNS: He came back, I think -- I believe he got back on Monday from his trip. It might have even been Tuesday. I can check with him. Bob was out in the region, as I said, I think for a little bit more than two weeks. He just came back a couple of days ago.

When he was in the region, he had meetings with Milosevic, Tudjman, Izetbegovic, with a variety of other officials in all three governments, and he in effect was the Secretary's troubleshooter throughout that entire two-week period.

When we arrived in the region two weeks ago, he was there to greet us, because he'd been there, and he was, along with Holbrooke, the Secretary's principal adviser during the trip to the Balkans.

So I think we ought to give Bob a little bit of a break. He's been away from his family for a long time. If the present situation is any indication, Bob's going to spend a lot of time in Sarajevo and elsewhere over the next couple of months. So he just decided to send his deputy.

Q Is there any discussion of keeping Holbrooke on as a Special Envoy in this matter?

MR. BURNS: No, there isn't. Dick Holbrooke has decided for personal reasons to leave the government. He feels it's time to go back to private life. He has, I know, family considerations that are involved in that, and he needs to return to New York City. I think he's told the Secretary that he would be available for advice if needed.

But implementing the Bosnia accords is a business that has to be attended to on a daily basis. We believe that we have in Ambassador Gallucci one of the most effective American diplomats that the United States has. I don't think it's a question of inviting Ambassador Holbrooke on a consultancy basis to run these implementation conferences. That will be Ambassador Gallucci's responsibility.

Of course, as you know, John Kornblum will become Acting Assistant Secretary of State as of Wednesday and we hope, the Senate willing, formally Assistant Secretary of State shortly thereafter. He will also, of course, be playing a big role in all matters European. So those two gentlemen, along with John Shattuck and Bill Montgomery and others, are going to bear the brunt of the Bosnia responsibilities.

It's a full-time job, Carol, and Ambassador Gallucci is on it full time.

Q Ambassador Gallucci will be the lead man, play the role that Holbrooke has played in Bosnia, but he will not take over EUR; is that correct?

MR. BURNS: No. John Kornblum will become the Acting Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of European and Canadian Affairs which is the largest regional bureau in the State Department and certainly one of the most important. It has a huge number of responsibilities attached to it, including the Balkans. He works very well with Ambassador Gallucci, who will be the coordinator and the Special Representative of the President and the Secretary on all matters pertaining to the Dayton Accords.

Q Do you have any clues as to who might have been responsible for the attack on the U.S. Embassy in Athens?

MR. BURNS: We have our suspicions. We are talking to the Greek Government about this. We're very hopeful that the Greek Government will be able to apprehend the people responsible.

I don't think it is useful for me to try to name names here, but we have some clues and those leads are being followed by the Greek authorities. We'll certainly give them any help that they need. They're very competent -- the Greek Government -- on this. We have absolute trust and confidence that the Greek Government will follow up these leads.

Q Do you see any connection between the high feeling that has been evident in Greece over the issue of the islet in the Aegean?

MR. BURNS: No. I would be surprised if there was this kind of connection. When you think about a terrorist act -- this was the classic definition of a "terrorist act", someone's trying to use indiscriminate force, power, to achieve a political end and doesn't mind if they kill people in the process; that's terrorism. Nothing can excuse terrorism. Nothing can excuse terrorism.

The United States is an ally of Greece and the Greek people know that.

Q (Inaudible).

MR. BURNS: Excuse me?

Q You say --

MR. BURNS: Who knows what their political end is. It's hard to fathom what a lot of these terrorists around the world want to accomplish. They don't mind killing people or maiming people or wounding them. That's for sure. You don't fire a rocket-propelled grenade against an American Embassy without thinking you may kill someone. That's their responsibility. They're going to have to live with that, and, hopefully, they're going to be apprehended and brought to justice.

But I wouldn't draw any connections here because if you look at the relationship between Greece and the United States, it's a very strong relationship. I know that the islets issue has been a controversial issue in Greece, but there's nothing that can justify this type of action.

I'll bet if you asked the Greek people, if you took a poll, the Greek people wouldn't support this type of action.

Q But, Nick, you wouldn't deny a rising tide of anti-American sentiment in Greece -- perhaps not in the government level, but among the people -- relating to the handling of the islet dispute and then the revelation of private discussions with Greek and Turkish officials by certain U.S. officials?

