U.S. Department of State Daily Press Briefing #71, 97-05-09
From: The Department of State Foreign Affairs Network (DOSFAN) at <http://www.state.gov>
1260
U.S. Department of State
Daily Press Briefing
I N D E X
Friday, May 9, 1997
Briefer: Nicholas Burns
ANNOUNCEMENTS
1 Introduction of Visitors to the Briefing
1 Foreign Service Day on Friday, May 9
1-2 Secretary Albright's Travel/Visit to Denver, May 15
ALBANIA
2 Secretary Albright's Mtg with Albanian Prime Minister
CYPRUS
2-5 Decision on Overflights
VIETNAM
3 US Ambassador Peterson Arrives in Hanoi
PAKISTAN
3 Arrest of Pakistan Air Force Officers
TURKEY
5-6 Conference in Ankara on Kurdish Disputes
6-7 Planned Turkey-Israel Naval Exercise
18-20 Status of Transfer of Frigates to Turkey
LIBYA
7-8 Qadhafi's Plans to Travel to Niger and Nigeria
ISRAEL
8,9-10 Alleged Israeli Attempts to Obtain Sensitive USG Information
9 Status of US-Israeli Relations
MIDDLE EAST PEACE PROCESS
9 Dennis Ross Meetings with Israeli PM Netanyahu and Chairman
Arafat
DEPARTMENT
10-11 Passport Office's 1-900 Information Line
ZAIRE
11-12 President Mobutu/Kabila and Rebel Alliance/Prospects for
Second Mtg.
12 Whereabouts of President Mobutu.
13 Reports American Companies Making Contact with Rebel
Alliance
SAUDI ARABIA
13-16 Child Custody Case
NORTH KOREA
16 MIA Talks
16-17 North Korean Defector's Comments/US Access to Defector
17 Allegations of Kidnapping of Japanese Citizens
PERU
17-18 Prospect for US Report on Americans Held Hostage
LEBANON
20-21 Pope John Paul's Visit
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING
DPB #71
FRIDAY, MAY 9, 1997 1:18 P.M.
(ON THE RECORD UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED)
MR. BURNS: Good afternoon everyone. Mr. Pemstein was chiding me on the
Red Sox today. They're now closer to the Tigers than the Orioles, I guess,
is what you said. I wore this tie for good luck. I do need it; we need it
very badly.
I want to welcome today to the briefing, Mr. Jose Ramos Pinheiro, who is
the director of information for Radio Renascenca. Am I pronouncing it
right? It's a major radio network owned by the Catholic church in
Portugal. He's here under the auspices of USIA. He's escorted by Mr.
Joseph McGovern, interpreter and escort.
Thank you very much for coming today.
Today is foreign service day. This day culminates our week of talking
about the importance of the civil service and the foreign service, public
service. Tim Wirth gave a keynote address to all of the many hundreds of
people who've come back to the Department - many of them retirees. They'll
be further seminars this afternoon, including an address by yours truly on
public diplomacy. We do want to welcome back to the State Department all
of the former diplomats who have done so much to help our own country in
the past. We're delighted to have them with us today.
I want to tell you a little bit about the Secretary of State, Secretary
Albright's schedule. As you know, she continues with the President today
in Costa Rica. This evening they'll be flying to Barbados, to Bridgetowne,
for the Summit of Caribbean Nations.
They'll be there tomorrow. President Clinton will be staying on in
Barbados for a couple of days. Secretary Albright returns to Washington
tomorrow night.
On Tuesday, as I mentioned yesterday, Tuesday, May 13th,
Secretary Albright will visit Denver, Colorado - excuse me, May 15th.
This is a trip to, in essence, talk to the organizers of the summit, the
economic summit in Denver, about all the preparations.
While she's in Denver, she's going to be visiting her alma mater, which is
the Kent Denver School. That's where she went to high school while she
lived in Denver with her parents. This is an event co-hosted by the Kent
Denver School and by the University of Denver. It was at the University of
Denver that her father taught for many, many years, and where he expanded
the international affairs program. She's going to take questions from the
students at Kent Denver and the University of Denver. That is open
to the press for those of you, or those from your organizations who
will be in Denver and like to cover that event. That is a morning event.
I'll get the time for you later on today.
Then at 11:45 a.m. in the morning, Secretary Albright will meet with the
members of the Denver Summit of Eight host committee.
This will be followed by a luncheon by this committee. She'll make
remarks. That luncheon is also sponsored by the Women's Foundation in
Denver, Colorado. She'll make remarks, take questions.
That event is also open to the press. Following lunch, Secretary Albright
and the Mayor of Denver, Wellington Webb will participate in a joint press
conference at City Hall in Denver at 3:00 p.m.
Before leaving, she wants to walk in some of the neighborhoods in Denver
that she remembers. We'll have a press pool accompanying her on that
walk.
If you're interested in covering her in Denver, or traveling out there,
please contact Kitty Bartels. You can contact her through the State
Department Operations Center in Costa Rica and Barbados -- Costa Rica today,
and in Denver over the weekend. I can give you her page number, cell phone
number if you're really interested.
Now, in addition to traveling to Denver on Tuesday, the Secretary on Monday,
May 12th, will be meeting with Prime Minster Fino of Albania.
She invited him to come to the United States to talk about our hope that
the situation in Albania can be stabilized through elections. We very much
support the electoral process there. We support the current visit to
Tirona by former Austrian Chancellor Franz Vranitzky. That is underway.
She has some additional appointments throughout the week, which we can talk
about at the beginning of next week.
Now for a couple of announcements. I have some good news on the issue of
Cyprus today. We have at least one Turkish journalist here. I was hoping -
and Dimitris is here, excellent. The United States welcomes the decision
of the government of Cyprus not to invite Greek aircraft to overfly Cyprus
during the Toxotis-Vergina exercise and the information that no other such
overflights are planned at this time.
