U.S. Department of State 96/03/07 Daily Press Briefing

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U.S. State Department Directory

U.S. Department of State

96/03/07 Daily Press Briefing

Office of the Spokesman

[...]
FORMER YUGOSLAVIA
Transfers of Authority ........................................ 7-18,23
Foreign Forces/Minister's Muratovic's Trip to Iran. ........... 18-22
Equip & Train/International Conference. ....................... 18-21
[...]
GREECE/TURKEY
Turkish Foreign Ministry Ambassador Oymen's Mtgs. in U.S. ..... 25
Aegean Islets ................................................. 26
Former King Constantine Visit to U.S. ......................... 26
[...]

DAILY PRESS BRIEFING

DPB #38

THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 1996, 1:05 P. M.

[...]

I wonder whether you have any conclusions about the way this process is going. It has an appearance, although it's gone without much violence, it has an appearance of being counterproductive in terms of the goals of Dayton -- maybe to use a stronger term?

MR. BURNS: Sarajevo has been a multi-ethnic city for many centuries. We think that Sarajevo should remain a multi-ethnic city.

It is disturbing to us that the Bosnian Serb leadership has chosen to encourage the Serbian population to leave -- number one.

I would also say, however, that on a human basis, it is certainly understandable why some Serbs, why Muslims, why Croats would feel vulnerable as these transfers of power and authority take place, given all of the scars of the last four years.

It is incumbent upon the Bosnian Serb leadership to be rational and to exercise judicious leadership, not to try to incite people to believe that the worst will happen when these transfers of authority take place.

It is also incumbent upon the Bosnian Government to say the right things and to do the right things that will send positive signals to Serbs and Croats that they should stay in their homes as these transfers of authority take place.

Roy, you've asked a very good question. The facts are -- and you know them as well as I -- this is not taking place. The Bosnian Serb leadership, I think, has been irresponsible in its exhortations to its public. The Bosnian Government has said a few things on the record but probably not enough to assure the local population that they'll be taken care of.

Carl Bildt is working very hard on this problem. He's done an excellent job of trying to sort out all the problems that flow from this. What is really tragic is that the thousands of people leaving their homes are now refugees. They must be supported by the international community and this exacerbates the general problem in the area.

So I don't have a positive thing to say about this. That is our analysis of the problem.

Q Do you conclude that maybe something has been wrong in the concept that IFOR has had or that the United States or that the Western community has had, because it doesn't seemed to have worked?

MR. BURNS: No, I don't conclude that. I think IFOR has done an outstanding job in its mission which, as you know, is quite specific.

The problem has been inherited here by Carl Bildt and the civilian administration. He has done, I think, outstanding job in trying to deal with, admittedly, a terrible problem in human terms -- of thousands of people becoming refugees overnight.

Q Another problem stemming from Dayton. What's the status of the foreign fighters there? How many do we think are still there?

MR. BURNS: The status of the foreign fighters is not positive, in this sense. We don't believe that all the foreign fighters have left. There are new allegations just over the last 24 to 48 hours the Iranians may continue to train elements of the Bosnian military. We think that there are perhaps upwards of 100 to 200 foreign fighters left. These are the figures given to us by IFOR and that have been given to you publicly by IFOR.

Our position is the following. This is a fundamental obligation of the Bosnian Government. Secretary Christopher has made this clear to the Bosnian Government leadership. This is going to have an impact on equip-and-train.

Let me tell you what we're going to do with equip-and-train and what we won't do. The assessment of the military needs of the Federation has been completed and we've had full discussions with the Bosnian Government about their military needs, post-departure of IFOR.

I think very soon the Bosnian Federation will name a private U.S. contractor to manage the equip-and-train program. On March 15, Turkey will be hosting an international conference for those countries interested in helping on the problem of equip-and-train. However, the United States will not implement equip-and-train. We will not transfer equipment to the Bosnian Government -- even though we are taking these initial steps to implement the program -- until we can be assured by all means necessary that all the foreign fighters have left Bosnia.

We're taking these steps to build the framework of the equip-and-train program but we're not going to implement it until the Bosnian Government proves to us that these Iranians and other radical fighters who pose a threat to our forces have left.

Q Nick, a follow-up. The fact that the Secretary has seen the political leadership of Bosnia and there still are no results weeks and weeks later, what conclusions do you draw about your ability to influence the Bosnians in this regard?

MR. BURNS: I don't accept the question in this respect, Charlie. If, as most people believe, the starting number of foreign forces was in the high hundreds or low thousands -- the estimates were between 800 and 2,000 -- then we know that most of these people have left because we have asked them to leave. Number one.