MR. BURNS: I would love to be able to agree with you on every question today because it is your birthday, but I can't, I can't. (Laughter) I'm not a pollster, and I can't tell you specifically what the Greek people think or don't think about the islets issue. I know there's a great deal of controversy about it. I know that there's some unhappiness in Greece about the way that the situation was handled, and we're respectful of that.

We have a very close relationship with the new government. We have high respect for the new Prime Minister. He'll be coming, as you know, to Washington shortly. The Greek President, Mr. Stephanopoulos, will also be coming on a State visit to the United States later this Spring. We have tight ties with Greece. We're alliance partners. I'm very confident that we'll go forward and have a good relationship with the Greek Government.

But I really do want to reject any kind of excuse that radicals might use, terrorists might use, for their actions against American installations. There can be no excuse for this type of action.

[...]

Q Could I just ask you about Syria on the terrorism list? You say a new version of this list has recently been sent to Congress is it about to be sent, and is Syria still on that list?

MR. BURNS: No, I don't want to speak to that. I saw some of the press reports yesterday saying that the United States has already made its decision. I can assure you that those decisions can only be made by the highest authorities. Those decisions have not yet been made, and those decisions will surely be made and we'll announce them when the terrorism list comes out. I cannot, of course, indicate what those decisions will be before they've been made.

Q Nick, I looked into this some this morning. The terrorism list actually went up to the Hill January 15, containing the same seven or eight nations that it had previously. Are you referring to the terrorism report that looks back on last year's activities? Or is it going to be a new list issued in the coming weeks?

MR. BURNS: I'm referring to the fact that I do not wish to acknowledge, to agree or disagree that one nation is or is not on a terrorism list until we are ready to issue that report, until it's gone through all the channels in our government and with the Congress, that it must, before we can issue the report. I'm not ready to do that. So I can't confirm and I can't deny --

Q But it's public information.

MR. BURNS: I'm sorry. We're not ready to release this list. I'm not ready to confirm that Syria is on the terrorism list or that it's not on the terrorism list.

Q But it's --

MR. BURNS: It has not been released, Sid. I'm sorry.

Q The people on the Capitol talk openly about the list and who is on it and who is not.

MR. BURNS: No. My definition of the word "release" is, we release it from the office down the hall -- the Bureau of Public Affairs.

Q (Inaudible).

MR. BURNS: Sid, let's talk about a decision then or an announcement or an indication. I'm not going to do any of those things today on the terrorism list. I'm just not going to do it.

Q You said you're all reconsidering the list you submitted to Congress three weeks ago; is that what you're saying?

MR. BURNS: Sid, I didn't say that. I'm not going to talk about this issue until we're ready to announce it, release it, whatever verb you want to use. It's very understandable.

Q When are you going to release it?

MR. BURNS: I don't know the specific date. I can try to get that for you. Soon. Soon. The narcotics list, around March 1. A lot of lists coming out. Human rights report, very shortly; early March.

Q How shortly is --

MR. BURNS: Excuse me?

Q How shortly is shortly?

MR. BURNS: I don't think we've determined a specific date for the human rights report but I believe it will be early March.

It was supposed to have come out January 31. But because of the government shutdown, we decided to release it a little bit later.

Q On Syria.

MR. BURNS: Excuse me?

Q On Syria. We know that during the Middle East peace discussions, terrorist organizations including the PKK were been taken up in the meetings.

My question is, are you in a position to confirm that if a comprehensive peace accord has been reached, the United States would not make any distinction among terrorist organizations supported by Syria?

MR. BURNS: Would not make any distinction?

Q Between the terrorist organizations. For example, if Syria says, okay, for Hezbollah and Hamas and keeps the PKK, will the United States agree with that?

MR. BURNS: We don't support any terrorist group. We would advise all governments that harbor terrorist groups to stop it. That, in a nutshell, is American policy. We're not going to be in a position of saying, you can harbor that terrorist group but not the other; no. All of them are important.

On the PKK, it's a vicious group that is responsible for the deaths of innocent Turks. We oppose the PKK and all of its activities.

Q I have a question on Greece. May I ask?

MR. BURNS: Sure.

Q In this February 13 Consular Information Sheet about travel advice, the Foreign Ministry says under terrorist activities, "Civil disorder is rare. However, there are several active terrorist groups, including the 17 November organization which, at times, has targeted the U.S. Government, and the United States commercial interests but not tourists." Do you plan to change this item here?

