U.S. Department of State Daily Press Briefing #84, 97-06-04

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U.S. Department of State
Daily Press Briefing

I N D E X

Wednesday, June 4, 1997

Briefer: Nicholas Burns

STATEMENTS/ANNOUNCEMENTS
1-2             Welcome to Visitors
2,5-12          Richard Holbrooke Named U.S. Special Presidential Emissary
                  for Cyprus
3               Secretary Albright to Testify June 10 Before the Senate
                  Finance Committee.
3               Secretary Albright's Upcoming Travel to Vietnam, Cambodia
                  and Hong Kong
3-4             U.S. Agrees to Renewal Of UNSCR 986 Program in Iraq
4               Algerian Elections Scheduled for June 5
4-5             Deputy Secretary Talbott's Trip to the Caucasus/Meetings
5               Gregory Craig Sworn In As Director of the Policy Planning
                  Staff
5               INL Deputy Assistant Secretary Jonathan Winer Meets with
                  Prime Minister Eman of Aruba
MEXICO
12-13           Reported Firing on US Border Patrol Agents
13-14,16        Senator Helms Comments re: Nomination of Governor Weld as
                  Ambassdor to Mexico
DEPARTMENT
14-16           Reports Martin Indyk to be Appointed Assistant Secretary
                  for Near Eastern Affairs
17              New York Diplomat Incident/Report to Department from New
                  York Assistant District Attorney
IRAN
17-18           Recent Statements by New Iranian President/US View
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO
18-19           Reported German Government Information re Massacres
FRANCE/LIBYA
19              Reported French Economic Delegation Going to Libya
HONG KONG
20,23           GAO Report on US Export of Sensitive Technologies After
                  Reversion
CANADA
20-23           Pacific Salmon and Environmental Clean-Up Issues
SIERRA LEONE
23-24           Status of Evacuation Efforts
CHINA
24              Anniversary of Tiananmen

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING

DPB #84

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 4, 1997 1:10 P.M.

(ON THE RECORD UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED)

QUESTION: Excuse me, sir, do have a Roger Clemens comment?

MR. BURNS: What happened with Roger Clemens?

QUESTION: He's won the Cy Young Award.

MR. BURNS: He hasn't won the Cy Young Award yet. So he's ten and 0. He could lose the next ten. He probably will.

(Laughter.)

MR. BURNS: We're still bitter in Boston. Bitter in Boston is the headline. We're poor losers in Boston. Excuse me, Mr. Champ?

QUESTION: Do you know of anyone on your team the Blue Jays can buy for next year?

(Laughter.)

MR. BURNS: My teams needs help. We're praying. We're saying our Novenas for the Red Sox. They need to be resuscitated. We pray to the patron saint of lost causes. Who is? I forget -- my mother knows who that is.

QUESTION: I was going to ask --

MR. BURNS: Richard Holbrooke, actually.

QUESTION: I was going to ask --

MR. BURNS: Richard Holbrooke will become the new manager of the Boston Red Sox, I'm very pleased to announce to all of you.

QUESTION: The motto in Toronto is, you breed them, we'll buy them.

(Laughter.)

MR. BURNS: Okay, we can come back to baseball. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the State Department daily briefing on baseball and foreign policy.

(Laughter.)

MR. BURNS: I would like to welcome Susan Ward of the UN Association in Tucson, Arizona. Susan was very instrumental in establishing our town meeting in Tucson just a couple of weeks ago. We thank you for that, and thank you for your association with the Department of State.

I do have an announcement on Richard C. Holbrooke. I just spoke to Ambassador Holbrooke. He is in Copenhagen, en route to Norway. I have an announcement that President Clinton has named Ambassador Richard Holbrooke as the new U.S. Special Presidential Emissary on Cyprus. He replaces Richard Beattie.

The President and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright have repeatedly stressed the importance that they attach to resolving the Cyprus problem. This appointment of one of our most capable negotiators demonstrates our commitment to help promote a final political settlement on Cyprus.