We welcome the information from the government of Turkey that Turkey has no
plans to overfly Cyprus as long as Greek aircraft do not overfly the
island. We believe that these separate actions by Cyprus and by Turkey
contribute to a better atmosphere for the efforts currently underway under
the auspices of the United Nations to try to further a solution to the
Cyprus problem. I will be very glad to go into any aspect of this with you
once we get to the question and answer period.
But I want to accentuate two points. The first is that these are
individual actions by the governments of Cyprus and by Turkey and by the
government of Greece on the question of overflights.
They were brought about because these governments decided to take these
actions themselves, unilaterally. That is important because for a long
time now - and specifically dating back to last summer when then-Ambassador
to the UN, Madeleine Albright made a trip to the Eastern Mediterranean --
she has been pushing for this type of unilateral action on the part of the
parties to the Cyprus conflict to make progress, to try to instill
some confidence in the negotiating progress.
We think this is a significant step forward. We hope this will improve the
climate for the negotiations that we hope will come this year to help
resolve the Cyprus problem. We can go back to that if you would like.
Now, separately, I have some other good news today. Today is a good news.
This is a historic day for the United States in Vietnam because today we
exchange ambassadors for the very first time. Earlier today, at noon Hanoi
time, Ambassador Pete Peterson arrived in Hanoi. His counterpart,
Vietnamese Ambassador Le Van Bang will arrive in Washington this afternoon.
All of you, I think, know Ambassador Peterson's story. He was a POW for
over six years at the Hanoi Hilton; he was a U.S. Congressman.
He represents a link between our tragic past with Vietnam and the hope
that we have now that we can normalize fully our relations with Vietnam and
open a new chapter in the 21st century in relations between our
two countries. We have not had this kind of senior-level representation in
Hanoi since the end of the Second World War, when the Franklin Roosevelt
Administration had relations with the Vietnamese.
Ambassador Peterson is going to focus on obtaining a full accounting, the
fullest possible accounting, for what happened to the American POWs and
MIAs, and he wants to seize opportunities that are available, we think, to
normalize our economic relationship with Vietnam.
We have the best possible American ambassador. He is a remarkable man.
He is an admirable man, and we are very proud to have him represent us in
Hanoi.
Now, one more item, then we'll go to questions. Yesterday, I was asked
about our relations with Pakistan, an arrest by one of our employees - a
Pakistani national in Pakistan. I want to give you some further information
on that, because the questions came about arrests in New York of Pakistan
Air Force officers and arrests of American employees in Pakistan. A
Pakistan Air Force officer was arrested last month in the United States
on narcotics charges. A second Air Force officer was subsequently
detained in Pakistan. We do not see this case as an indictment of the
Pakistani Air Force. This case is still under investigation, so I can't
comment specifically.
But what I can say is that the government of Pakistan has stressed to us
its strong commitment to anti-narcotics measures. Of course, the United
States shares the commitment to work with that government on that basis.
We remain in very close communication with the Pakistani Government
regarding the investigation, regarding the prosecution of the two officers
involved in this case. We have assured each other that we will cooperate
fully. We believe that both the United States and Pakistan will benefit
from cooperating, from the prevention of drug trafficking. We want to
discuss ways to work together better on that very important issue.
George, with that, I'll be very glad to go to your questions.
QUESTION: Back on Cyprus, Turkey. Usually when you have a development
like this, or often, the U.S. will try to build on the momentum which has
been generated by a good news event.
Do you have anything in mind?
MR. BURNS: Nothing particular. I think this is the first time that this
has been announced here at this briefing. I don't believe this news has
been surfaced yet in the Eastern Mediterranean.
Obviously we are very pleased that Turkey, Cyprus and Greece have made
these unilateral, individual decisions. We're very pleased about that, and
we welcome these actions.
The United States has a commitment from our Secretary of State on down to
work with all of these government to further progress in Cyprus. As you
know, Carey Cavanaugh, our very fine diplomat, has been out in the region.
We remain committed to working with all of these governments and the United
Nations for progress.
I don't think there's any need for a big ceremony, George. It's a step
forward -- a very positive and important step forward.
But I think we'll continue to work quietly for further progress.
QUESTION: No, I mean a specific diplomatic initiative, which obviously
you're not prepared to announce yet simply because this just happened,
right?
MR. BURNS: It just happened, just in the last couple of hours. We've
been in contact with our three ambassadors in the region, and we're very
pleased to make this announcement. Yes, sir.
QUESTION: Nick, you said this is the right step in the right direction.
Do you see the next step could be the cancellation of the Russian-made
missiles to Greek Cyprus? Have you communicated a wish in that regard?
MR. BURNS: Well, the next step, we think, should be continuing efforts
by all of these governments to reduce the tensions that clearly exist in
the Eastern Mediterranean. That should be the next step. There are many
possible ways for confidence to be built, many possible initiatives that
can be taken. I don't want to say that the particular initiative that you
talked about is the most important next step. It is clearly an issue where
the United States has an important interest, where we've made our
views open and clear. We don't support the acquisition of this air defense
system. That's been clear for many, many months now; and our position
hasn't changed.
QUESTION: Can I go back to the first thing that the Greeks have promised?
They will not overfly the island during this military exercise - what is
the name?
MR. BURNS: That's right. The name of the exercise - and forgive my
Greek - is the Toxotis-Vergina exercise. T-o-x-o-t-i-s - V-e-r-g-i-n-a,
Toxotis-Vergina, if my Greek is anywhere close to --
QUESTION: Do you know how long that exercise is planning to go?
MR. BURNS: I don't have the coordinates for the exercise.
But it was an exercise that had previously been announced. The fact that
the government of Cyprus will not invite Greek aircraft to overfly Cyprus
during that exercise, and the fact that the government of Turkey has no
plans to overfly, as long as Greek aircraft do not overfly, is a positive
development. That is what essentially has happened here.