MR. BURNS: We'll have to see. In light of what happened last night, I'm sure our people in the Consular Affairs Bureau are looking at that question. I don't want to anticipate if there will or will not be changes, however.

Q And also these terrorist organizations are not new. Many Turkish diplomats and American diplomats have been killed before, and the Greek Government couldn't find anyone responsible for those. Why are you so hopeful and optimistic now that they are going to find them?

MR. BURNS: We have complete faith in the Greek Government. I think you saw by the actions last night and statements of the Greek Government they are seized with this issue, and they want to get to the bottom of the issue. We have complete faith that the Greek Government will undertake a full investigation.

I think we had a question on Bosnia. Laura.

Q Yes, thank you. There are varying versions of what happened yesterday when 11 or five or six individuals were detained by IFOR troops. Can you give us a clarification of exactly what happened? How many were actually detained, if there were some foreigners among them, and if any of them had diplomatic passports, as has been reported?

MR. BURNS: I'll be glad to give you as much information as I can. The primary source of information on this will be IFOR, which conducted the very excellent raid against the Bosnian safe house, and which continues to have responsibility for this.

But let me just tell you what we think about it. The United States strongly supports the actions of IFOR yesterday to arrest these people. We congratulate IFOR and specifically the French troops that took part for this very successful mission.

The continued presence of foreign fighters in Bosnia is a flagrant violation of the Dayton peace accords. All foreign fighters were to have left Bosnia on January 19 of this year. The Bosnian Government is already in violation and has been in violation for the better part of a month.

The United States has pressed and will continue to press the Bosnian Government to effect the withdrawal of all foreign fighters immediately. This has now become a major issue to be addressed at the Rome meeting this weekend.

As Secretary Christopher has said, the ability of the United States to proceed with equip-and-train will be in jeopardy until this problem of the presence of foreign forces is resolved.

We have repeatedly raised this issue at the highest levels of the Bosnian Government, specifically during Secretary Christopher's recent visit to Sarajevo. Now we have received extremely disturbing reports this morning that some Bosnian Government officials may have been involved in the activities of this facility.

We are seeking more information from the Bosnian Government. We are addressing our concerns directly to the Bosnian Government, and Ambassador Holbrooke will raise this issue directly with President Izetbegovic, and we expect full cooperation.

However, we have seen this morning a most extraordinary statement from the Bosnian Ministry of the Interior, in which it effectively criticizes the actions of IFOR to detain these people. This is a statement that has prompted many questions here in Washington, and this statement does not square with our understanding of the events yesterday. We call upon the Bosnian Government to cooperate fully with IFOR as it investigates.

I think you saw Admiral Smith speak to the press just short while ago about his version of events, which we fully support, and his view of the problem that's been created here. It is not tolerable for the Bosnian Government to allow foreign fighters, among them, we think, Laura, at least five Iranians, to stay on Bosnian soil, because they represent a likely and probable threat against our troops, and we will not tolerate that, as Admiral Smith just said.

The people, according to IFOR, in this house were found with explosives. They were found with information and drawings of IFOR facilities, according to the IFOR spokesman this morning, and that is reprehensible, and it will not be tolerated. There are a lot of questions that we're asking of the Bosnian Government right now.

Q What Bosnian Government officials might be associated with this?

MR. BURNS: We're looking into it right now, Carol. That's a question that we would like to have answered. We don't know all of the facts. We know that 11 people have been detained by IFOR. They are being questioned by IFOR. IFOR is taking the lead, and we're following IFOR's lead. We fully support IFOR.

One of the questions we'd like to have answered is, of the non- Iranians that were taken prisoner by IFOR, who are they, what do they do, and what's their role, and why were they there. Now to give the Bosnian Government its due, the Bosnian Government Ministry of Interior says that this facility was actually a facility meant to fight war criminals. Well, we hope very much that's the case.

We have some questions about this version of events. We hope that's the case, but we don't know for sure, and we're going to try to follow the facts, the evidence that will lead us to the facts, and we'll certainly take the appropriate measures.

Q Do you think President Izetbegovic was in any way involved?

MR. BURNS: We have no knowledge of that at all, no. I would not lead you in that direction. As you know, I think Admiral Smith and Ambassador Menzies saw President Izetbegovic yesterday afternoon at 3:00 p.m. in Sarajevo. They brought this evidence to his attention, and we have every reason to believe that President Izetbegovic will do the right thing here, and he will make sure that this particular operation is fully shut down, and any other operations similar to it will be fully shut down. That's his obligation.

