U.S. Department of State Daily Press Briefing #43, 97-03-24

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From: The Department of State Foreign Affairs Network (DOSFAN) at <http://www.state.gov>

U.S. Department of State
Daily Press Briefing

I N D E X

Monday, March 24, 1997

Briefer: John Dinger

DEPARTMENT
1     Welcome to Visitors
1     Secretary Albright's Trip to North Carolina, March 25
1     Secretary Albright's Speech on Iraq at Georgetown University, March 26
1     Expulsion of U.S. Diplomat from Belarus
1-2   U.S. Contributions to Humanitarian Assistance to Albania
ZAIRE
2     U.S. Efforts in Ending Conflict/Secretary Albright Letter to
      President Mobutu
2     President Mobutu's Possible Plan for Peace
3-4   American Citizens in Zaire
BELARUS
4-5   U.S. Reaction to Expelled U.S. Diplomat
MIDDLE EAST PEACE PROCESS
5-6   Dennis Ross' Travel Plans
7     U.S. Contacts with Israel and the Palestinian Authority
6-8   U.S. Warnings to the Palestinian Authority Against the Use of Violence
8-9   Debate over Palestinian Authority "Green Light" to Extremists
AL KHOBAR BOMBING
9-10  Saudi Citizen Detained by Canadians for Al Khobar Investigation
10    Reports of Renewed Violence Against Americans by Bin Laden

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING

DPB #43

MONDAY, MARCH 24, 1997, 1:16 P.M.

(ON THE RECORD UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED)

MR. DINGER: Welcome to the State Department briefing. I'd like to welcome a visitor. We have Ms. Ioana Avadani, a Romanian journalist who is visiting the United States through the Meridian International Center. Welcome.

I'd just like to quickly mention a couple of things. You know that Secretary Albright has a couple of public engagements coming up this week. I just want to remind you of them. First is tomorrow. The Secretary will be going to North Carolina. We issued on Friday a media advisory. It's available in the State Department Press Office I know many of you are going, and I think you'll find it an interesting day.

Also, on Wednesday, the Secretary will be addressing Georgetown University at noon. She's delivering a keynote address at a symposium sponsored by Georgetown. It's at the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies in the Middle East Institute. The subject will be "The Policy Towards Iraq," and there will be an opportunity for Q & A by the participants in the seminar during her address.

I have two announcements. The first is Belarus, regarding the expulsion of a U.S. diplomat over the weekend. "The United States deplores the unwarranted and unjustifiable arrest, detention, and expulsion of Serge Aleksandrov, a U.S. citizen, who is the First Secretary at the U.S. Embassy in Minsk, Belarus. The pretext for Mr. Aleksandrov's expulsion - alleged 'provocative activity during an unsanctioned march' and alleged 'actions that exceed the boundaries of the 1961 Vienna Convention' is simply false. As part of his normal diplomatic duties, Mr. Aleksandrov was observing a protest.

In recent weeks, the Government of Belarus has used increasingly violent and dictatorial tactics to suppress legitimate protests. Demonstrators and bystanders have been assaulted and detained without charges. In the case of American citizens caught up in the violence, they have been denied access to consular officials. These steps are a clear violation of internationally accepted principles of human rights to which Belarus is committed as a member of the OSCE."

That statement is available in the Press Office.

I have another statement on U.S. contributions for humanitarian assistance in Albania. Without reading it all, the United States will contribute one million dollars to the International Committee of the Red Cross for Albania.

The ICRC appealed for almost $10 million on March 17th to cover the programs and activities of the ICRC and the Albanian Red Cross. A contribution of one millions dollars is to meet the immediate needs. The United States will follow the situation closely and will evaluate whether further funding is required.

With that, I'll go to your questions.

QUESTION: Have the U.S. and France, through their ambassadors in Kinshasa, appealed to Mobutu to negotiate with the rebels?

MR. DINGER: Chris, I cannot speak for France, although I can speak for the United States. The answer to that is yes. We have consistently, for some days if not weeks, encouraged the Government of Zaire, and the rebel alliance for that matter, to establish a cease-fire and to engage in dialogue. We have encouraged all efforts to promote dialogue which are supportive of the United Nations and OAU, Special Representative Sahnoun's efforts. So, yes.

