U.S. Department of State 96/02/22 Daily Press Briefing

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U.S. State Department Directory

U.S. Department of State

96/02/22 Daily Press Briefing

Office of the Spokesman

[...]
FORMER YUGOSLAVIA
Reports of General Mladic Orders to Capture IFOR Troops 15-16
Status of Bosnian-Serb/IFOR Military Mtgs. .............15,25
Reports of IFOR Troop Encounter w//Mladic/Karadzic .....16
Hospitalization of President Izetbegovic ...............17-18
Presence/Departure of Foreign Forces ...................18-24
--IFOR Investigation into "Safe House" .................19-20
Status of Equip and Train ..............................21-24
Lifting of Sanctions Issue .............................24-25
Cooperation w/War Crimes Tribunal ......................25-26
[...]

DAILY PRESS BRIEFING

DPB #29

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 1996, 12:43 P.M.

[...]

Q Bosnia. What can you tell us about the reports of General Mladic ordering Bosnian Serb troops to go after NATO forces?

MR. BURNS: We've seen the reports that Mladic -- and they're only reports in our mind, Judd, that Mladic has ordered his troops to take IFOR troops hostage. I think Mladic should understand, if in fact this order is real and genuine, that all American troops and indeed all IFOR troops have the ability to protect themselves and to defend themselves, and their rules of engagement give them the right to defend themselves.

Mladic ought to be more concerned with complying with the Dayton accords. The Bosnian Serbs have not done a very good job of that. That's why we had the Rome Conference over the weekend, and we fully expect that the Bosnian Serbs will do that.

We have received some positive indications over the last 24 hours that the Bosnian Serbs are going to return to their military meetings with the IFOR representatives in Sarajevo. There were no meetings scheduled for today, but we have received good indications from Pale and from various Bosnian Serb leaders that they will do that. That's in their self-interest. It's also the commitment they made to the international community, and we fully expect them to follow up on that.

Q You can't confirm the reports. You have no independent --

MR. BURNS: We've just seen the press reports. We've not seen any Mladic order to his troops. We have not been informed of such an order by anybody who purports to speak for the Bosnian Serbs in the field, but I think you know that our troops can defend themselves.

Q Has the U.S. attempted --

MR. BURNS: We've certainly looked into it, but we haven't been able to corroborate this particular report.

Q There are no intelligence reports of this, are there?

MR. BURNS: If there were intelligence reports, I couldn't talk about them because they're intelligence reports. But I'm not aware of any, Judd.

Q There's a part of the story about American troops being on alert. Now, has that been corroborated?

MR. BURNS: I think Ken Bacon said yesterday that our troops are not on alert. They're always on alert; they're not on any kind of special case of alert. They are prepared to defend themselves, and they're going to go about their duties, which is to separate these parties and police the cease-fire.

Q They apparently weren't willing to defend themselves -- at least the Italian NATO troops yesterday -- when they confronted Mladic or Karadzic, and they did not arrest him. What do you have to say about that?

MR. BURNS: Sid, I can't base our government policy on what we read in press reports. We have seen press reports about this particular incident. We have not been able to corroborate that. I'd refer you to IFOR. If anybody can corroborate these particular press reports which purport to be IFOR troops -- Italian troops in IFOR -- it's IFOR itself in Sarajevo. So I'd direct the question there.

Q So again there's no corroboration from this building of that incident?

MR. BURNS: No, there's not, and we have looked into that because we were interested in that report, as you may well imagine.

[...]

MR. BURNS: A Bosnia question, Judd.

Q What do you hear about Izetbegovic?

MR. BURNS: We've received very disturbing reports this morning that President Izetbegovic was taken ill, that he has experienced some type of heart problem, that he's been hospitalized. We have not received specific information from the Bosnian Government about his health and his welfare. Secretary Christopher is writing him -- sending a letter just in the next hour or two to him, wishing him well and wishing him a speedy recovery.

He is obviously a very important part of the process of implementing the Dayton accords, and we do wish him a full and speedy recovery. But we don't have any specific information, Judd, about the nature of his illness. I'd have to refer you to the Bosnian Government in Sarajevo for that.

Q (Inaudible) other statements and things he may have said to the Secretary on the record, off the record, privately, publicly. Do these stand as commitments for the Bosnian Government, or do you feel -- because he was very personally involved in these negotiations. Do you have full confidence that the Bosnian Government, such as it is, will carry out his commitments, whatever his capacity?