The United States is strongly supportive of the United Nations mediation efforts, led by Secretary General Kofi Annan. Direct talks between the President of Cyprus, President Clerides and Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash are expected to begin in July in New York. We urge all the parties concerned to redouble their efforts to make progress towards a comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus problem.

Now, obviously you know this appointment does demonstrate the very strong desire of both President Clinton and Secretary Albright to make sure that the United States lends its hand in pushing forward towards a comprehensive settlement on Cyprus. I think many of you know Dick Holbrooke. He is one of our most capable diplomats. He is one of our toughest negotiators. I think he is one of the most brilliant diplomats that our country has produced in a long time.

It's a very challenging assignment. He does not expect any imminent breakthroughs in this assignment. He is also going to take it slow at the beginning. He is not planning any trips to the region in the next week or two. In fact, he is abroad today on business for his employer, Credit Suisse-First Boston. But he is going to give this everything he has got conceptually, strategically, and as a negotiator.

He will be forming a team. He and the Secretary will decide, I hope, fairly soon on someone who can help Dick as a negotiator on a full-time basis and we're very hopeful that Ambassador Holbrooke's appointment will put the United States in a position to work with the United Nations, with the United Kingdom and obviously, with Cyprus, the Government of Cyprus and the Turkish Cypriot community, with the Greek Government and the Turkish Governments to make progress here.

Now, Ambassador Holbrooke is not coming on board on a full-time basis. He will retain his association with Credit Suisse-First Boston. He will - he has worked out an arrangement with Secretary Albright, to whom he'll be reporting, that he'll be working on this perhaps a week every month; but he is a man with a lot of determination, a lot of energy, and we expect that he'll give it his very best effort.

I'll be glad to come back to questions on this in just a moment. I have an enormous number of things to tell you about today. Let me just go through those and then we can go back to this and other issues.

I want to let you know that next week on June 10th, the Secretary will be testifying before the Senate Finance Committee, and that's on the issue of China MFN. As the Secretary herself said about a week or two ago when she was up on the Hill, she will attend the ceremonies marking the reversion of Hong Kong to China on June 30 and July 1. Her visit on this historic occasion will demonstrate the support of the United States for the maintenance of Hong Kong's high degree of autonomy, its way of life, its freedoms, as well as the United States economic, law enforcement and other interests that we have in Hong Kong.

She will be stopping in Vietnam and Cambodia en route to Hong Kong. She'll be visiting Hanoi June 26th to 28th ,where she'll conduct talks with the Vietnamese Government officials aimed at promoting our key foreign policy objectives towards that very important country. She will be discussing a full accounting for our prisoners of war and missing in action. She will discuss next steps in completing the normalization of our bilateral economic relations with Vietnam, human rights and other issues, including refugee issues.

She is also going to be traveling to Cambodia to Phnom Penh on June 28th and 29th. She will meet with the leadership there to assess progress towards the democratic elections scheduled for next year and discuss some of the recent troubling events that could imperil Cambodia's democratic future. This is going to be an enormously important trip. We have a sign-up sheet available to you in the press office. I encourage all of you to sign up. Those of you who are willing to come, we will try to make a quick decision about who can come. We will have a limited number of seats as usual on board our 707; but please sign up in the press office.

Now, this morning, on a separate subject, the UN Security Council voted unanimously to approve a six-month renewal of the oil-for-food deal with Iraq. We want to say a few words about that today.

The United States is pleased to agree to a six-month renewal of this program which provides supplementary humanitarian assistance to the Iraqi people under UN Security Council Resolution 986. The United States sponsored this resolution and we sponsored earlier initiatives, as far back as 1991, to ease the burden on the Iraqi people that had been imposed on them by the misrule and misdeeds of Saddam Hussein. The United States sincerely regrets that Iraqi efforts to abuse the privileges offered by UN 986 resulted in a delay of some humanitarian deliveries to Iraqis in need.