Number two: When the Iranians were caught red-handed a couple of weeks ago in that safehouse near Sarajevo, we know that those Iranians were deported. They left the country because they were forced to leave the country. That was a positive contribution made by the Bosnian Government.

What is disturbing to us -- and here is where I agree with this part of your questions -- is that Iranians, we believe, remain -- some Iranians. Those people have to leave.

Q Nick, on the Iranian question. What is your view of the trip to Iran that Prime Minister Muratovic made? Do you see that as sinister or innocent, hopeful, or worrisome?

MR. BURNS: We have a very dim view of that trip, in this respect. Iran is an outlaw state sponsor of terrorism. The Bosnians may believe that Iran was helpful at some point during their war. Iran cannot help them now. There are 60,000 NATO troops helping to ensure the peace, helping to build the new Bosnian state, giving them a year of respite from the war. They don't need a few hundred Iranians.

We would encourage the Bosnian Government to drop this notion that somehow any relationship with Iran can be positive to them.

Q Can I follow up on that? What about the report in the New York Times story that the Bosnians had troops in Iran being trained? What can you say about it? I don't know if you --

MR. BURNS: I don't know that we corroborate that report. We've seen it. We're quite interested in it, and we're following it up with the Bosnian Government.

Q Can the United States stop the Bosnian Government from equipping and training itself?

MR. BURNS: What is behind your question? Do you want to say a little bit more?

Q Can it go forward? Can the Bosnian Government equip-and-train themselves with Iranian weapons, Turkish weapons, Pakistani weapons, French weapons, whatever, even if the United States steps aside and says, "Sorry, we're not going to participate in this anymore?" Do you have some way to prevent them from going forward under their own auspices?

MR. BURNS: The Bosnian Government would like the United States to play a role in the international effort to equip and train them. Their strategic objective here, after IFOR departs, is to have a rough equilibrium of military forces corresponding to Croatia and Serbia; especially Serbia and the Bosnian Serbs. They've come to us for assistance to lead that effort. We're doing so.

I don't believe they will be successful without the support and participation of the United States. There's no reason to think they will.

As you know, this idea has not been met with overwhelming support in Europe. We are working very closely with our ally, Turkey, and with other countries in the Arab world about this. I think if the United States stepped aside and said it wouldn't support the program, that would be a very severe blow to the program. That's part of the incentive for the Bosnian Government, and they know that. They need the United States here, and our base-line objective is to get those foreign fighters out, or else we won't go forward.

Q Is there, though, something in place now that would prevent the Bosnians from purchasing weapons on their own?

MR. BURNS: No, there isn't. But I don't believe that they'll be successful. They don't have the money, and they don't have the resources, and I don't think that there will be many nations inclined without a positive signal from the United States.

Q Can I follow up on that. I just want to understand what you said before. The United States plans to go forward and let the contract, but you're not going to transfer equipment to the Bosnian Muslims. Does that mean that just the United States isn't going to transfer equipment? I mean, other participants like Turkey could go ahead anyway and transfer under that program? And what about the training component?

MR. BURNS: The idea here, Carol, is that we're building a framework. We're implementing the first few steps, but we're stopping short of actually transferring equipment until we can be assured that the conditions of the Dayton peace accords, which should have been met on January 19, are met.

Q But does that include Turkey as well?

MR. BURNS: To get to your question, I can't speak for the Turkish Government or any other government. But I can tell you -- and this gets back to Sid's question -- I believe that without the support of the United States, this would not be a very effective program.

Q Would you attend the donors conference?

MR. BURNS: Yes, oh, yes.

Q (Inaudible)

MR. BURNS: Jim Pardew, who, as you know, is our coordinator in the Department of State, will go to Ankara on March 15. We want to get this rolling, and I'll tell you why, because we have the expectation that the Bosnian Government will comply with the Dayton accords, and all the foreign fighters will leave, and therefore we'll be able to go ahead. That's our expectation. We're planning on that, and we expect that to be the outcome of this issue.

Q So when is the contract going (inaudible).

MR. BURNS: I think very shortly. I think the Bosnian Federation will announce this fairly shortly.

Q Is there anything specific out of Muratovic's visit to Tehran that disturbs you? I mean --

MR. BURNS: I'm not aware of all the details of his visit. I just think our advice to a friend -- and the Bosnian Government is friendly to the United States -- is that they will rue the day that they associated themselves too closely with the Iranian Government.

Just look at the history of the Iranian Government and how they treat their supposed friends. Do they meet their commitments to them? What kind of activities are undertaken by the Iranian Government? You know what we think about the Iranian Government's support for Hamas and other terrorist organizations.

Q But, Nick, do you know what the purpose of the visit was?

MR. BURNS: You'll have to ask him.

