U.S. Department of State Daily Press Briefing #78, 97-05-20

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U.S. Department of State
Daily Press Briefing

I N D E X

Tuesday, May 20, 1997

Briefer: Nicholas Burns

ANNOUNCEMENTS
1              Welcome to Press Briefing: Journalists from Portugal
1              Secretary Albright's Activities --
1-5            -- Travel to Europe, Portugal, and Bosnia
7-12           -- Meeting with Pakistan FM:
7,11             => Sale of F16s
9-10             => Kashmir
10-11            => Arrest of DEA agent
11               => Donald Hutchings and other hostages
12               => India/Pakistan Summit
BOSNIA, CROATIA, SERBIA
4              Speech in New York
5              Possible Visit to Serbia
5-7            Dayton Accords/Apprehension of War Criminals
BANGLADESH
12-13          Cyclone Disaster
GREECE/TURKEY
13             Aegean Negotiations
14             Civil Disturbance During Concert
15             US Background Paper on Greece
NORTH KOREA
16             Special Envoy
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
16-17,21       Ambassador Simpson's Reports/Talks with Sr. Advisors to Kabila
17             Advice to Americans
17             Acts of Retribution
17-18          Activities of American Troops
18             Whereabouts of Mobutu
18-19          Death of Embassy FSN Employee
SUDAN
19-20          Mtgs of Saddiq Al Mahdi in Washington
ISRAEL
21-22          Status of Settlements
MIDDLE EAST PEACE PROCESS
22             Discussion of Settlements by Dennis Ross
ALBANIA
22-23          Elections

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING

DPB #78

TUESDAY, MAY 20, 1997 1:32 P.M.

(ON THE RECORD UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED)

MR. BURNS: Welcome to the State Department. Barry, welcome to the State Department.

QUESTION: I've been here. I've been here.

MR. BURNS: You have been here.

QUESTION: You've got a lot of visitors today.

MR. BURNS: Well, yes, and I want to introduce them. We have seven Portuguese journalists with Luso-American Development Foundation of Portugal sponsored by the USIA Voluntary Visitors Program. Welcome, glad to have you here.

I have a couple of announcements. The first is that Secretary of State Albright will travel to Europe next week for a series of events dealing with a wide range of issues pertaining to our relations with European countries. First, the Secretary intends to leave on Sunday - this is this coming Sunday - for Paris. She will arrive in Paris probably early Monday morning at 2:00 a.m. or so. She will be meeting on Monday with French officials, and also, I think, officials from other countries, which will be represented at the summit in Paris on the 27th of May. So she will arrive ahead of the President. She will be taking her own aircraft, probably from Western Massachusetts. She is giving the commencement address at Mount Holyoke in South Hadley, Massachusetts on Sunday morning.

Then she will join President Clinton, of course, when he arrives in Paris for the summit meeting that will conclude the Russia-NATO document, the Founding Act, which we were successful in negotiating last week. She and the President will then travel to The Hague for the U.S.-EU Summit and the ceremonies commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Marshall Plan.

After The Hague, when the President returns to the United States, the Secretary will go on to Portugal, to Sintra in Portugal, for the NATO ministerial meetings, the semi-annual NATO ministerial meetings. We will have the great good fortune of spending Wednesday evening, all day Thursday, all day Friday and Friday evening in Sintra, which we understand is a lovely town. This a very important set of meetings.

The NATO ministers in Sintra will be reviewing all aspects of the NATO enlargement decision and all the decisions that need to be taken by the Madrid Summit in early July. No formal decisions will taken in Sintra on who will be invited to join NATO, but there will be many discussions among the ministers in Sintra about that issue -- that very, very important issue. So the Secretary considers this meeting in Portugal to be among the most important that she has had.

The Secretary will also attend in Sintra a meeting of the Policy Implementation Council on Bosnia. This, you will remember, is the steering committee for the group of countries that have overseen the implementation of the Bosnian Accords.

Following her stay in Portugal, the Secretary will then travel to Bosnia for the weekend. She will have meetings in Sarajevo with President Izetbegovic and other Bosnian government leaders. Her schedule is not yet set, not fully nailed down for the weekend, but she is considering a range of options for travel to possible other places in the Balkans. But she has not yet made any final decisions. Once she does, I will be glad to review those, announce those to you.

Now, we would like to take --

QUESTION: Nick, can --

MR. BURNS: Can I just - let me just finish one thing --

QUESTION: You may have skipped London. Or did it drop out?

MR. BURNS: No, she is not going to London.

QUESTION: The President is going to London.

MR. BURNS: Right, the President is going to London after The Hague. But the Secretary has to go on to Sintra.

QUESTION: Will she be going to The Hague on the evening of the 27th?

MR. BURNS: Whenever the President is. We can get into the review. Whenever the President is going. I don't know the schedule in detail in my head, but let's just see. The Hague concludes on - no, Paris concludes on the 27th, right? I don't know what the President's schedule is. She will be flying with the President from Paris to The Hague.

QUESTION: That night?

MR. BURNS: Whatever he does, whatever the President does, the Secretary will be glad to --

QUESTION: There's a slight change here. When does she go?

MR. BURNS: To?

QUESTION: When does she leave Western Europe and head for - not western. When does she leave the Presidential party and head for Portugal?

MR. BURNS: She leaves the Presidential party in The Hague, then she will travel to Portugal probably on Wednesday evening.

QUESTION: So she gets in Wednesday evening.

QUESTION: So it's just one day.