QUESTION: Do you hope that this will be open-ended then?
MR. BURNS: Well, this is a confidence-building measure.
It's a positive gesture by these governments that they want to work
together to build some confidence in each other. Because what lies ahead,
we hope, are negotiations - a mediation effort - that would help make some
progress on the much more difficult issues regarding the core of the Cyprus
problem.
QUESTION: Have you asked - or have you expressed the hope to either of
these governments that it is open-ended, and this will continue indefinitely?
MR. BURNS: We certainly hope this gesture will not be just a one-time
gesture. We hope it will last because it's the kind of gesture that has
the ability to move the negotiations forward. So we are not in a position
obviously to dictate this.
These are individual actions that the governments are taking on their own,
unilaterally. We would like to see more of this.
QUESTION: Are you saying that the U.S. had nothing to with these
actions?
MR. BURNS: The United States has worked very hard, including just in the
last couple of weeks -- through Carey Cavanaugh, through our Ambassador
Niles, through Ambassador Brill, Ambassador Grossman, all of our ambassadors
in the field - to urge progress, general progress. This is the kind of
thing that Madeleine Albright as Ambassador to the United Nations urged
directly in her meetings last summer. So we are very gratified, very
pleased that this kind of progress has been made. But I do want to stress,
these were unilateral actions taken separately by the governments
involved.
QUESTION: So the U.S. did have something to do with it?
MR. BURNS: I think we ought to give pride of place here to the
governments who made these individual, separate, unilateral decisions. But
the United States certainly was encouraging this, and, of course we were
talking to these governments. Yes, of course, we were.
QUESTION: Turkey.
MR. BURNS: Yes.
QUESTION: I understand the Turkish Government was supposed to have held a
conference yesterday on the Kurdish situation but called it off. Do you
have anything on that?
MR. BURNS: Yes, I do have something on that. I know that a number of
European, Turkish, and American non-governmental organizations were
organizing in Ankara to discuss their hope for a peaceful settlement of the
Kurdish issue in Turkey and some of the Kurdish disputes there.
We strongly back the objective of this conference. We showed our support
publicly because we sent senior members of our embassy team from Ankara to
the conference. In fact, I think there was another conference last week
that was similar to this where we also present. We regret very much the
decision by the Turkish Government - the original decision - to ban the
conference.
We understand that despite that, most of the conferees were able to gather
informally, despite the Turkish Government ban, and that was an encouraging
development because we believe that it's in Turkey's long-term interest
that these issues be discussed freely and openly in Turkey. The presence
of our embassy officers, I think, is testimony to the fact that we think
that that kind of open dialogue builds cooperation, and to try to ban it
didn't make much sense to us.
QUESTION: Any reason given for the ban?
MR. BURNS: You would have to address that with the Turkish Government.
But I think the United States has made its view very clear. We were
disappointed by that action. Yes, sir.
QUESTION: I have a question about the another exercise from the region.
Turkey, the United States, and the Jewish decided --
QUESTION: Israel.
MR. BURNS: Israel.
QUESTION: -- for another exercise - Israel.
MR. BURNS: Yes.
QUESTION: -- decided for another exercise in the Mediterranean.
Iraq, Iran, and Syria is really angry about it. Do you have a comment?
MR. BURNS: Well, I think it's probably not surprising, unfortunately, to
see that Iraq and Iran don't like the fact that the United States and
Israel are working cooperatively with Turkey.
But it has been a strategic objective of the United States that Turkey and
Israel ought to enhance their military cooperation and their political
relations.
Israel is a very close friend of the United States, a close ally of the
United States. Turkey is a close friend and ally. It seems to us natural
and positive that Israel and Turkey would work together militarily. The
United States is very pleased to participate in that cooperation. Frankly,
we don't care that Iran and Iraq have objections to this because they are
rogue states, and we are not going to take their point of view into
consideration when we plan our security cooperation in that part of the
world.
QUESTION: What about Syria? Because the Syrians suggested that is was
the United States trying to promote this military cooperation between
Israel and Turkey.
MR. BURNS: Well, I think we have a basic disagreement.
We think it's positive that Israel has friends beyond the immediate region
in which Israel resides. Turkey is a very powerful, very important country
in the Eastern Mediterranean. It makes sense to us that Israel and Turkey
would want to be friends, would want to have military and political and
economic cooperation. If certain other Arab countries don't like that,
that's just tough. Israel is a country that needs broad support, broad
support. We're very happy that one of our NATO allies is willing to extend
that support.
QUESTION: Explain what's the objective of this military cooperation? Is
it particularly directed towards Syria?
MR. BURNS: Absolutely not. As we understand the military cooperation
between Turkey and Israel, it is defensive in nature.
It's designed to promote the security of both states. It's not offensive
in any way. Israel is a country that wants peace in the Middle East.
Turkey is a country that obviously wants peace in the Eastern Mediterranean.
We have long supported this. This is not a new development. We've
supported this for a long, long time. We're very glad to see that this
kind of cooperation is taking place; very glad to participate in it when we
can.
QUESTION: Do you have anything to say about Qadafi's trip to --
MR. BURNS: Oh, boy, where do I start?
(Laughter.)
Where do I start on Qadafi's trip? Yes, I do have a lot to say about
Qadafi's cavorting with various dictators in Africa. He's a dictator
himself. Let me tell you what we know about this.
There are very reliable reports that a fleet of aircraft flew from Tripoli
to Niamey, the capital of Niger. Colonel Qadafi was one of the passengers.
He got off and had some meetings with Nigerian government officials in
Niger, in Niamey. He then left Niamey and apparently now is in Lagos.
He's cavorting with General Abacha in Lagos. One wonders what they talk
about.
What we are concerned about is the United Nations sanctions on Libya, which
absolutely prohibit Libyan registered aircraft from flying anywhere in the
world. Now, what we are doing now today, we've asked our embassy in Niamey,
we've asked our embassy in Lagos to go to both of those governments and to
inquire about the facts of this case. Believe me, we will be very
disappointed with both of those governments if in fact they aided and
abetted the Libyan dictator to fly - in violation of the UN sanctions
- to both of those countries.