Q Are you sure he wasn't going to say, "Thanks, but we've got to stop seeing each other." (Laughter)

MR. BURNS: I just direct the questions to Prime Minister Muratovic.

Q Nick, I know you guys don't do comparisons, but this begs the question: Why is it so bad for the Bosnians to go to Iran and it's not bad for the Iranians to go to Damascus?

MR. BURNS: Sid, I don't do comparisons. (Laughter) But, listen --

Q Syria's a different country.

MR. BURNS: No, I don't do comparisons. We don't think Iran has a constructive role to play.

Q Anywhere, any time, anything.

MR. BURNS: No, and we would never advise a country to have a good relationship with Iran.

Q Can I ask just a minor -- maybe we could be told later in the day under what specific legislation could sanctions be invoked if indeed Iran was provided with cruise missiles?

MR. BURNS: I'll be glad to take that question.

Q I think there's separate legislation to do with Iran and Iraq, but I'm not sure what it is.

MR. BURNS: I'll be glad to take the question.

Q Could I follow --

MR. BURNS: Are we still on --

Q -- Barry's question.

MR. BURNS: Actually, I think Roy has the floor. We're still on Bosnia. We've just made a little interlude.

Q There's a lot of signs that the Federation, which is an American-sponsored entity, is in trouble, and that things are going badly on many fronts. What is your assessment, and what plans do you have to send somebody or to do something about it?

MR. BURNS: The Federation is an internationally sponsored and supported idea. Germany has been as much a supporter, for instance, of the Federation as the United States. We both strongly support it. The Federation has had a number of difficulties, but in essence has held together, Roy. It is together, despite all the differences between Croats and Moslems, and we're going to use our influence whenever we can to help resolve at their request some of the problems in implementation.

Q I mean, there have been several reports in the last couple days. Croats have been sent in, apparently, in Hadzici and were trying to take over the police station there. The Croats are accusing the Bosnian Government of setting up some kind of an agency, an intelligence and almost domestic police agency. I don't know -- are they serious?

MR. BURNS: I think in the case of Hadzici, there was the incident with the Croats, but the transition took place yesterday.

New subject?

[...]

Q May we have a readout of today's meeting here in the State Department between Deputy Secretary of State Talbott and the Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Onur Oymen?

MR. BURNS: Yes, the Under Secretary. Turkish Foreign Ministry Ambassador Oymen met with Deputy Secretary Talbott today. He's also seeing Under Secretary Tarnoff. He's seeing officials in our Bureau of European Affairs, led by John Kornblum. He's here to attend the American-Turkish Council's annual meeting, and he's here to discuss a wide range of bilateral issues, including Operation Provide Comfort, the situation in the Aegean, and the situation on Cyprus. I knew that would interest you.

I can also tell you that Ambassador Marc Grossman, our Ambassador in Ankara, is back for these meetings with the American-Turkish Council, and he's also in the building.

Q Including the Aegean?

MR. BURNS: Including the Aegean, yes.

Q Do you know when the Turkish President, Suleyman Demirel, is coming to Washington, D.C. Do you have a specific --

MR. BURNS: I don't. That would be an announcement by the White House.

Q I was told that the recent CRS report on Congress on Imia, a State Department official stated, "Since the validity of at least one of the documents" -- i.e., the 1972 Protocol -- "that (inaudible) the question of ownership and sovereignty of Imia is disputed, they believe that the best thing would be the International Court of Justice or another consensual body."

May we have the name of the official and the full statement? What is it about?

MR. BURNS: The name of the official?

Q Yes.

MR. BURNS: You can just use my name. (Laughter) I mean, we think -- (laughter). I'm up here every day.

Q Okay.

MR. BURNS: I think you've expressed in the last part of your question our policy: that we believe the International Court of Justice is a logical place. But, you know, it's up to Greece and Turkey to make this decision.

And let me tell you about King Constantine, because you asked about this yesterday.

Q I had a couple of questions --

MR. BURNS: He's a private individual. He's welcome to visit the United States any time. Private visitors to the United States do not normally receive any special treatment or government protection. I would refer any questions about his visit here to him, King Constantine.

Q What about his passport and his visa?

MR. BURNS: I can't talk about his passport and visa, because --

Q I was told that --

MR. BURNS: It's not my purview to do that.

Q Okay. I respect that. I was told that Mr. Glyxburg had the same (inaudible) and last Thursday a meeting has taken place here in the State Department to this effect. Mr. Glyxburg actually was trying to arrange a meeting with a U.S. retired military officer via Pentagon with prior approval of the State Department. Could you please comment?

MR. BURNS: Mr. Lambros, there are so many meetings. There are thousands of meetings that take place in this building every week. I can't talk about all of them. I know nothing about that particular one.

[...]

(The briefing concluded at 2:03 p.m.)

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