MR. BURNS: Yes, that's right. Now, if you would like to accompany the Secretary on her trip, you are most welcome. Please sign up in the press office. We have a sign-up sheet available for you. We will have to close it by tomorrow because you will need to get certain visas, as the schedule will develop. I assume that this plane will be leaving Andrews sometime early on Sunday morning to fly to South Hadley. You can cover the commencement address and then fly on to Paris from South Hadley, Massachusetts.

Okay, so that's the trip. I'll be glad to discuss any aspect of it with you, should that be of interest.

QUESTION: When do you expect her back in Washington?

MR. BURNS: We don't know yet.

QUESTION: You don't know yet?

MR. BURNS: No. It could be Sunday, the following Sunday. I believe that is June 1. It could be Monday. We just don't know. It depends on how the schedule works out in the Balkans and she is considering a number of options.

QUESTION: Are you going to go on to another subject?

MR. BURNS: Yeah, Bob. I have to review the Pakistan meeting today. That's the only other thing I've got before questions.

QUESTION: Well, because going to Bosnia--

MR. BURNS: So why don't we just stay on this, Bob.

QUESTION: Let's sound it a little bit, since you have announced the trip. Could you basically tell us why she is going to Bosnia?

MR. BURNS: The Secretary believes that it is important now to work with the parties to the Dayton Accords on implementation. As you know, we have had a number of concerns, particularly about Croatia and Serbia and the Bosnian Serbs, about their faithfulness to the Dayton Accords. She believes it is very important to take this opportunity to review on a broad basis the level of commitment of all the parties and to push forward on implementation so that we can make progress on all of the issues of concern to us -- war criminals, return of refugees, economic reconstruction, establishment, of course, of durable states -- all the things that are important.

I will be announcing tomorrow the details of her trip to New York on Thursday, but she is going to give a speech which will have heavy emphasis on Bosnia on Thursday in New York. She has had a series of meetings here in Washington with Bosnian and Croatian government officials just in the last couple of weeks. She will have the Bosnia meeting in Portugal of the implementation council and then the trip to the Balkans. So she is laying a very heavy emphasis on Bosnia these days.

She has also appointed, as you know -- the President and she have appointed -- Bob Gelbard, Ambassador Bob Gelbard, to be the special coordinator for all affairs Bosnian. He is a very determined, very aggressive, very capable individual. He is already deeply into these issues, so she has an excellent team advising her. She is determined, as someone who was present at the creation of our successful strategy to turn the Bosnian war around, she is determined that the United States will put its best foot forward and urge all these other countries to comply with the Dayton Accords. There is a lot of concern that countries are falling down on their commitments, and they need to be reminded of it.

QUESTION: Countries?

MR. BURNS: Yes, countries.

QUESTION: Like?

QUESTION: Serbia.

MR. BURNS: Serbia.

QUESTION: Bosnia and Serbia --

MR. BURNS: Croatia. She had a very tough meeting with Foreign Minister Granic last week in which she reminded him of our disagreement with many of the events that have occurred just in the last ten days -- the inability of minority Serbs to return to their homes in Croatia.. Of course, we also have a number of problems with the way the Bosnian Serbs have acted.

QUESTION: The problems with Balkans parties.

MR. BURNS: That's what I meant.

QUESTION: Not with U.S. allies and whether they --

MR. BURNS: Not at all. I was referring to the people who signed the Dayton Accords, the people who were in Dayton negotiating it, yes.

Any more on Bosnia? We can stay on this, if you would like, before we go on to Pakistan.

QUESTION: Is she considering going to Serbia as part of this?

MR. BURNS: There are a number of options being considered.

QUESTION: Including Serbia?

MR. BURNS: A number of options being considered, yes.

QUESTION: Will she be going to Greece and Turkey as well?

MR. BURNS: She will not be going to Greece and Turkey on this trip. She has a great interest in the Eastern Mediterranean -- in Turkey, Cyprus and Greece. She went there as UN ambassador last summer. She obviously takes that very seriously and wants to work on it very hard. But this is a trip that has many dimensions - Paris, the Hague, Portugal, the Balkans - and it will be a trip that lasts probably eight or nine days.

QUESTION: Will she go see the troops in Bosnia?

MR. BURNS: Oh, I'm sure she will. I know she will see troops in Bosnia, yes. I mean, she is going to be doing a little bit of traveling in Bosnia. I will have more to say on that once the schedule is nailed down, but she will definitely see our troops in Bosnia.

Any more on this, on Bosnia? Yes.

QUESTION: Aside from being able to talk to the various parties, does the United States have any other leverage in order to force the parties to fulfill the Dayton commitments?

MR. BURNS: I think that the international community has leverage, not just the United States. Croatia very definitely wants to become part of European and Western institutions. That is the foundation of modern Croatian foreign policy. But we have told the Croatians, Secretary Albright did last week, Ambassador Galbraith did in Zagreb yesterday, that without a commitment by the Croatian government to fulfill the terms of the Dayton Accords -- and by that I mean the return of Serb refugees to their homes in Croatia -- that dream of inclusion into Western institutions will not be realized.

For the Serbs, the United States has maintained the outer wall of sanctions because of a variety of problems that we have with the Serbs on Dayton and on Kosovo. For the Bosnian Serbs, there is no hope of economic development there if they don't get their act together and comply with the Dayton Accords.