We are asking the Nigerian Government in Lagos to detain the aircraft on
the ground in Lagos. Now, it probably stands to reason, if they let the
aircraft come in, they're probably going to let the aircraft leave. What
we'll do when we establish the facts in these cases - we want to go to both
these governments and give them the opportunity to tell us if they've been
involved. We will go to the United Nations, to the UN Security Council
and to the Sanctions Committee, and we will request strong action
by the United Nations in the form of a condemnation of the Libyan
government actions.
This will have a very definite effect, and negative effect on Mr. Qadafi.
The effect will be this - from time to time, we have to review the
sanctions on Libya. There are some countries who argue that the sanctions
ought to be lifted. Well, the next time that review comes around and we
can establish the facts in this case, there ought to be a very strong
decision by the Sanctions Committee and by the Security Council that there
has been a significant violation. That ought to defeat any attempt to
allow Libya to have these sanctions lifted. The sanctions were put in
place because we believe that two Libyan agents placed a bomb on board
Pan Am 103 in December 1988 and killed over 269 people.
We haven't forgotten those people. American foreign service officers were
on that flight, innocent people were on that flight. We owe it to their
families to try to bring these two terrorists to justice either in the
United Kingdom where the plane crashed or in the United States, where these
people can get a fair trial, but where we believe justice will be served.
So Mr. Qadafi may think he's got some - that he's pulled a fast one on the
West and on the United Nations, on the world community. He may delight in
flying from one country to another. But this will simply reinforce
the commitment of the United States and the international community
to keep these sanctions in place on him. He will not be able to fly easily
beyond his immediate region.
QUESTION: Nick, what about Niger and Nigeria? Is there any penalty for
them cooperating with the violation of UN sanctions against Libya?
MR. BURNS: Well, we are going to, as I said, our ambassadors in Niger
and Nigeria are going to have some very frank discussions with both
governments today and tomorrow. If we establish the facts that these
governments were involved in violating the UN sanctions, obviously it's
going to have a negative impact on our relations with both countries. It's
hard for me to imagine a more negative relationship with Nigeria than we
already have, but perhaps we'll be able to take that relationship to lower
depths.
I don't know.
What I do know, just in the last couple of minutes, is that the UN
Sanctions Committee has agreed to look into this. It looks, on the face of
it, to be a pretty clear violation of the UN sanctions.
QUESTION: The Mega affair. Does the Mega affair effect in any way the
relationship between the United States and Israel?
And mainly between the State Department and the Israeli Embassy?
MR. BURNS: Well, first of all, on some of the stories that you've seen
in the newspapers over the last couple of days, I simply can't comment on
the facts of those stories. But I'm glad to comment on our relationship
with Israel.
Israel is a close friend and ally of the United States. Israel will remain
a close friend and ally of the United States. I would describe our
relationship as excellent. Dennis Ross has just had two productive
meetings with Prime Minister Netanyahu over the last couple of days.
Israel and the United States have ties that are very close in all
dimensions. There have been some rough spots in the relationship over the
last 49 years, as you would imagine between friends. We've always overcome
them. We are determined to proceed in a cooperative way with the Israelis
for the future. We have a lot of important issues to discuss.
Dennis Ross met today with the Israeli defense minister, Defense Minister
Mordechai. He is going to meet tonight with Chairman Arafat. He'll be
meeting tomorrow in Sharmal Sheikh with President Mubarak. He'll be
meeting with King Hussein, I believe, on Sunday or Monday, in Amman. So he
continues his trip. The goal of that trip is to revitalize, re-energize
the peace discussions. Israel's a friend; Israel will remain a friend of
the United States.
QUESTION: There's no rough spot here as a result of the disclosures of
the past couple of days?
MR. BURNS: Well, that's a separate issue. I can't comment on that. As
you know, the Attorney General made a statement on that issue yesterday.
It's not in my purview to comment on that.
I don't know what will transpire on that score.
QUESTION: It's clear from the stories that the United States Government
intercept phone calls or messages from the Embassy of Israel. It is a
regular procedure? Do you listen very often to other embassies?
(Laughter.)
MR. BURNS: You don't expect me to answer that question.
I know why you're asking the question. But you can't expect me to answer
a question like that, because that question - we have a rule here that we
all agree on. That question involves the I-word, not Israel -
(Laughter.)
-- intelligence. George, you're too quick for me today. No, I couldn't
possibly comment in any way, shape or form on that question.
QUESTION: Generally speaking, do you think it's a procedure that is
acceptable in relations with such very friendly country like the State of
Israel?
MR. BURNS: I couldn't possibly comment on that particular question. But
I would draw you back to my original statement, that we are a close friend
and ally of Israel; and that's going to remain the case.
QUESTION: Are you disturbed with the fact, by the story on _The
Washington Post,_ some of the officials in the State Department are on the
list of suspects in passing sensitive information to Israeli officials?
MR. BURNS: I just have nothing for you on that story.
I read the story, and have no comments to make on it. Yes.
QUESTION: Could you explain why the State Department's passport
information line has a 1-900 number?
MR. BURNS: Sure, I'll be glad to explain that. How much information
would you like? I have so much information here.
QUESTION: On phone lines, I figured that I was just going to float in --
MR. BURNS: You know that the State Department is responsible for issuing
passports to American citizens. I believe we issued around five and a half
million passports last year, both in our 15 passport agencies around the
country and our many embassies and consulates overseas.
Now, in the early 1990s, our Passport Service Office began to face a
growing dilemma. Its resources were not keeping pace with the vast
increase that we have seen in American citizens who wish to travel
overseas. There has been a dramatic increase just in the last ten years.