QUESTION: Did the Secretary send a letter to Mobutu with that message?

MR. DINGER: Yes, she did.

QUESTION: Saying just that?

MR. DINGER: Yes. The letter reiterated basically the points I just made, that we've been making very publicly for some time.

QUESTION: When was that sent?

MR. DINGER: It was delivered over the weekend, I believe, to President Mobutu.

QUESTION: In France, Monaco, or Kinshasa?

MR. DINGER: It was in Kinshasa.

QUESTION: In Kinshasa?

MR. DINGER: Yes. There was another point to our message, and that is our desire that President Mobutu establish a negotiating team or a person whom he can designate to engage in these negotiations on behalf of the Government of Zaire.

QUESTION: Has Mobutu shared with the United States what his peace plan is that he's talked about in the last day or so?

MR. DINGER: I don't have any details that I can give you on what President Mobutu's position is. He returned to Zaire on March 21. We have had no substantive, direct contact with him. Ambassador Simpson, our very able ambassador in Kinshasa does hope to meet with him to have a substantive dialogue.

We believe that there is a need for authoritative interlocutors in Kinshasa to engage in dialogue with the rebels. It is not for us to say who those interlocutors should be. Clearly, President Mobutu has a critical role to play in designating those interlocutors.

Ambassador Simpson does hope to have a substantive meeting with President Mobutu as soon as possible. He did meet with him in January, the last time President Mobutu returned to Zaire.

As I've said, we have consistently encouraged both sides to engage in a dialogue, to establish and respect a cease-fire. I would point out to you that there is a meeting scheduled for Lome, Togo, on March 26. We'll have many representatives from African states and from the international community.

We hope that that meeting will result in the international community just ensuring that we all agree on what the correct approach is in Zaire. I think we do, but this is just an effort to ensure that. We're certainly hopeful that the meeting will be supportive of the efforts being undertaken thus far, especially by Mr. Sahnoun, to support a direct dialogue between the Zairian Government and the alliance.

QUESTION: John, did the letter that was delivered over the weekend to Mobutu from the Secretary indicate to him or say to him directly that rebel forces and the rebel leadership had agreed to a cease-fire once face-to- face negotiations are opened?

MR. DINGER: Steve, I don't know the exact contents of the letter. I believe it was a general appeal to do two things: Engage in a cease-fire, and designate representatives who could engage in direct talks - dialogue, with the rebel forces.

QUESTION: John, what's the status of Americans in Kinshasa and outlying country? Are you all upping the warning status for them?

MR. DINGER: It's very difficult to up a warning that already strongly encourages all American citizens (l) to defer travel; and (2), if you are already in Zaire, to leave. That's a fairly strong signal and advisory that we already have standing.

The last figure I saw was that we believe there are approximately 500 American citizens in Zaire. Perhaps the majority of them, although it's never a science, are American citizens. We believe a majority of them are probably in Kinshasa. Of course, we have strongly encouraged American citizens to leave Zaire. Just as there's no requirement for American citizens to register at American Embassy, there's certainly no requirement for them to tell us when they leave. Judging this is somewhat imprecise, but that's the last word I had.

We, of course, strongly encouraged the dependents of American diplomats in Kinshasa to take advantage of the voluntary departure offer that we had standing. We believe that most of them have departed under that program.

QUESTION: Can I ask a couple of questions about Belarus? One, does the United States intend to retaliate?

MR. DINGER: We are studying our options. I just gave you a fairly strong statement on how we feel about what transpired. Let me see if I have something more for you.

All I can say at the moment is that we are certainly studying our options. One of those options is to reciprocate this action. I don't have anything to announce for you.

QUESTION: In your statement, you said Americans, plural, have been detained and deported. We know of one, Peter Byrne. Were there others?

MR. DINGER: I don't have any details for you on what other Americans may have been caught up in the security nets that have been thrown around these demonstrations. I can see if we have any record of any other Americans who have been detained.