I should say the country with which we have a good, stable relationship is Bosnia, the government in Sarajevo or President Izetbegovic. I think that government has done its best to fulfill the Dayton Accords. We have some disagreements with it, of course, from time to time but there are a variety of mechanisms - financial, pertaining to the sanctions, but also long-term political leverage -- that clearly we can exercise and we are exercising, and these countries are mindful of that.

QUESTION: Nick, you mentioned war criminals first. It almost requires me to bring up that old subject again. You gave it pride of place by putting it first. Do you want to say something about the laggardly pursuit of war criminals?

MR. BURNS: Well, Secretary --

QUESTION: Whether the U.S. maybe can tell its troops, if it sees a war criminal to sort of ask him for a match, and make it easier for someone to come up and slap some handcuffs on him and take him to trial for burying tens of thousands of Muslims alive.

MR. BURNS: The Secretary has been one of the strongest supporters of the war crimes tribunal, when she was Ambassador to the UN and since she has been Secretary of State. She has met, as you know, with Louise Arbour, the chief justice of the tribunal. She will have something to say on that when she is in The Hague with the President on the issue.

She has also reminded the parties of the Dayton Accords of their obligations on the issue of war crimes in direct face-to-face meetings. That will be one of the top issues on her agenda when she visits the Balkans.

QUESTION: Nick, there was some talk a few months back about forming some sort of special brigade to actually apprehend these people, some sort of police brigade. Is that something she will be discussing? Is that no deal?

MR. BURNS: I just have nothing for you on that, Sid.

QUESTION: Nothing to say about that?

MR. BURNS: Nothing. No, I don't have anything to say on that, no.

QUESTION: She won't be discussing it. You all dropped it?

MR. BURNS: She is going to discuss the issue of war criminals. But I have nothing to say on that particular subject, and you understand why.

QUESTION: Not, necessarily.

MR. BURNS: Well, you should.

(Laughter).

In any case, moving right along, Pakistan. Let me just say a few words about the very good meeting that the Secretary had with Foreign Minister Gohar Ayub Kahn. They had a good 45-minute meeting. The Foreign Minister began the meeting by briefing the Secretary on the recent talks between Pakistan and India in the Maldives. The Secretary was very encouraged by the positive report that she heard and that we have also heard from the Indian Government, the positive tone of the meetings.

The United States hopes that this progress between Delhi and Islamabad will continue. We very much support it. The United States, of course, will continue to encourage both countries to make progress. They had a very detailed conversation on a variety of issues between India and Pakistan.

Now, they also discussed our bilateral relationship. They discussed our common program and interest in combating narcotics and in combating terrorism. They discussed our concerns, U.S. concerns, over the situation in Afghanistan. The Foreign Minister was able to give the Secretary his analysis of recent events just in the last 24 hours in Afghanistan.

The Secretary urged Pakistan to ratify the Chemical Weapons Convention. She also urged a full accounting for what happened to Donald Hutchings, the American citizen who disappeared, was taken captive by unknown assailants on July 4, 1995, and who remains missing. There was also a brief discussion at the end of the meeting on the issue of F-16s. I'll be glad to review any of this with you. Barry.

QUESTION: On the last point, we think we heard a veiled threat to sue. It's not the first time that the Pakistanis have raised the possibility of suing the United States. The minister said it's one of four options, but he volunteered it, and it sounded a little bit like a threat. How does the U.S. feel about --

MR. BURNS: I didn't hear such a threat.

QUESTION: You didn't think it's a threat?

MR. BURNS: Not publicly, and I didn't hear it in his private meeting, as well.

QUESTION: Oh, okay, you don't take it as a threat?

MR. BURNS: No.

QUESTION: He said there were four ways to deal with this, and the fourth way was to go to court. You don't think the Pakistanis are threatening litigation?

MR. BURNS: No, I don't. I don't think so, and the tone of the discussion in the private meeting was actually quite good and in a spirit of cooperation on this. The Secretary explained that we remain committed to seeking a refund for the F-16s. Then she explained to you publicly we've already returned $150 million. As you know, we are trying to sell the F-16s to a third country.

QUESTION: Right.

MR. BURNS: -- and thereby compensate Pakistan with the resulting revenues. But we have not been successful, at least in consummating a sale and completing a sale to a third country. We will continue to work on that very hard. We know it is a big issue for the Pakistanis, as it is for us, and has been for a long time.

QUESTION: I thought you had a deal cooking with Indonesia for some of those planes?

MR. BURNS: We remain committed to that deal, but we have not yet notified the Congress of that possible transfer, and that would be necessary before we are able to go through with that.

QUESTION: And why have you not notified Congress? Why have you still not notified them?

MR. BURNS: Because conditions haven't been right, mainly on Capitol Hill, for it. So we continue to discuss this with the Congress. But our formal position is we remain committed to the sale of F-16s to Indonesia.

QUESTION: It doesn't have anything to do with human rights concerns in Indonesia?

MR. BURNS: On our part, we remain committed to this sale. As I said, there are a number of concerns in Congress. I can't speak for various members of Congress. But we do want to rectify this long-standing problem between the United States and Pakistan. We feel committed to do that.

You remember when then-Prime Minister Bhutto came to the White House, the President said -- President Clinton said very openly that the United States had to find a way, wanted to find a way to resolve this, and in that spirit, we are proceeding.

QUESTION: Nick, in your quick description of the subject, you talked about common interest - yeah, common interest, I guess, in narcotics control, and I forgot, but there was one other.

MR. BURNS: Terrorism.

QUESTION: Terrorism.

MR. BURNS: Yes.

QUESTION: But you didn't mention nuclear proliferation. Did that come up at all?