We had complaints, frankly, about unanswered and disconnected phone calls,
about unacceptably long waits by American citizens for passports. While
our workload continued to increase, we had a limit in how many people we
could hire; and as you know, our budget has been reduced by 51 percent
in real terms in the last 12 years by both Democratic and Republican
Congresses.
So we decided that we ought to contract passport information.
We ought to let out a contract to a private organization, and that was our
last choice. That is why we have gone to a 900 number.
We didn't take that decision lightly. It's not what we would have
preferred to do. But in a world where the State Department is faced with a
vast increase in the number of services demanded by the American public and
a decreasing amount of resources - money -- given us by the U.S. Congress,
we had no choice.
If we can get out budget up. If Secretary Albright and President Clinton's
plea to the Congress to fully fund the Administration's resources request
for fiscal year 1998 is met by the Congress, then perhaps we can do things
in a different way. Now, we do have several congressmen who are concerned
about this, and we are trying to reply in a reasonable way, as we always do,
to those members of Congress.
QUESTION: Nick, on that issue. Apparently, a congressman has suggested
putting $5 million in addition to the State Department budget to handle
just this. And I am told, although I don't know if it's true or not, that
the Passport Information Agency director said, thanks, but no thanks. Is
that true?
MR. BURNS: Gosh, I can't believe that we would automatically reflexively
turn down $5 million. I think that we continue to discuss that issue with
the Congress. We are very pleased the some members of the Congress have
taken an interest in this issue.
We want to hear their views fully, and will certainly consider any offer
that they make to us.
QUESTION: Do you know if it is true that a former head of the Passport
Information Agency now works for a company that has somehow found itself
with the subcontract to provide this 900 number?
MR. BURNS: I have never heard that before. I'll be glad to look into it
for you. I don't know anything about that. Yes, sir.
QUESTION: On another subject.
MR. BURNS: Yes.
QUESTION: Have you confirmation that the rebel alliance in Zaire will not
go to a second meeting with the Mobutu Government?
MR. BURNS: No, we don't have the confirmation of that, Jim. As you know,
the South Africans are trying to set up a meeting for next Tuesday or
Wednesday, again on board a South African naval vessel. We heard today
earlier, there was a couple of reports that there might even be an
agreement for a meeting, but we can't confirm that for you.
What I can tell you is the following about Zaire. Our embassy reports that
the situation in the capital, Kinshasa, is relatively calm. The town of
Kenge, where there was fierce fighting yesterday is now in rebel hands.
Fighting continues around Bukanza-Longo, which is a town west of Kenge. We
have also seen reports that the alliance has taken the town of Bandundu,
which is about 185 miles northeast of Kinshasa.
We have strongly urged Mr. Kabila again today to negotiate a soft transfer
of authority, rather than to take Kinshasa by force.
We have also urged him to stop the rebel alliance military movement in its
tracks while the negotiations with President Mobutu are proceeding. We
think that would be a good-faith gesture on the part of Mr. Kabila that he
wants a soft landing, that he wants a peaceful, rather than a violent,
transfer of authority. We are very strongly urging the rebel alliance to
stop its military movement forward.
Yesterday, President Mobutu, in the Libreville communiqué, declared
that he would not be a candidate for the presidency of Zaire if national
elections are organized. We hope very much that elections can be organized
in this transition period because that is the best way to identify the
future leadership of a country.
In fact, it's the only way to do that democratically.
We would be very pleased to help to prepare those elections, to give any
possible assistance we could to that. So our watchword is, Kabila should
stop the military offensive in order to allow room for negotiations. There
ought to be a peaceful transfer of authority. There ought to be elections
that allow the people of Zaire to decide their future, and there ought to
be a continuing attention to the plight of the thousands of refugees in
Kisangani.
The United Nations is doing a powerful, superb job in trying to bring them
out to safety.
QUESTION: All right, it may be that Mr. Kabila is saying different things
to different people. But reports that we see from there says that he's not
planning to go to a second meeting.
But you don't think that's a final.
MR. BURNS: I don't believe we have a conclusive answer on the question of
who will go to meetings and whether, in fact, the meeting will take place.
Our own view is, it's just logical.
It makes common sense, and it's the best way forward Mobutu and Kabila to
meet.
QUESTION: Has there been a response to the U.S. message to Mr. Kabila?
MR. BURNS: I don't believe Mr. Kabila has made a commitment.
He certainly did not to Ambassador Richardson, with whom I spoke this
morning, about stopping the rebel military offensive. Of course, that is
disappointing. There is nothing to be gained by killing people on the way
to Kinshasa. It seems to us that this transition is going to take place.
It seems inevitable.
Therefore, why can't it be done peacefully, rather than militarily, rather
than by violence?
QUESTION: Another subject.
MR. BURNS: I think we want to stay on Zaire just for a minute.
Yes.
QUESTION: Do you know where President Mobutu is? You know, the wires are
reporting that he was going to return today to Kinshasa.
MR. BURNS: Well, last I checked, which was about an hour ago, he was in
Libreville, in Gabon. He had not yet left. We don't know whether or not
President Mobutu is going to return to Kinshasa, whether he will stay in
Libreville, whether he will go someplace else. We are watching that very
anxiously, as are all of you.
QUESTION: Has the embassy given you - in Kinshasa - given you any
indication of what the response might be in the streets of Kinshasa where
President Mobutu to return?
MR. BURNS: No, I have not seen any account, any predictions from our
embassy in Kinshasa about that. David.
QUESTION: Can I raise a consular case with you?
QUESTION: Zaire.
MR. BURNS: Still on Zaire. Carole, yes.
QUESTION: I'm just - have you heard this delegation of 30 investors led
by an American company? It's called American Mineral Fields that arrived
in Lubumbashi today to discuss investment prospects.
MR. BURNS: Yes, we know that there is a group of American companies in
Lubumbashi trying to make contact with the rebel alliance. We think this
is most unwise. There is always a time for profits to be made. We think
it is important for companies to keep their employees out of harm's
way.