Are you referring to the Soros Foundation person? I believe he was a little bit different. My understanding was that he had left Belarus, tried to return, and was excluded. But I'll try and check to see if we have details on what other Americans have been involved in incidents in Belarus?

QUESTION: John, has the United States diplomat left the country, or is he still in Belarus?

MR. DINGER: I'm trying to find my notes on that. He has not actually left yet although he does intend to leave.

QUESTION: What - today?

MR. DINGER: I don't have a schedule. He intends to leave. Here it is. Let me give you the rundown a little bit of what transpired.

He was detained despite clearly identifying himself as a diplomat. He was not immediately released despite the intervention of other U.S. diplomats present at the scene. He was not shown the respect due an official representative of the United States Department of State.

All of these actions constitute serious violations of normal diplomatic press practice. It is not unusual in the course of our duties covering events such as this that American diplomats will be caught up where there's a security cordon. It is extremely unusual for American diplomats not to be very quickly released once they identify themselves to authorities.

Our ambassador, Ambassador Kenneth Yalowitz, strongly protested this unlawful and unjustified action immediately in Minsk. The State Department made an equally strong statement of protest to the Embassy of Belarus here in Washington.

We view this matter with the utmost seriousness and gravity. This action marks a further step in the movement by the Government of Belarus away from democratic reforms and respect for human rights.

Mr. Aleksandrov will leave Belarus within the time specified by the Government of Belarus for his departure. I believe that he will, shall we say, very soon be leaving Belarus. I don't want to give you the exact details of his departure.

QUESTION: Do you have the option of - could you refuse to have him leave? Would there be any value in having him leave?

MR. DINGER: I think that would be an unusual step to take.

QUESTION: So the normal course is, if somebody is ordered to leave the country -

MR. DINGER: They leave.

QUESTION: They leave. Okay.

MR. DINGER: Yes, Betsy.

QUESTION: John, has this country been talking to the Russians about - not necessarily about this situation but about things in general - the situation in Belarus and, since they are a country, that in theory has some influence there? Is there anything that the Russians have been able to do?

MR. DINGER: I'm sure we have. In fact, I believe last fall when there were issues of concern to us in Belarus, we were in touch with the Russians. It's the sort of thing that we would normally be in contact with the Russians about, either as status, just to compare notes and also to compare strategies.

Sid.

QUESTION: Different subject. Middle East?

MR. DINGER: Yes.

QUESTION: Is the Administration considering dispatching Dennis to the region to patch things up?

MR. DINGER: I don't have anything for you on any plans for Dennis Ross to travel to the region at the moment. Of course, he is always available, should that be considered to be something we want to do.

QUESTION: Is it something you're discussing?

MR. DINGER: I don't want to give you any signals that Dennis is planning at the moment a trip to the Middle East?

QUESTION: Is he going to announce it on MSNBC at 2:45 today?

MR. DINGER: I don't think Dennis plans on announcing anything today.

QUESTION: To follow up on that subject - the Post had an interesting story today, I thought, about the fact that the United States has been increasingly concerned that Arafat had loosened his grip on Hamas, and that Clinton in a face-to-face meeting with Arafat during his visit to Washington had raised this issue with him. Is that accurate?

MR. DINGER: We would not normally go into the details of what transpired in meetings, certainly not with the President, not from this podium, nor with the Secretary. Let me say, though, that the United States has frequently and consistently expressed to Chairman Arafat and the Palestinian Authority our concerns about the possibility of terrorism in the Middle East and also expressed our belief in the importance of Chairman Arafat and the Palestinian Authority making it very, very clear that there is no place for terrorism in the Middle East.

QUESTION: Do you think that he - I mean, there have been times when from this podium and other places in this town the United States has praised Arafat for doing a good job. Do you think that he has stepped back from that, that he is losing his grip on Hamas and other like-minded groups?

MR. DINGER: What I would say first is to repeat that we repeatedly and consistently expressed our concerns on these issues to Chairman Arafat and to the Palestinian Authority; and, in fact, in that context we very frequently reported to you, the press, that Chairman Arafat had both publicly and privately expressed to us the fact that he opposed the use of terrorism. So both those factors: he publicly and privately expressed to us his opposition to terrorism.