MR. BURNS: We certainly do, and he's President of the country and he's head of the government, and when he makes a commitment to the United States or anyone else, he is speaking for the government. We've made the same requests to the Prime Minister -- Prime Minister Muratovic -- and to other officials.

So when it comes to the presence of Iranian fighters -- and we believe there are still some Iranian fighters on the ground in Bosnia -- when it comes to the three detainees who are still being held and any other issue, any commitments made by President Izetbegovic, of course, would have to be upheld by other members of his government.

Q I ask because as we all are aware, you know, there are -- as in many governments, there were serious divisions among the Bosnian leadership through the last months of the war and possibly into the negotiations. They lost a Prime Minister for political reasons.

MR. BURNS: There may be divisions, but when a government leader speaks, he speaks on behalf of his country and his government. He makes commitments. Those are commitments that have to be kept by all members of the government.

Q Let me pick up on the Iranian fighters. Weeks ago when this became a matter of some discussion, there was reference to some of them possibly having married locals, and the implication was that every last Iranian fighter would not have to leave because there were circumstances where maybe a handful could be accepted -- you could acquiesce for various personal reasons.

When you talk about Iranian fighters, do you know anything more about them? Are they in that special category, or are they the kind of folks that ought to get out of there?

MR. BURNS: It's an interesting issue. I noted that the Iranian Foreign Minister -- Minister Velayati -- said today that there aren't any Iranians any longer in Bosnia, and he said that they were only there for humanitarian purposes. That's a very curious statement indeed, given the fact that three of them were caught redhanded with explosives and firearms and all sorts of unusual plans just last week.

As Secretary of Defense Perry said this morning, we would be naive to think that there are no more Iranians present in Bosnia. We believe they're still there. Secretary Perry said that we're keeping these people under surveillance. It is up to the Bosnian Government, which is the host government to these people, to get them out -- to get them out of the country and to put the Bosnian Government in conformance with the requirement of the Dayton accords that they all must leave.

We're going to watch this situation closely, and we're simply not going to take statements from the Iranian Foreign Minister at face value.

Q Okay, but this is not a supposition on the U.S.'s part. The U.S. knows for a fact that there are Iranian fighters in Bosnia.

MR. BURNS: We believe that there are Iranians still present in Bosnia. Admiral Smith believes that, and Secretary of Defense Perry said he believes it, too. It's a very serious issue, and we're going to follow it up with the Bosnian Government.

Q Any further explanation from the Bosnian Government on exactly what was going on in the safe house and who was complicit and the role of the Interior Ministry?

MR. BURNS: I would suggest you ask IFOR because IFOR has launched an investigation, and they've been questioning -- of course, they questioned the people who were arrested, and they've also been talking to the Bosnian Government.

This had all the signs and the signature of an operation designed to threaten IFOR, and we were very concerned about it. We're still concerned about it, and we're putting a lot of efforts now and a lot of resources into getting to the bottom of this issue in general.

Q Nick, there's a Reuter wire report here that quotes -- well, it doesn't quote, but attributes to Richard Holbrooke that he believed there are four to eight more training sites -- terrorist training sites in Bosnia. And the second point: I heard from some high sources yesterday that the U.S. Government seems to believe that Bosnian Muslim officials are involved and are behind and supporting the Iranians. Can you comment on either of these points?

MR. BURNS: Dick is off in New York now. I didn't see whatever statements he may have made on that yesterday pertaining to the number of sites, but IFOR, of course, is taking the lead in monitoring whatever sites are there. We believe that IFOR will do its job.

Getting back to Barry's question, some of these foreign fighters -- not just Iranians but other nationalities -- we think have married Bosnian women and by virtue of that have taken on Bosnian citizenship. If in fact they are valid citizens of Bosnia now, it's hard for the United States to object to their continuing presence there.

However, I think the signal that we have sent publicly to the Bosnian Government is quite clear. If any of these people are active, if any of them are armed, if they're fighters, and if they are planning unpleasant acts, then those people should be removed.

We were very gratified to see the Bosnian Government deport the three Iranians who were caught redhanded in that safe house last week.

Robin, you have a question?

Q Two weeks after the Secretary left the Balkans and a month past the deadline, why is it, do you think, that the Bosnian Government has not acted on them? They've pledged that they would time and time again, and yet they don't do anything. Why?

MR. BURNS: The Bosnians tell us that it's a difficult issue for them because when the Bosnians were fighting during the three-and-a-half to four years of war, they say that the Iranians and some of the others were helpful to them. That may be the case, but that time has passed.