MR. BURNS: Very much so. Yes, that came up.

QUESTION: Technology.

MR. BURNS: The Secretary had a private meeting with the minister after the plenary session, just a one-on-one meeting, and that issue did come up.

QUESTION: And missiles, too, as well as nuclear proliferation?

MR. BURNS: A variety. It came up, and she reminded him of our concerns in these areas. Concerns that we have expressed --

QUESTION: Well, specifically, the possibility --

MR. BURNS: -- we have expressed often on these issues.

QUESTION: Including the - whatever dealings they may have had, Pakistan may have had with China on missiles?

MR. BURNS: That issue has come up before, yes. I don't want to describe to you - it was a one-on-one meeting, so I can't describe this in any detail whatsoever, nor would I. But we have had long-standing concerns. We have talked to the government of Pakistan and the government of China about these issues. As you know, we have not determined that there has been a violation of U.S. law.

QUESTION: Nick, on Kashmir how much did the discussions get into that Pakistan has wanting the U.S. to get involved in some form as being a catalyst to move the process forward? Did the U.S. give the usual schpiel or was it something new initiated, something new coming up? (Inaudible) some progress happening?

MR. BURNS: There was a brief discussion of Kashmir. It was not an extensive discussion, but a brief one in terms that would not surprise you. As you know, the United States has not changed its position. We have a long- held position that all of the pre-independence state of Jammu and Kashmir is disputed territory; that we think the dispute must be resolved through negotiations between India and Pakistan, which should take into account the wishes of the people of Jammu and Kashmir. That has been our position.

The Secretary reaffirmed our position. The minister explained Pakistan's position, and we will take it from there. But as the Secretary said in her press conference, we do want this issue to be resolved. We think that it is very important that it be resolved. If the United States can help in that process, I'm sure we will. But there has been no request for us to do that.

QUESTION: But she did say the time was right.

MR. BURNS: That's right. She certainly did say that, and she said that she is obviously going to consider a trip to the region at some point. She would like to do that. She came into office believing that the subcontinent is a very important area, that India and Pakistan and other countries of the region are very important countries for the United States. It has been a long time since we have had a Secretary of State in India and Pakistan and at some point, when it is appropriate to schedule that trip, she will. But she very clearly indicated to you that she would like to make that trip.

QUESTION: Well, but you can't have a 50th anniversary celebration a year late, can you? She was indicating that at some point --

MR. BURNS: Well, it's not our celebration.

QUESTION: I understand that.

MR. BURNS: It's not our celebration. It's their celebration.

QUESTION: But she indicated that she wanted to mark the 50th commemoration.

MR. BURNS: That's correct.

QUESTION: So some of us assumed that meant before December 31st she might go out there.

MR. BURNS: She would like to go out when it is appropriate. Obviously, she will need to talk to both governments. I know the minister, Mr. Khan, did invite her formally to visit Pakistan and so we will have to consult with both governments. But she is interested in making a trip at some point. I can tell you this, it won't be in the next month. Her travel schedule is complete for the next month.

QUESTION: Nick, on narcotics.

MR. BURNS: Yes.

QUESTION: About narcotics, did they discuss the arrest of this DEA agent?

MR. BURNS: Yes, they discussed the arrest of Mr. Baluch. They also discussed the arrest in New York of the Pakistani military officers. We have agreed that we ought to work together cooperatively to try to resolve the atmosphere that produced these arrests and also make sure that we are cooperating fully in the fight against narcotics. That was a very good thing, a very good point, about the meeting that they did agree on that.

QUESTION: Did the foreign minister have any information about Mr. Hutchings or the other hostages? Does the United States still believe they are living?

MR. BURNS: He did not have any information about Donald Hutchings and the other hostages. As you know, it has been nearly two years now since they were abducted. We have not heard any information whatsoever about their fate in a very long time. We are searching for them. We are relying upon governments in the region to help in that search, to conduct the search.

As you know, we have a reward out for information by any person in the region, anywhere in the world, who can help us discover the fate of Donald Hutchings and the other hostages. They are on our minds. We haven't in any way, shape or form forgotten about them. It remains an issue that we talk to both India and Pakistan about.

QUESTION: Nick, on that issue, the State Department's human rights report, as well as the report on terrorism spoke about the strong reports that the hostages may have been killed. And there have been other terrorist groups who have been apprehended who have said the hostages were killed. Why is it that you all don't want to bring some closure on this for the families?

MR. BURNS: We do want to bring closure to it. There have been reports that the hostages, tragically, were killed. We have not been able to confirm those reports. We have not been able to confirm them.

We would like to uncover the fate of the hostages for the sake of the families. We are making every effort to do so in our conversations with the Indians and the Pakistanis and others, but we have no evidence. The people who took these unfortunate men hostage ought to come forward and at least give us some sense of what may have happened to them. There is a reward out for people who may have information about the fate of the hostages and we are determined to bring the kidnappers to justice once they can be found.

QUESTION: Are you all satisfied with the level of cooperation in both India and Pakistan?

MR. BURNS: Yes, we are.

QUESTION: On the F-16 issue, do you have any timeframe to take it to the Congress? What is the general agreement when it might be taken?

MR. BURNS: Well, we would like to resolve this issue as soon as we can, but we do have to be mindful of the concerns of the Congress and we have to work with the Congress in a pragmatic way. But we remain committed formally to the sale of F-16s to Indonesia and, at some point, we would like to be able to move forward. But now does not appear to be the time, given the realities on Capitol Hill.