Lubumbashi is a dangerous place. There is a civil war underway in that
part of Zaire. Why in the world companies would want to risk their own
people for short-term profits is beyond me.
We strongly advise American citizens to stay out of Zaire. It's a
dangerous place. We urge Americans who are living in Zaire to leave the
country immediately.
You can get out by boat to Brazzaville. There are still flights out of the
country to Europe and other parts of Africa. That is our advice to
American citizens and the American business community.
Zaire is a strategically important country. It has got enormous economic
wealth, mineral wealth. But we think American companies ought to exercise
some good common sense here and keep their people out of harm's way.
QUESTION: Along those lines, Nick. James Wolfensohn of the World Bank
said that he would be sending a delegation in June.
MR. BURNS: Well, that is different. That is entirely different. The
World Bank has an obligation to help countries in transition, to help
countries with severe economic problems.
I know the World Bank will make the best possible decision about when to
send a delegation in. They certainly would not send a delegation into the
middle of fighting.
We do have enormous respect for the people who work for the U.N. High
Commissioner for Refugees and the International Committee for the Red Cross
who have inserted themselves in the middle of the fighting. But that is
because their job is to help people in need. But people who are simply
looking for profits, they ought to exercise some good judgment here.
MR. BURNS: David, you were next, yes.
QUESTION: The consular case is the case of the two daughters of Patricia
Roush, an American citizen who was at one point married to a Saudi man
named Khalid Al-Gheshayan. She has not seen her daughters, except for two
hours in 1995, for 11 years now. Could you run down for us, what is the
U.S. Government doing about this case?
MR. BURNS: We are well aware of this very tragic case involving Mrs.
Patricia Roush and her two daughters and her ex-husband.
First of all, let me say that we have enormous sympathy for Patricia
Roush. This is a very difficult, very complex - and this a tragic case,
where she has not been able to see her daughters. She has been given
custody of her daughters by an American court.
Because of the difference in the legal systems between the United States
and Saudi Arabia she is not able to obtain custody of those children, and
has not been for many, many years. We are a vigorous advocate for her
rights as an American citizen to obtain custody of her children.
Now, just in the last couple of days, our Ambassador Wyche Fowler, the
American Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, working very closely with Prince
Bandar, the Saudi Ambassador to the United States, has been able to work
out permission by the father, which is necessary under Islamic-Shari'a Law
for Mrs. Roush to visit her daughters in Riyadh. The Ambassador has also
accepted the offer of a prominent attorney in Saudi Arabia to sponsor Mrs.
Roush's visit. Every visitor to Saudi Arabia must have a Saudi sponsor,
and in fact, to pay for her expenses on this - as he did on her initial
visit in 1995.
Unfortunately, both American and Saudi legal specialists have concluded
that there is no legal remedy under Saudi or U.S. law for a divorced
American mother residing in the United States to compel a visit by her
children with her in the United States when her children reside with the
father in Saudi Arabia.
Furthermore, I can tell you that while there are federal arrest warrants in
place in this case, federal arrest warrants in the United States against
foreign nationals outside the United States must be enforced by a foreign
government, and the subject must be put in the custody of the U.S.
Government.
Now, there is no extradition treaty between the United States and Saudi
Arabia. As you know, extradition treaties normally do not permit
extradition for offense related to child custody disputes. Saudi law in
this case, in all cases, does not recognize dual nationality. So under
Saudi law, these young women, these young girls, are purely Saudi citizens
residing with their father.
Saudi law is based on Shari'a law, under which the father has complete
right to custody and control of his children. Therefore, only the father
can make decisions which would successfully resolve a parental child
custody dispute. Saudi law does not allow Saudi officials to forcibly take
a child away from his or her father, in this case their father, and return
that child to a foreign mother. It does not allow that to take place.
So what we are left with here is a clash of legal systems and a clash of
culture. The United States supports Mrs. Roush. We think she should have
custody of her children. We think she should be able to visit her
children. But the United States cannot force the Saudi Government or this
Saudi father to see things our way.
Unfortunately because of the difference of the legal systems, and because
of they way Saudi law is constructed, we must rely upon the good faith of
the father in this question. I think we have not seen very much good faith
in the last ten or 11 years by this individual. So those are the
particulars of the case.
We want to work with Mrs. Roush. We understand her enormous frustration,
and Ambassador Fowler is ready to meet with her and work with her, as
Ambassador Mabus did before him.
QUESTION: Is it not true that in the past, visas were denied to members
of the family of the father because he was not showing any good faith in
this matter? And if so, why are they not being withheld now?
MR. BURNS: I don't believe our visa policy has changed.
I understand that in the past when Mr. Gheshayan refused further contact
with our embassy - because we were trying to contact him - our consul
general, the chief of our consular section in Riyadh, began to explore
legal ways of maintaining contact with members of the family. He
instituted a policy of carefully screening and carefully reviewing visa
requests by members of the Gheshayan family.
That policy has not changed. I understand we have had four applicants from
the Gheshayan family, of whom two were issued visas, and I guess two were
not. Both occurred while Ambassador Mabus was still serving in Riyadh.
But the policy continues.
I know fairly well the dilemma that our consular officers faced.
All of us who served as consular officers have seen these terrible tragic
custody cases. In this case, if a Saudi family member of Mr. Gheshayan
presents himself or herself for a visa and fully qualifies for the visa,
there are no grounds for the consular officer to refuse that visa,
unfortunately. Under our law, we also have to be responsible to the
Immigration and Nationality Act, which is the consular law of the United
States.
So I do want to paint this in pictures of - this is a very grim situation,
very tragic. We are accountable to our law. We cannot force the Saudi
authorities or this particular Saudi individual to do the right thing. We
have to rely upon their good faith.
QUESTION: One more. Sorry to everybody, but one more.