Q Nick, it has been almost four weeks since the deadline lapsed on removal of foreign troops. You keep saying you expect Izetbegovic to do the right thing. He's had a fairly lengthy period to do the right thing, hasn't he?

MR. BURNS: You're right, Sid, that there has been a flagrant violation -- excuse me, I've just got Sid's birthday on my mind -- (laughter) and, Judd, you and Sid don't really look alike. I apologize. I apologize to you.

Q We sat together on the plane, and, you know --

Q Correct the record.

MR. BURNS: Let me correct the record. That was Judd Ginzberg of CNN, not Sid Balman of UPI.

Judd, you're absolutely right that the continued presence of foreign fighters in Bosnia is a flagrant violation of the Dayton accords. We are disturbed by the fact that they were not out by the 19th of January; that on the 20th of January, when we protested that fact, they were not out. It is disturbing.

I can tell you one thing, though. We're going to continue very close observation of events there. The Rome meeting is the first in series of regular meetings that is meant to fulfill compliance. And, as one of the fathers of the Dayton accords, the United States will continue to work with the Europeans, the European Union, the Russian Federation, with Carl Bildt, to make sure that these accords are implemented. It won't be possible -- as we have said all week, but it's an important point, to reaffirm -- it won't be possible for the Bosnians or the Serbs or the Croatians to pick this article that they like and reject that part of the accords they don't like. They're not going to have that luxury, and that's the message that Dick Holbrooke is taking to Rome this weekend.

Q Is it fair to say that despite all the violations that you have seen, that none of these parties has yet paid a price for their not adhering to the Dayton accords?

MR. BURNS: No, I don't agree with that. The Serbian Government would like to have full and normal diplomatic relations with the United States. That is not an intangible objective for the Serbian Government; it's a major objective. It will not have that -- and Secretary Christopher made this clear -- until there's full cooperation.

The Bosnian Government, of course, has to think about the future. It's got to think about the day when IFOR leaves, when they will need to hold the peace agreement together, as they must and as we hope that they shall. They've got to think about their capability to do that. The Bosnian Government would very much like the United States Government to lead an international effort to coordinate training for the Bosnian military and significant improvements in the equipment of the Bosnian military.

As Secretary Christopher has said many times over in the last three weeks, that is in jeopardy unless we see full compliance, particularly on this issue of foreign fighters. The Croatian Government desires to have a full integration of Croatia with Europe, and I think the German Government and our government have made clear that's not going to happen either until there's full cooperation. So there's leverage here, and there are points that are being expressed.

Q The equip-and-train program, though, have you slowed it down? I know a couple weeks ago there was an estimate that you might let a contract for the training component within the next couple of weeks. Has that ever been done?

MR. BURNS: The timetable for that program is set in the Dayton accords. As you know, for the first 90 days of the life of the accords -- and we're, of course, only 50 some days into it -- no one is allowed to provide equipment to the Bosnian Government.

From Day 90 to Day 180, certain types of equipment are allowed to be provided, and from Day 180 after, certain other types of equipment. So we haven't reached that point. But Jim Pardew, who is the coordinator for this effort in the U.S. Government, has made a number of trips to the region. He is trying to put together an international coalition of countries -- Turkey and other countries -- that will help in this regard.

So things are happening, but the hardware is not going to be able to be delivered unless there's full compliance, and I think they're interested in the hardware and in the specific training that has also not been initiated.

Q So the bottom line is despite these violations, you're continuing to move ahead with that program.

MR. BURNS: I think the Bosnian Government understands the import of Secretary Christopher's words on this.

Q What's the legal status of the 11 arrestees? Who's holding them? Are they being charged under some law, and, if so, which one? Who's investigating or interrogating them?

MR. BURNS: IFOR is holding them. IFOR will hold them as long as it pleases. We'll fully question them and investigate the situation. I think that what happens after will be a decision that IFOR will have to make in conjunction with the Bosnian Government and others. Some of them may be citizens of a foreign country. I've seen reports that some of them may be diplomats of a foreign country. We'll just have to see. I can't corroborate those reports. Others may be citizens of Bosnia, so, therefore, we'll have to take some care to work out the disposition of what happens to these people.

Q But, I mean, who's going to question them? In whose court are they going to be tried if they've committed a violation of some law, and which law have they broken?