QUESTION: Yes, Nick, a severe cyclone.

MR. BURNS: We'll come back.

QUESTION: I have a question.

MR. BURNS: Would you mind if we just stayed on this subject and then we will go to Bangladesh? Yes.

QUESTION: What is the U.S. assessment on how far the two countries have moved towards coming closer to finding a solution after this recent summit, since you had a very detailed briefing from the foreign minister? If you could give us a better idea.

MR. BURNS: Yes. Well, of course, you will get a better story out of the Indian and Pakistani governments because they have a lot more information about this. But essentially, what we understand from the Indians and the Pakistanis is that there has been a very good start, a very good start by two new governments in trying to put behind them many of the problems that have plagued those two countries for 50 years now. These two countries are among the most important countries in their part of the world, among the most important countries in all of the world to the United States. We wish them both well. We wish that they would trade more extensively with each other, resolve their problems together in a spirit of cooperation.

I think we have seen Prime Minister Gujral and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and their foreign ministers and other ministers really make an excellent start -- a good tone to the meetings, good public statements, which is very important in this type of situation. We encourage them to continue their efforts. We would fully support their efforts in every way.

QUESTION: To follow up, did the U.S. give the minister a message that move on trade instead of making Kashmir kind of a big hurdle to be crossed, move on other issues simultaneously, at least if not Kashmir --

MR. BURNS: No, the Secretary was mainly listening to the foreign minister discuss the Pakistani outlook on the talks. She did not give that type of specific advice, but she certainly gave him a very clear sense that the United States was behind this process of reconciliation, of problem-solving, that we fully supported it. We are a friend to Pakistan. We are a friend to India. We will use our good offices in whatever way they would like us to, to help them further this progress. But they seem fully capable of proceeding on their own at this point.

QUESTION: Yes, Nick. A severe cyclone has lashed the boat city of Chittogong in Bangladesh, killing over 500 people and thousands maimed and rendered homeless. It is a very tragic situation that Bangladesh has been facing over the years since its inception, and before that as well.

Nick, the concern of the United States is always (inaudible) Bangladesh in its hour of most critical crisis. During the democratic crisis, the United States had been aptly supporting the cause of democracy in Bangladesh. Now in this calamitous crisis, natural calamitic crisis, what is the position of the United States on how the United States should turn around in helping Bangladesh at this moment of crisis?

MR. BURNS: The United States would like to offer its condolences to the families of the many hundreds of people who have been killed or are missing, who have been made homeless; and our condolences for all the destruction caused by this terrible cyclone. We obviously will do whatever we can to assist the Bangladeshi Government in trying to recover from this terrible catastrophe.

The reports that we have from our embassy in Dhaka are that the affected areas have adequate stocks of food and water. The government of Bangladesh has not declared a disaster. Our embassy also reports that some of the preliminary steps put into place by the government seemed to have helped the citizens of Bangladesh prepare for the cyclone. We are in close contact with the voluntary relief organizations, with the government of Bangladesh, with the United Nations to assess the situation. If asked for assistance, we would very seriously consider that. We remain ready to provide disaster assistance, once that is requested from the government of Bangladesh.

Mr. Lambros, how are you, sir?

QUESTION: Fine, thank you. On Greece --

MR. BURNS: So nice to see you.

QUESTION: Thank you. The Washington Post has criticized the late Andreas Papandreou's political past. It said the two deputies of the present Greek parliament, who disagree today with the Simitis policy of concessions and compromised territory over the Aegean. How do you comment on the movement of those -- (inaudible) - two Greek deputies, since you have consistently defended from this podium Mr. Simitis' policy vis-&agrave;-vis Turkey?

MR. BURNS: Well, Mr. Lambros you'll understand why I don't want to intrude on internal Greek political affairs. That wouldn't be appropriate for a spokesman from the United States Government. I can assure you, however, that we have the greatest respect for the Papandreou family, and we have the greatest respect for Prime Minister Simitis and his government. We get on very well with Prime Minister Simitis and Foreign Minister Pangalos. We work well and constructively with them. We look forward to continuing to work well with them.

The Greek Government, the Turkish Government are now considering initiatives by the NATO Secretary General to diminish military tensions in the Aegean. The United States fully supports that process. Also, we hope that this can be a year where progress is made on Cyprus. It will require, of course, the good faith cooperation of both Turkey and Greece, working with the Cypriot Government, with the Turkish community on Cyprus, to make that kind of progress that the people of Cyprus deserve after 22 years.

So in all respects, I think I can report to you, Mr. Lambros, we have an excellent relationship with Greece. I'm sure that will continue.

QUESTION: (Inaudible) - there was a Greek-Turkish music concert - (inaudible) - this was yesterday --

MR. BURNS: Yes.

QUESTION: -- (inaudible) - Cyprus. (Inaudible) - a battle in the streets of Nicosia between police and demonstrators. Any comments? This concert was also to support - (inaudible) - a bigger embassy in Cyprus.

MR. BURNS: Well, we have seen the reports of civil disturbances in downtown Nicosia yesterday - the very substantial disturbances. There's a report, I think, that the bus carrying the Turkish singer to the concert site in the UN buffer zone was stoned. We're very grateful that the authorities intervened and no one was hurt in that particular incident.

These events are very unfortunate, these disturbances. We're pleased that none of them disrupted the concert itself. This was a concert to bring together two communities on Cyprus. We view the concert as a very positive event. I understand 5,000 people attended it. It drew the two communities together in a social setting. This is the kind of thing that has to happen if peace is going to occur on Cyprus. Sometimes it takes small steps like bringing people together for a concert.