Mr. Al-Gheshayan apparently has a relative who is a senior official at the
Saudi embassy here in Washington. Has this issue been raised with that
diplomat? And are you satisfied in a general sense that absolutely
everything that the U.S. Government can do in this case is being done?
MR. BURNS: I am not aware personally that Mr. Gheshayan has a relative at
the Saudi embassy here in Washington. What is important is that this issue
has been raised repeatedly over a decade with Prince Bandar, the Saudi
Ambassador to the United States and with the highest ranking officials of
the Saudi royal family in Riyadh and elsewhere.
We will continue to raise this issue at the very highest levels.
Ambassador Fowler, in fact, was just on the phone with our Near East
officials this morning discussing this case. He is committed to doing
everything he can to help Mrs. Roush. The United States cannot, as a
government, violate the laws of countries in which we have our embassies
and consulates. We cannot violate their laws. We must live under their
laws. We must respect them.
We don't always agree with the laws -- in this case, obviously don't agree
with the case where an American mother has been kept from seeing her
children. That is an injustice, and that is wrong.
But we cannot willfully violate the laws of the Saudi Government or other
governments. We can try to enforce our own laws. But the children are on
Saudi soil. They got there through illegitimate, reprehensible means.
They were forcibly abducted from the United States, and that is a tragic
thing. But there is not a lot that we can do to compel this individual to
give those children back to the mother. We will continue to represent her
interests, because she is an American citizen, with the Saudi Government as
best as we can do that.
QUESTION: Nick, on Pakistan. I understand the U.S. is spending a
substantial amount of money in Pakistan to stop the growth or production of
drugs, and now here we have a high-level official arrested on drug charges
maybe about two kilograms, or whatever. Also, is this the first time any
Pakistani was arrested on drug charges? And also PIA, the national airline
of Pakistan, international airline, was also involved in the bust,
carrying drugs from Pakistan in the U.S.
MR. BURNS: I don't know if it's the first time that a Saudi official -
military official has been implicated in a drug case like this. I would
remind you that this case is still under investigation. I don't believe
there have been any convictions brought in this case. We are going to
continue to cooperate with the Pakistani Government on narcotics because
it's a great threat to Pakistan, as it is to the citizens of the United
States. We rely upon the cooperation of that government and we have
reaffirmed it to them, and they have to us, in the wake of these arrests
- the arrest of the American Pakistani national, the American employee in
Pakistan and the arrest of the two Air Force officers in New York.
QUESTION: Can you give us an update on U.S.-North Korea MIA talks in New
York?
MR. BURNS: I know that the talks were underway today.
We had word from the Pentagon those talks might conclude today and there
will be a statement from the Pentagon. John, has that happened yet, do you
know?
MR. DINGER: No.
MR. BURNS: So, I think the Pentagon, which chairs these talks for the
U.S. Government, will be the best source of information today on that. We
do hope that it will have been possible to have made some progress. This
is the first priority issue for the United States. More than 8,100 MIA
cases remain from the Korean War and we haven't forgotten that.
QUESTION: Nick, also on Korea, can you comment on the wire, the Reuter
wire, today about Kim Jung-Il saying, it says, "A war atmosphere has
dominated North Korea since 1991 when he became the Supreme Commander of
the Army." This is coming from Mr. Hwang who is being interviewed by
Korean intelligence people. Basically, it sounds like North Korea is
predisposed to war. It has already decided to go to war against the
South.
Is there any validity in that?
MR. BURNS: Bill, with all due respect to Reuter's which is one of the
great world wire services, I have enormous respect for it, you can't always
believe everything you read in the newspapers and the wires. In this case,
you have a secondhand report of what Mr. Hwang may have said to a South
Korean official, so I wouldn't put too much stock in that.
I would say one other thing. The United States has a defense and security
commitment to the Republic of Korea. We have 30,007 American troops there.
We have many hundreds of thousands of South Korean troops ready to defend
South Korea should that be necessary. But all of our indications are that
North Korea wishes to open up its relations with the United States and
South Korea on the food question, on the agreed frame work, on the issue
of possible normalization of our relations at some point down the
road, on the issue of the four-party talks.
So, we are not moving in the direction of war. We hope we are moving away
from war and conflict and towards cooperation with North Korea; but we are
absolutely ready to defend South Korea.
Secretary Albright went up to the DMZ, visited the most forward deployed
American unit, which is a combined unit with the South Koreans right up on
the DMZ, and those guys are ready. Now, hopefully, they will never have to
go into action. Hopefully, this gradual process of talking reasonably with
the North Koreans, their talking reasonably with us will continue.
QUESTION: When does the U.S. get some time with Mr. Hwang?
MR. BURNS: Well, we've been assured we will have access to him. I
guarantee to you we will not announce that ahead of time. I don't even
know if we'll announce it after the fact.
But I am sure we are going to talk to him. The South Koreans are our
allies. They have made a commitment to us and they always keep their
commitments to us. Yes. Still on North Korea?
QUESTION: Yesterday, Mr. Burns, you said that regarding Japanese
citizens who alleged to be kidnapped from Japan, if there is something for
the United States to be able to do, you would have to cooperate with Japan
on this issue. Do you have any concrete plan to cooperate with Japanese
Government on this issue?
MR. BURNS: I'd have to check with our East Asia Bureau to see if there
has been a specific request from the government of Japan. I would just
remind you that Foreign Minister Ikeda raised this issue with Secretary
Albright. He described a very, very deep sense of concern on the part of
the Japanese people for these terrible abductions. Reports of people,
young women being abducted and we certainly sympathize with the families
of those individuals and with the government. I am just not aware
that the Japanese Government has asked us to do anything. I'd have to
check for you on that. We would certainly be willing to help in any way we
could. Yes, sir?
QUESTION: On the ten Americans, there's a Japanese wire report that there
was a report written up about the experience of the ten Americans held in
the Embassy in Peru. Do you know if that report exists and is it available
to the public?