MR. BURNS: That all has to be worked out. Again, David, I think it depends on the case of each individual -- a lot depends on the citizenship of those individuals. There's no question that IFOR has the right to detain them -- not after what IFOR found there, and not after IFOR believes that they were planning operations against IFOR forces.

So IFOR has the right to keep them as long as IFOR wants to, and until IFOR is fully satisfied that they've gotten out of these people in terms of information what they need to. Then I think it will be a process of working within the law of Bosnian and whatever other countries are pertinent here to decide what is to become of these people.

Q If they are Bosnians and they're guilty of plotting against IFOR, would IFOR rely on Bosnia to try them?

MR. BURNS: That's a question for the Bosnian Government, and we fully expect the Bosnian Government to live up to its responsibilities here.

Q Nick, correct me if I'm wrong, but last week weren't we told that President Izetbegovic told the Secretary that all the foreign fighters were gone?

MR. BURNS: We have been told in Sarajevo, when we were visiting Sarajevo, by various officials in Bosnia that they believed that there was no longer a problem. We disagreed with that in our meetings in Sarajevo. We said that our information was that there was still a problem, and I remember Admiral Smith telling all of you directly on the aircraft that we were traveling on between Tuzla and Sarajevo, that he believed that there were two to three hundred foreign fighters there. That was his statement at the time, and we very much agree with his statement.

So we've had a disagreement with the Bosnian Government. But now this disagreement becomes quite dramatic and is in the spotlight of public and press attention because these foreign fighters and other people have been caught redhanded, and there are a lot of questions that have to be asked and a lot of questions that have to be answered now.

Q Back to the two issues of the original report. Is there evidence that the Bosnian Muslim government is complicitous with this training camp, just tolerating it, or covering it? And, secondly, what is the evidence -- and I didn't catch Admiral Smith's briefing -- what is the evidence that IFOR may be the target of these training activities, Nick? Can you say?

MR. BURNS: On the first question, I just have to refer you to IFOR for an answer to that question, Bill. IFOR is in charge of these people now, and IFOR is fully competent to answer these questions. IFOR is conducting an investigation.

On the second question, I simply refer you to the IFOR spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Rayner this morning, who said that when the French troops entered the building, they found not only materials, explosives, all sorts of terrorist paraphernalia, but also illustrations of IFOR facilities, which lead us to the conclusion that you'd think we'd derive from this information, which is that these people were planning nefarious activities.

Q There were building models. Those building models were IFOR facilities, some of them?

MR. BURNS: Bill, I just refer you to the IFOR spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Rayner, who detailed all of this for the press. I can't improve upon his information or statement.

Q I think it just makes the Rome conference even more important.

MR. BURNS: It adds of touch of drama to the Rome conference. It certainly does.

Q Nick, I`m sorry, these people are obviously engaged in fighting a war against the Serbs. You would expect them to have weapons and ammunition and explosives, presumably, and maps of the region. I don't understand the immediate logical conclusion that they were out to somehow harm IFOR.

MR. BURNS: Let me respond with some questions. What were Iranian citizens doing in that facility, when Iranian citizens are supposed to be out of Bosnia. What were they doing with illustrations of IFOR facilities, as Lieutenant Colonel Rayner has explained this morning. What were they doing. Those weren't facilities to fight the Serbs. Sorry. That's not a very believable excuse.

[...]

Q Serbia. Do you have anything about the decision of Milosevic to take over Studio B, a leading independent TV and radio stations in Serbia?

MR. BURNS: We've certainly seen that report, and it's always disturbing to hear that there are infringements on the right of the media, freedom of the press, to express itself. We understand that the Belgrade city authorities have taken action to close down Studio B, which you rightly describe to be a leading independent broadcaster in Serbia.

We consider this action to be another transparent attempt by authorities there to limit access to uncensored news and information, and we would ask the Serbian authorities to rescind the action taken that closes down Studio B and to allow Studio B to resume its operations immediately. We're Americans. We believe in freedom of the press. We don't think that freedom of the press should be abridged or circumscribed anywhere in the world.

Q Will it be taken up tomorrow in Rome?

MR. BURNS: I don't know if it will be taken up in Rome. There's a very thick agenda now in Rome. I can assure you we'll take this up with the Serbian Government. If it's not taken up in Rome, I'm sure it will be taken up in Belgrade by our Embassy there.

Q Thank you.

MR. BURNS: Thank you.

(The briefing concluded at 1:48 p.m.)