We're pleased that authorities on both sides took their responsibilities to maintain civil order. They did not permit a small group of troublemakers from ruining the concert that we hope initiatives like this can help promote reconciliation between the communities on Cyprus.

QUESTION: In other words, Mr. Burns, we are trying today, culturally, to tell many of the Turkish invasion and occupation of Cyprus. Is that what you are saying?

MR. BURNS: No, what I'm saying, Mr. Lambros, is that I think all countries in the region, as well as the Cypriot Government, as well as the Turkish community would agree that if there's to be peace in Cyprus, normal people - people who are not government officials - need to meet each other.

Here was an example where Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots could sit down together. That's a very good thing. That's a very good thing, and a few demonstrators were not allowed to disrupt that. So we congratulate the authorities who did so much to try to quell these disturbances and allow the concert to continue.

QUESTION: The last question, your background paper on Greece - serial number 8198 - prepared by your Bureau of Public Affairs on page six says, "the Greek media is usually aggressive, sensationalist and frequently irresponsible."

(Laughter.)

MR. BURNS: What was the word? Irresponsible?

QUESTION: Irresponsible, right here.

MR. BURNS: I don't remember such a briefing paper, but I can check on it.

QUESTION: It says the Greek media is "usually aggressive, sensationalist and frequently irresponsible."

MR. BURNS: I'm going to ask Dimitris to comment on this. Would you like to comment on this report from the State Department? Do you think the Greek press is generally aggressive or --

QUESTION: You have a clear picture of it.

(Laughter.)

MR. BURNS: Mr. Lambros, let me tell you --

QUESTION: It says, "objectivity, as known to the U.S. media on the whole, does not exist." May we have your opinion on this citation?

MR. BURNS: Well, Mr. Lambros, let me give you a three-part answer. Point number one, I will consult this document of the State Department and I will get back to you on that document.

Number two, I can assure you - let me assure you, we have the greatest respect for Greece and for the traditions of press freedoms. Democracy was founded in Greece, and we're well aware of that here in the United States. Third, I think we work very well together - you and Dimitris and Tom, who's not here today - all the Greek journalists who come to the briefing. I have the greatest respect for you. You may be aggressive, but I think you're fair, all of you.

(Laughter.)

You're very aggressive.

(Laughter.)

But you're most of the time fair. So that's all I have to say about the issue you've raised.

QUESTION: Can we change the subject?

MR. BURNS: We're having so much fun on this subject.

QUESTION: I've got work to do here.

MR. BURNS: Yes.

QUESTION: On North Korea.

MR. BURNS: Yes.

QUESTION: There's a report today that the United States is considering appointing some sort of special envoy for the North Korean peace - to handle North Korean issues. Is there any truth to that? If so, can you discuss it a little bit?

MR. BURNS: Oh, I cannot confirm that report. If we are - appointments like that are usually made in public. They're not done in response to a question. I just have nothing to announce. Frankly, I'm not familiar with any plan to appoint a special negotiator. I do know that we have excellent foreign service officers working on this. Chuck Kartman is a career specialist. He's heading our Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs. He has spent many years on Korea, understands the Korean problem very well. He's been our point person. I know the Secretary is very pleased by the job that he's done.

Now, should it be necessary to appoint new people to work on North Korea in the future, I'm sure we'll announce it. But I have nothing to announce, and I'm not aware of any plans to do so.

QUESTION: Have you had any contact with representatives of the Democratic Republic of Congo today?

MR. BURNS: I thought you were going to say Democratic Republic of Korea.

QUESTION: No.

MR. BURNS: Well, let me tell you this. I talked to Dan Simpson -- Ambassador Simpson -- in Kinshasa just before coming out here. He reports the following to me. First of all, Ambassador Simpson reports that the situation in Kinshasa is returning to normal. There is civilian traffic on the streets resuming; and that was not the case over the past couple of days.

The airport is closed, except to the alliance. The Brazzaville ferry remains closed. There are some reports of sporadic gunfire in the streets, although the alliance has established effective control of the city.

The United States continues to advise American citizens - there are more than 300 of them - to keep your heads down, stay in your homes until the government is formally established. Ambassador Simpson said that at least as of an hour and a half ago, Mr. Kabila had not yet arrived in Kinshasa, but he was expected momentarily - perhaps this evening, perhaps tomorrow. Once that happens and as the government brings more troops into the capital, then it may be safe for American citizens at some point tomorrow or the next day to move around. The embassy will advise them of the appropriate actions.

Now, in terms of politics and our relationship with the Congo, Ambassador Simpson has been on the phone this morning with a number of advisors to Mr. Kabila. He was able to put them in touch with Mr. Tshisekedi yesterday, which was a very good thing because we're encouraging a broad-based government to be formed in Kinshasa. Ambassador Simpson looks forward to meeting with Mr. Kabila once Mr. Kabila arrives in Kinshasa. They know each other. They've spoken on the phone many, many times. Our ambassador will be our point person in establishing personal relations with Mr. Kabila as he comes in.

As for other questions, we are just hoping that this government will continue to be able to maintain calm in the streets, stability throughout the country; and to get on to the business of economic reconstruction, political reform and hopefully, at some point, elections in the future.

Any others on Zaire? Sid, yes.

QUESTION: There's been some fairly horrific images coming out of Zaire - street retribution. It may be isolated, but do you have anything to say about it? Do you see it as widespread? Are you concerned that Kabila's forces may be exacting too much revenge?