The fact is the war has ended. There's been a cease-fire and a peace agreement, and now there are 60,000 NATO troops essentially to protect the Bosnian state and its borders, to insure those borders, to insure peace and we hope tranquility. There's no more reason for a couple of hundred members of a motley international crew to stay behind.

So with all due respect, our argument to the Bosnian Government has been they should leave. They say it's a difficult issue, but they did say at the Rome meeting and they pledged to Dick Holbrooke that all fighters would leave, and they're going to be held accountable to that pledge.

Q They said that two weeks ago when they were there.

MR. BURNS: They did.

Q I mean, they've pledged this time and time again. Why is it that they -- I mean -- and I remember hearing these very words from you. Why is it that nothing's been done?

MR. BURNS: By the Bosnian Government, you mean.

Q Yes.

MR. BURNS: That's really a question you're going to have to direct to them -- to those people in the Bosnian Government who may be dragging their feet on this. What we're concerned about is getting rid of all the foreign fighters. What we've said is that we cannot foresee the United States proceeding with equipping the Bosnian army, training the Bosnian army, to prepare the Bosnian army for the day when IFOR leaves -- we can't foresee that if we still believe there are foreign forces present -- Islamic forces present in Bosnia.

I think that has leverage. I think it's a message that the Bosnian Government has taken to heart, and they understand what it means. Not only would we not want to do it -- we in the Executive Branch of the U.S. Government -- I can't imagine that there would be support in the American public for it or in the Congress.

Q Have I missed this, but you haven't identified -- State hasn't identified that consulting firm that's going to oversee the training and equipping, is that correct?

MR. BURNS: No, you haven't missed it. Jim Pardew is still working on our proposals to help coordinate equip-and-train. There are a number of aspects, including identifying a consulting firm that will do some of this work. But, you know, we're not going to proceed with some of these actions until we see a better measure of cooperation.

Q I mean, by indirection -- are you saying directly that the U.S. will not proceed until there's better performance?

MR. BURNS: That's what the Secretary has said -- Secretary of State -- and what I have said repeatedly --

Q The announcement was due long before now.

MR. BURNS: A couple of months ago we thought we would have proceeded more quickly. We can't do that until we see by the actions of the Bosnian Government that they're going to fulfill their good-faith commitments to us. This is too important. It's too important to secure the safety of our troops, of our young men and women, to fool around with this issue; and we're not going to do that, and the Bosnian Government knows that.

Q All right, let me ask you one quick -- I always ask the same question when the issue comes up. Is there a decision yet whether the U.S. will be providing American weapons while and if -- now it seems to be an "if" -- it equips and oversees the training of the Bosnian army?

MR. BURNS: I don't know if there's an ironclad decision, Barry. I think the general assumption that underlies this program is that we will coordinate an international effort; that we would expect that many friends of Bosnia would contribute the majority of the arms to Bosnia.

Q The majority.

MR. BURNS: Yes.

Q I mean, at one point I think it was that the United States would be the coordinator, not the provider, and I don't think that was changing.

MR. BURNS: You know, we haven't been able to proceed with some of these plans because of the non-compliance of the Bosnian Government. But I don't see us taking any kind of leading role in that. I think that's for other governments. Jim Pardew is doing an outstanding job under adverse circumstances and has been talking with the Turkish Government and with other governments that have been involved previously and will continue to be involved in the future.

Still on Bosnia?

Q Yes. On that, just to clarify. The failure to name a consulting firm for equipping and training is due to non-compliance and not bureaucratic inertia?

MR. BURNS: There are a lot of elements to this program. I don't want to say that every single element is tied to the issue of foreign fighters; but in general our ability to coordinate, lead and help to fund equipping and training is not going to go ahead, is in jeopardy until we see a better measure of compliance on the issue of foreign fighters. I think it's a fairly clear statement, and it's been our policy for a good month now.

Q I understand that, but the specific failure to name a consulting firm is due specifically to non-compliance and not because of bureaucratic hangups and the difficulty of the job?

MR. BURNS: I'd just say that the Bosnian Government has to understand that our ability to go ahead with that issue and others is going to be dependent on cooperation. We need to see a better measure.

Q Just to fill out the picture better, has any country, other than Turkey, stepped forward and said, "We would be happy and willing to provide training facilities"?

MR. BURNS: I think there are some countries. I think we need to keep that private and confidential until they are prepared to go forward.

Q European countries?

MR. BURNS: Well, there are countries from all around the world actually.

Q I mean, you've got yourself --

MR. BURNS: I can't pinpoint any country.