As Secretary Albright expressed yesterday on the record, clearly more needs to be done. What we want now is for Chairman Arafat and the Palestinian Authority to make very, very clear that there is no place for terrorism in the Middle East or in the strategy there. We have called, particularly in the last few days, for 100 percent effort on the part of Chairman Arafat and the Palestinian Authority. That is really what we believe is necessary and what we'll be watching for.

QUESTION: Would you like to re-arrest some of the members of the military wing of Hamas and Islamic Jihad that he released the last six weeks or so when he was so busily assuring you that he was doing everything, and you all were busily assuring the world that he was doing everything as well?

MR. DINGER: What we want Chairman Arafat and the Palestinian Authority to do is to make it absolutely clear by word and deed that they oppose terrorism. There are a number of ways that that can be accomplished. I've seen reports that the Palestinian Authority has issued another arrest warrant for at least one of the activists that it released recently. As I say, we want words and deeds. We believe it important that there be words and deeds that show that they're making a 100 percent effort, and there are any number of ways to do that.

QUESTION: Would you praise that move if it's true that they're re- arresting somebody?

MR. DINGER: I'm not going to comment in advance, but what we want is anything that makes it clear, both to the opponents of the peace process and to the supporters of the peace process, that there is no room for terrorism, and that Chairman Arafat and the Palestinian Authority do not support terrorism. So anything they can do. I don't think I want to proscribe or prescribe what's necessary, but I think there certainly are a number of things. We'll of course be watching that, and that's what we believe is important now.

QUESTION: A report also indicates that Hamas members involved in bombings or having responsibility for bombings were not only freed but co-opted into the PA's security services. Do you have any comment or confirmation on this?

MR. DINGER: I don't have any comment or confirmation on that. What I can say again is that regardless of what may have been done in the past, whatever signals may have been thought to have been received, it's important now to set the record straight and to make clear that there is no room for terrorism in the Middle East.

QUESTION: Has the Secretary, since she returned from Helsinki, had any direct communication with either Netanyahu or Arafat?

MR. DINGER: The Secretary mentioned yesterday on a television program that she had been in touch with the President of Israel, and that the President had been in touch with Prime Minister Netanyahu. We have been in touch at the senior levels of the Palestinian Authority, and we are quite confident that we have made our position quite clear to the Palestinian Authority and to Chairman Arafat.

QUESTION: Does the lack of Dennis Ross announcing so far or the Secretary announcing any plans for her more imminent involvement in this - does that signal that the United States is taking a hands-off position in the current state of affairs, or is it just a reflection of reality which seems to exclude the United States, at least from the Israeli point of view?

MR. DINGER: I don't think any of this sort of suppositions are accurate. We have been and for the foreseeable future will be intensely engaged in everything that happens in the Middle East and the entire peace process, whether it be between Israel and the Palestinians or Israel and other neighbors.

QUESTION: Have you seen the statement by the Arab League, saying that the recent events suggest that the European Union should take a more active mediation role in the Middle East?

MR. DINGER: I haven't seen the statement.

QUESTION: Can you take a look at it and see if you have any reaction?

MR. DINGER: Yes.

QUESTION: A Palestinian official was reported today as saying that the Palestinian Authority was cutting off security and intelligence cooperation with Israel - rejected Israeli demands to actually step up that cooperation? Do you have comment on that?

MR. DINGER: The only thing I can say is that contacts at the security level - dialogue at the security level we've seen over the weekend have continued. Obviously, we encourage that. What we have been expressing and continue to express is the need to create an environment where issues can be resolved and the two parties can talk. There are all sorts of aspects and all sorts of ways to cultivate the ground for these things, and what we hope is that now there is obviously a great deal of tension in the relationship between the Palestinian Authority and the Israeli Government. What we need to do now is calm the situation and allow an atmosphere conducive to continued talks resuming.

QUESTION: The other day the Prime Minister of Israel, Mr. Netanyahu, said that Mr. Arafat gave a green light to terrorist acts in Israel, and a few days - maybe the day after - the Spokesman, Mr. Burns, said that the United States has no hard evidence to this. What is your position today?