MR. BURNS: We have seen, and I know the press has reported - sometimes in graphic detail - acts of retribution against members of former president Mobutu's government, some members of his security detail. The United States condemns these acts of retribution. There is no place for them. There should be no place for them in a city that now needs to rebuild itself. Mr. Kabila himself warned on Friday against acts of retribution. We think it's very important that people lay down their arms, lay aside their differences and rebuild the country.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to say that, because we feel very strongly about that.

The only other bit of news I can tell you about is that American troops will begin to re-deploy from Congo, Brazzaville and Gabon. Ambassador Simpson has made the determination that the situation is sufficiently tranquil, in a relative sense, to do that. I think I would just urge you to check with the Pentagon on the details of that. But that is also underway this morning.

Still on Zaire?

QUESTION: Troops moving out this morning?

MR. BURNS: Well, they're beginning to re-deploy, yes, from where they were stationed in Brazzaville and in Libreville.

QUESTION: Are they staying in the region?

MR. BURNS: Check with the Pentagon on their eventual location. I think they're all going to be heading back to the ship, U.S. naval ships.

QUESTION: Okay, but the general assessment --

MR. BURNS: -- off the West Coast of Africa.

QUESTION: The general assessment is, then, that it's not as dangerous as you thought it might be, and it's not dangerous enough to have American troops there to rescue any of the 300 --

MR. BURNS: We do not believe it will be necessary to carry out an evacuation of the private American citizens. We were prepared for that for many, many weeks, as you know. We feared and planned for the worst, as you must in these occasions. Fortunately, and relatively speaking, the situation was much quieter, the transition was much quieter than we had expected over the weekend. Thank goodness for that.

Although many people did lose their lives in looting, in shootings and in acts of retribution. We regret that very much.

QUESTION: What about other minorities like Lubanese people? Do you have any information concerning the safety of other minorities?

MR. BURNS: I do not have specific information. I think their embassies would. We are primarily concerned, obviously first and foremost concerned with our own citizens. But, of course, we would be glad to advise anyone about security precautions. Our own view is that while the situation is relatively stable, people ought to stay where they are and not try to leave and not try to go about a normal life.

QUESTION: Nick, on Zaire.

MR. BURNS: Yes, we're on Zaire. Yes.

QUESTION: Do you have any idea where Mobutu is? You said yesterday that you believed he is in Morocco. There now seems to be some question.

MR. BURNS: There have been conflicting reports about his travel to both Togo and to Morocco, and I cannot confirm where he is. We are not in contact with him. There is one more thing I should say. There were press reports, rumors in Kinshasa this morning that the Ambassador told me about that two American diplomats had been killed. That is not true.

All the American diplomats are fully accounted for, all 25, including the Ambassador to whom I spoke. Tragically, it is true - and I must confirm - that one of our foreign service national employees, a Zairian, Mr. Kabinda Tshanyina, was killed during a car-jacking on May 19th. His driver, who was not a employee of the United States - Mr. Tshanyina was -- his driver was also killed.

This appears to have been a random act of violence. It does not appear to be an act directed against the United States or one of our employees, in this case a former Zairian employee. We wish to express our deep regret to his family, our condolences to his family, and for the services that he gave to the United States.

QUESTION: Who's - (inaudible) -- for violence? Is that the embassy?

MR. BURNS: The embassy has, yes. It was a car-jacking.

QUESTION: It was based on - do you know based on what?

MR. BURNS: Based on eye witnesses, it appears to have been a car-jacking, a violent car-jacking. Unfortunately they killed him and his driver and they took the car.

QUESTION: Was he in a car with American plates?

MR. BURNS: I don't know the answer to the question. He was an embassy expediter, and he was with, as I said, his own private driver, not employed by us. I just don't know the circumstances well enough to answer that question. We can look into that for you. Yes, sir.

QUESTION: While you are on Kinshasa and the new Congo, can I ask about Sudan, please? There is a press report today --

MR. BURNS: Certainly.

QUESTION: -- an American official quoted by the press that the Administration does not prefer the Lebanese opposition leader Saddiq Al Mahdi to be back in power in Khartoum. And he is not the favorite leader for the United States. Is it true?

MR. BURNS: Well, all I can tell you is that Saddiq Al Mahdi is in Washington today on a private visit.

QUESTION: He is here.

MR. BURNS: He will be meeting with U.S. government officials. In fact, he will be meeting with our Assistant Secretary of State George Moose on Friday. We understand that he will meet with other members of our Administration, with members of Congress and with a number - he will also make some public speeches while he is here in Washington.

He was the democratically elected Prime Minister of the Sudan. He was deposed, as you know, by a military coup in 1989. He is one of the top spiritual and political figures in Sudan. He leads an important party, and we obviously are interested in talking to him. So I cannot confirm your question. I can just tell you that we respect him enough to meet him and to listen to him and to hope one day that Sudan may become a democratic country. It clearly is not right now.

QUESTION: He is not the favorite leader. Who is the favorite leader for the Administration?

MR. BURNS: We have not ranked - I can't remember a ranking or a dance card that we put together for our top ten. All I can tell you is that we do support people who wish to see Sudan return to a normal democratic life with tolerance for minority views, both politically and religiously. That is very important. The current government fails on all of those accounts.

QUESTION: He will be meeting with Albright?

MR. BURNS: No, he will be meeting with Assistant Secretary of State George Moose, our Assistant Secretary for African Affairs.