Q The Administration got itself into a mess in -- understandably, eagerness to level the playing field, you ended up with Iranian Freedom Fighters, or whatever they're called.

MR. BURNS: No, no, no.

Q Well -- all right --

MR. BURNS: That's not the way it worked.

Q All right, but I'm shortcutting it

MR. BURNS: You are.

Q The U.S., realizing that it wouldn't help the Bosnian Government, realizing that the Europeans weren't about to help the Bosnian Government, acquiesced and various countries contributed arms and weapons, and it is not something that disturbed the Administration, which had enough moral issues to worry about at that point anyhow by its inaction.

I just wondered if you're going to knock on the same doors and possibly get into the same kind of jams, or are you going to stick with reliable allies like Turkey?.

MR. BURNS: With all due respect, I just take issue with some of the premises here.

Q It's a synopsis.

MR. BURNS: All right, let me just try to say a couple of things, Barry, in response. We're not in a mess, and we're not in a jam.

Q Well, you've got Iranians --

MR. BURNS: If our European partners do not want to cooperate with us on equip-and-train, that's their decision. We're going to go ahead if the foreign fighters are evacuated or depart from Bosnia.

We didn't invite those Iranians in. They were invited in long before the United States brokered the peace agreement. In terms of our commitment to peace, I would say that you've got to give us the vast majority of credit for having brokered that peace agreement.

So the Iranian problem is a Bosnian problem. It's not an American problem, and the Bosnians have to deal with that problem. Equip-and-train makes sense because we want to see rough equilibrium among the various military forces on the day that IFOR departs. We do not want to see a situation of disequilibrium which could invite further warfare.

We want to see the peace continue, and we think that equip-and-train is a big part of that. The Bosnian Government should know it's in its own self-interest, and they know it has to happen for us to get there.

Q Could you help me understand something, please? You all want to suspend the sanctions on the Bosnian Serbs, for whatever reason, when there are numerous war criminals they haven't turned over, and you all have said very flatly that they were the aggressors and the Bosnians were the underdog.

Now because of a handful of Iranian mercenaries, you're threatening to withhold the most key element of the accords for the Bosnians. I don't understand the fairness of that.

MR. BURNS: We're asking all the parties -- not just the Bosnian Government but the Bosnian Serbs and the Croatians -- to fulfill the Dayton accords.

On the other side of the ledger, the United States has not yet made a decision -- a firm decision -- that we're going to support in the U.N. Security Council a lifting of sanctions against the Bosnian Serbs. I would expect that that would probably happen at some point in the future because, as you know, it's written into the Dayton accords that Admiral Smith will submit a report to General Joulwan about compliance with the military provisions of the Dayton accords, about the zone of separation, about the cease-fire.

But I think the Bosnian Serbs have to wonder today about what the United States is going to do. We're a little bit skeptical coming out of the Rome conference that they are going to, in good faith, implement everything they said they'd do. We want to see actions on the ground. If we see good actions, we'll be in a frame of mind to support a lifting of sanctions.

Admiral Smith's report has been written, and I believe it's making its way up the chain of command. But I know that he said publicly he didn't think that the sanctions should be suspended for the next 48 hours. We very much agree with that.

We want to see the Bosnian Serbs return to the military meetings. We want to see a better measure of compliance from them, too.

So, Sid, we're not singling out the Bosnian Government. We're asking all of these three parties to be faithful to the Dayton Accords. It's in their self-interest to do that.

Q Are you then saying that the Bosnian Serbs have to hand over war criminals -- namely, Mladic and Karadzic -- before you will propose suspending the sanctions?

MR. BURNS: No, I'm not saying that. I didn't mention that issue at all when I just described our position. I'm not saying that whatsoever.

I will say, however, that cooperation with the War Crimes Tribunal will affect how the United States looks at our relationship with Serbia. That will be one of the factors, when we look at our ability to fully recognize and establish full diplomatic relations with Serbia. We don't have an Ambassador there; we have a Charge d'Affaires for a reason.

The outer wall of sanctions, the ability of Serbia to participate in international organizations -- U.N. organizations -- will be partially dependent on how well they commit themselves to the Dayton Accords provisions on war criminals.

Q But there's no linkage between war criminals and suspension of sanctions?

MR. BURNS: On the Bosnian Serbs?

Q On the Bosnian Serbs.

MR. BURNS: There's no specific linkage there. But there are certainly aspects of this agreement that they've got to do better on and meet before we're going to support it.

Laura.

[...]

(Press briefing concluded at 2:01 p.m.)

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