MR. DINGER: Our position is that we don't think it's productive or very useful to debate publicly our assessments of intelligence on that issue. Secretary Albright said yesterday that clearly there seems to have been a perception among some parties that a green light may have been given. What we believe is important now is for Chairman Arafat and the Palestinian Authority to demonstrate through words and deeds that there is definitely no green light, and that in fact there is a red light to terrorism.

QUESTION: So your expressions to Arafat is based on perceptions, your concerns, your - is based only on perceptions, not on evidence, not on hard facts?

MR. DINGER: Clearly, there is more to be done. We all know that there is no 100 percent guarantee that terrorist acts won't occur. What we believe is important is 100 percent effort, and that is what we would like to see.

QUESTION: Since there's been so much debate about this topic of the green light, what Nick Burns meant when he said there was no green light - what did he mean? What's a "green light"?

MR. DINGER: Sid, that's just exactly what I declined to just do. That is an issue that gets into assessments of intelligence and perceptions and analysis that I just don't want to get into today.

QUESTION: Well, at the very least, I mean, it's obvious that you all knew that the Palestinian Authority had released dozens of these people they had under detention. That clearly does not qualify as a green light in your eyes? I mean, you can't debate the fact that they were released.

MR. DINGER: We, as I say, consistently and frequently expressed our concerns to the Palestinian Authority and to Chairman Arafat that terrorism be opposed and that everything be done to not allow a terrorist act to take place. I do not want to get into the specifics of these intelligence reports. I will say and repeat that Chairman Arafat repeated to us publicly and privately on numerous occasions that he opposed terrorism and was acting to stop it. What we believe is necessary, if there was a perception of a green light anywhere out there, we believe it is important for Chairman Arafat and the Palestinian Authority to now make certain - make clear - that there is no green light. If there was that impression, it's important to change it now and show that there is only a red light to terrorists.

QUESTION: How do you want to do that?

MR. DINGER: I don't want to prescribe or proscribe what the best way to do that is. I think that a number of things can be done. Words and deeds can both be used effectively to demonstrate once again this 100 percent effort to oppose terrorism. This is a critical time. The parties are approaching issues that are amongst the most difficult to deal with in these final status negotiations. Now more than ever we need a climate of confidence between the parties so these talks can go forward. It's very clear that Chairman Arafat and the Palestinian Authority need to demonstrate through word and deed that there is no room for terrorism. As Nick has said on more than one occasion, terrorism is past, not the way for the future.

QUESTION: It sounds like you're saying Arafat's deeds have not met his words, is that the case?

MR. DINGER: What we're saying is that clearly more needs to be done. Anything else on that or any other topic?

Yes, sir.

QUESTION: Another topic. Regarding the weekend reports about Canada detaining a Saudi citizen, does the State Department have anything further to say about this Saudi detention in Canada?

MR. DINGER: No, I can't offer you anything on that. This investigation of the bombing of Khobar towers has been conducted by the FBI, and I will leave it to them to comment on the reported arrest. Of course, they did put out a statement over the weekend on that issue.

QUESTION: John, there were a number of Reuters wires over the weekend, statements by Sheikh bin Laden attacking the United States, warning of new terrorist attacks against U.S. targets, and it was reportedly coming from Yemen. Earlier he had been in Afghanistan, now he's reported being in Yemen. Do we know anything about Bin Laden's whereabouts and his doings at this point?

MR. DINGER: I don't have anything at all for you on it.

QUESTION: Are you going to welcome your diplomat expelled from Belarus, and what steps are you ready to undertake against the Minsk Government in this -

MR. DINGER: I don't have any details for you on his travel itinerary. I do believe that he is likely to leave Belarus some time today. I don't know when he'll be coming back to the United States, and we are studying our options. This is a very, very serious incident. We're studying our options. One of those options, obviously, is to reciprocate in some way, but we have not made any final decisions on that. We've protested that action vigorously, both in Minsk and here, and we take it very seriously.

QUESTION: Thank you.

MR. DINGER: Thank you very much.

(The briefing concluded at 1:43 p.m.)

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