QUESTION: What is the aim of his visit and meetings?

MR. BURNS: He is here on a private visit. He has elected to come and since he was here, we felt it was important for us to talk to him because he is a major political and spiritual leader for many people in Sudan. We wanted to show our respect and our interest in a democratic Sudan by meeting with him.

QUESTION: Nick --

MR. BURNS: Still on this?

QUESTION: Yes.

MR. BURNS: Still on Sudan, yes.

QUESTION: Nick, you didn't comment on my colleague's question regarding one administration official was quoted in one of the newspapers saying that --

QUESTION: We did prefer him to be back in power in Khartoum.

MR. BURNS: I --

QUESTION: Because he (inaudible)

MR. BURNS: I can't answer - I can't deal with a question like that. I have no idea who was talking on background. I only trust things that are said on the record, in terms of answering questions about them.

QUESTION: Point of clarification, in terms of Congo, what is the State Department's understanding of the new name of that country?

MR. BURNS: The Democratic Republic of Congo.

QUESTION: I have also seen the New Republic of Congo.

MR. BURNS: Well, I know that Ambassador Simpson has talked to Mr. Kabila's primary advisors. That is how we understand it. That is what we understand the name to be. We will no longer use the term Zaire and or Zairian, as much as we can expunge that from our lexicons. We respect the right of this new government to name itself and to have a new flag and a new leader. We will work with them very responsibly.

QUESTION: Nick, are you working at all with the ambassador, the Zairian ambassador here in Washington?

MR. BURNS: Well, I don't know. I don't know what relationship he has to Mr. Kabila. I just don't know his situation at all. I can check into that for you. That's a good question. That's a very good question. I don't know if Mr. Kabila has sent new people to represent him or whether the current embassy staff will do that. I'll check into that for you. That's a good question.

QUESTION: Lately, the Palestinians have been pleading with the United States to state a position on the annexation of the occupied territories, and the Israelis contending that they need more land for settlements. However, there was a report in one of the newspapers that the satellite pictures shows that a quarter of the occupied - of the settlements are empty. Forgive the play on the words. Mr. Netanyahu described the settlement report as groundless. How do you comment on that?

MR. BURNS: All I can say is that the loan guarantee legislation that made possible United States loan guarantees to Israel imposes responsibilities on the Administration which require us to monitor settlement activity, settlement construction and occupancy and so forth. In light of this, from time to time, we do make judgments, which we pass on to the Congress.

In this case, I can't speak specifically about this report because it has not been made public, but we have from time to time, and just recently, tried to establish a basis of information for ourselves and for the Congress on this issue, and we have done that. I can't respond to the Prime Minister's comments because I just don't want to respond to the specific report which we have not made public. It is private.

QUESTION: But, Nick, the loan guarantees -- that arrangement is expired. It expired months ago. Are you all still --

MR. BURNS: No, we have continuing requirements to report on settlement activity as a result of that legislation.

QUESTION: So it lives beyond the loan itself, the loan guarantee itself?

MR. BURNS: Therefore, we do that. We do it from time to time. We do it in a variety of ways and, obviously, we want to inform ourselves through our consul general in Jerusalem about the status of the settlements in the West Bank and on the Gaza Strip.

QUESTION: Do you think the leak of this report has anything to do with the failure of the talks and the demand of the Arabs, the Palestinians, of the United States stated position on annexation?

MR. BURNS: I have no idea why people leak things, but sometimes, or every day, people do. I can't account for it. All I can do is say that we will maintain a very vigorous political dialog with the Israelis and Palestinians, as the Secretary of State said this morning, in order to make progress.

QUESTION: Broadly speaking, is it your finding that quite a lot of these housing units in these settlements are unoccupied?

MR. BURNS: Well, I don't wish to get into our analysis because we have decided to keep that private. We do talk to the Congress about it, but we have not made this public. So I just can't get into that in any way.

QUESTION: Without making the information public, is it something that Ambassador Ross has been discussing on his recent trip to the Middle East?

MR. BURNS: Actually, I don't believe it came up in Dennis' discussions with the Israelis last week. I talked to Dennis this morning and he didn't mention that it had, and I didn't get the impression that it had. Mr. Lambros, yes.

QUESTION: (Inaudible)-to the Albanian prime minister a new plea to Western governments on the elections issue, since there is a deadlock again and move Albanian political parties?

MR. BURNS: Yes, I do. As you know, Prime Minister Fino was here last week to speak to the Secretary about the situation in Albania, and we are very much supporting the efforts of Franz Vranitzky to try to bring peace to Albania. Mr. Vranitzky has informed the Albanian political parties today that a solution to the electoral procedures question must be reached by midnight this evening if OSCE efforts are to continue.

A solution to this problem is long overdue. We urge all political parties in Albania to reach a solution today. Given the time difference, that means in the next several hours. No solution to the current crisis in Albania will be possible without free and fair elections. That has got to be the standard that these parties meet. The United States supports Chancellor Vranitzky on this and because of that, our Assistant Secretary of State John Kornblum called Prime Minister Fino this morning to convey the message that I have just given you publicly.

The international community has invested considerable energy and resources in assisting Albania. However, our engagement cannot be sustained for any considerable period of time without the full cooperation of all political parties in Albania. We are concerned about this. We are concerned enough to call Prime Minister Fino to urge him to compromise on this issue, along with the other political parties in Albania and to reach a settlement so that the people of Albania can vote in free and fair elections. That is the standard.

Thank you.

(The briefing concluded at 2:20 P.M.)

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