MR. BURNS: We have not made any report public. I believe there was seven
Americans who were held for just two or three days at the very beginning of
the hostage crisis. Six of them were American government officials, as I
remember it, John -
MR. DINGER: One contractor.
MR. BURNS: -- and one contractor. We, of course, talked to them
intensively about their experience. That was in December.
We have never published publicly any report on that. I don't believe we
will.
QUESTION: Does a report exist?
MR. BURNS: I'd have to check. There have been individual conversations.
I don't know if Ambassador Jett, Dennis Jett, prepared a report or not.
Yes, sir, Savas.
QUESTION: Yeah. My question about the frigate. Last year when the
President Demirel visited Washington, D.C., President Clinton promised to
him his immediate delivery for the frigate.
And early this month, he send a letter on the same subject, one of the
U.S. congressmen, he connect frigate delivery for the Aegean station. At
the end of this month is the northern march for the Iraq operation is
expiring and it has to be extended. Do you expect the Turkish Parliament
approve the new extension under the unnamed, this arms embargo against
Turkey?
MR. BURNS: Well, first of all, Savas, with all due respect, I don't want
to accept the premise of your question. I'm not going to agree with you
that President Clinton said any such thing in his letter. I'm not going to
report to you publicly on what the President says in his correspondence
with his counterparts, because that is improper.
Secondly, we expect Turkey will remain a faithful ally of the United States
on our combined agreed strategy of containing Saddam Hussein, northward and
southern - from the south and from the north; and Northern Watch is a very
important part of that. There is no arms embargo on Turkey. The United
States has a military relationship with Turkey as a NATO ally. We do want
to continue the military sales relationship. It is often difficult to
gain approval by members of Congress or committees of the Congress
on certain arms cases. The Administration is a faithful ally of Turkey and
we do want to see the modernization of the Turkish armed forces.
We want to see Turkey cooperate with Israel. We want to see Turkey
cooperate with Greece, Savas, in all ways. We reported this morning - I
don't know if you were here at the beginning of the briefing -- a very
positive development, where Turkey, Cyprus and Greece, separately and
individually have agreed now on a confidence building measure to reduce
military tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean. We're very pleased about
that.
QUESTION: What is the reason for - because Turkey already paid all of
the frigates' money.
MR. BURNS: I'd have to check for you --
QUESTION: Please.
MR. BURNS: -- on where the frigate issue stands. I'll be glad to do that
and report to you on Monday in this public forum. Yes, sir?
QUESTION: First, I thought you said this was included in a letter Mr.
Clinton wrote to his counterpart, Turkish President, Mr. Demirel .
MR. BURNS: No, I don't --
QUESTION: Maybe I misheard you.
MR. BURNS: No, I don't - you mean just now?
QUESTION: Yeah.
MR. BURNS: No. I do not talk about the contents of the letters the
President sends to his counterparts. I don't wish to do that.
QUESTION: But it wasn't a letter. It was a promise made during Mr.
Demirel's visit to Washington.
MR. BURNS: Savas said it was a letter. So, I'm relying on Savas' -
QUESTION: Letter from President to U.S. congressman.
MR. BURNS: I understood Savas to be talking about a presidential letter.
I don't know anything about the letter that you're talking about, if it's
a letter to a member of Congress, I'm sorry.
QUESTION: Secondly, Turkey is now, I understand, Turkish defense minister
said so thinking to bar U.S. companies from participating in bids in
Turkey.
MR. BURNS: That would not be reasonable, Ugar. We're an ally of Turkey.
I see no reason why Turkey would want to penalize American firms who, of
course, produce the best military equipment in the world. You would think
Turkey would want to have the best, not second rate equipment from second
rate suppliers, but first rate equipment from the United States. It
doesn't seem to be in Turkey's interest to do that.
QUESTION: Let me ask the question. What would you do if you made a
contract with a company committed to yourself and made the down payment and
you waited for a couple of years and the goods are not delivered, wouldn't
you as a smart manager think about doing business with somebody else?
(Laughter.)
MR. BURNS: Ugar, you are a very tough debater. I admire your debating
skills. Let me just tell you, the United States wants to continue a
military supply relationship with Turkey.
We have a process in our government where the Congress must approve
military sales. Congress doesn't always approve military sales to Turkey
on a case-by-case basis. If we have made a good
faith contract, we try to uphold that contract, but in our system, you
have to understand the separation of powers. Now, I will report to you
both on Monday about the frigates and I'll give you the best possible
answer I can give you. Thank you.
QUESTION: Can you take one more?
MR. BURNS: It depends, Bill. It's Friday afternoon. It's 2:09 p.m. Is
it really urgent? People want to go home.
QUESTION: Pope John Paul --
MR. BURNS: I can talk about the Pope.
QUESTION: Pope John Paul is going to Lebanon --
MR. BURNS: Yes.
QUESTION: -- to try to make peace, reconciliation between Christians and
Moslems.
MR. BURNS: This is a good way to end the week.
QUESTION: I would expect this would be highly favored by the U.S.
Government.
MR. BURNS: Bill, we'll end this press conference on a positive note. His
Holiness Pope John Paul, II, will be traveling to Lebanon. We support very
much his mission and message of peace and reconciliation among the ethnic
groups there and the various religions.
We were even surprised, pleasantly surprised to see a positive statement
from the head of Hezballah this morning about his visit, saying that the
security of the Pope would be insured.
The security of the Pope must be ensured and we are very glad to see that
all groups agree that the Pope should travel to Lebanon with his message of
peace which we very much support.
QUESTION: Do you think this support by Hezballah is genuine in view of
the fact that the Pope has a month ago --
MR. BURNS: We're putting our faith in the Pope, but not Hezballah.
(Laughter.)
QUESTION: -- putting his faith in God, I hope.
MR. BURNS: Thank you.
(The briefing concluded at 2:11 P.M.)
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