Iraq has failed to abide by procedures agreed with the United Nations Secretariat and Iraq has attempted to evade monitoring of the distribution of goods and services and to reinterpret its obligations under the resolution. The UN Secretary General's report of the first six months of 986 implementation cites some of these abuses. We will maintain our insistence on full respect for the agreed system, even if it delays some of the deliveries.

The United States will continue to do its own part to ensure the rapid delivery of these humanitarian goods to the people of Iraq. We believe the Iraqi regime should finally live up to its responsibilities to do the same. Even before 986 was passed, there was no limit on the ability of Iraq to provide its own people with humanitarian food and medical supplies. But Iraq did not meet the needs of its own people because it preferred to spend the money elsewhere -- on palaces for the family of Saddam Hussein and on off-shore bank accounts for the family, as well.

So we call upon Saddam Hussein and his colleagues in Baghdad to devote a decent, compassionate share of its national resources to the need for food and medicine of its own people, and avoid putting additional burdens on the United Nations. We also call upon Saddam Hussein to live up to the letter and spirit of this agreement completed today by the United Nations. We will be a good-faith partner of all UN countries in carrying this out.

Now, last night we posted a statement on the Algerian elections. These are very important elections, occurring tomorrow June 5th, in Algeria. We hope this election, if credible and if transparent, can mark another step towards national reconciliation and the cessation of violence and the restoration of prosperity in Algeria -- an end to terrorism in Algeria. We will be watching these elections very closely, and we look forward to further stability and peace in Algeria.

Yesterday I was asked about Deputy Secretary Talbott's trip to the Caucuses and Turkey over the weekend. He did travel to Ankara on June 1. At the end of his trip to the region, he met there with President Demeril, with Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Tansu Ciller, with Under Secretary of the Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr. Oyman, and the Chief of the General Staff, General Bir. He met with all of them to discuss U.S.-Turkish relations, a variety of issues, as well as to report to them on the talks that he had over the weekend in Yerevan and in Baku and in Stepanakert.

Strobe Talbott traveled with the Russian and French co-chairs of the Nagorna-Karabakh Peace Group, and he was very pleased to report that the three of us - the Russians, the French and the Americans - got along quite well, worked together effectively. We did put in front of the Armenians - the Nagorna-Karabakh Armenians and the Azeris some new ideas for a peace effort that we hope could ultimately succeed in bringing peace to Nagorna- Karabakh, which is one of the bloodiest conflicts on Earth.

I can't give you the details of that peace effort, but I can tell you we will pushing it rather hard. Our expert negotiators - our negotiator is Lynne Pascoe, a foreign service officer, will be returning to the area, to the Caucuses to push this forward.

QUESTION: Did you say he met with Erbakan, too?

MR. BURNS: Excuse me?

QUESTION: Did you say he met with the Prime Minister - with Erbakan, as well?

MR. BURNS: I did not say that, no.

QUESTION: He didn't?

MR. BURNS: No, he did not meet with Prime Minister Erbakan. I didn't say that.

My last announcement is this. The Secretary of State swore in this morning, up on the 8th floor, Gregory Craig, who is the new Director of the Policy Planning Staff here at the Department. For those of you who know Greg, he is a very distinguished individual. He has been a partner at Williams & Connolly here in Washington for a long time. He was also a senior advisor for many years to Senator Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts.

The Secretary is delighted to have Greg Craig onboard as one of her closest advisors. We have been waiting for his arrival. We're glad that he is now official and in the building. I know that a lot of you will get to know him.

Finally, I am posting a statement today. The Aruban Prime Minister was in town and has met with Jonathan Winer, our Deputy Assistant Secretary of State. I have a statement for you should that excite your interest. Barry.

QUESTION: Unlikely, but let me go back to the Holbrooke situation.

MR. BURNS: I don't see why. Diplomacy is fascinating, even in the Caribbean.

QUESTION: Well, just to - well, first on a logistical point - a specific question.

MR. BURNS: Yes.

QUESTION: You say he's going to be working about a month - I mean, about a week a month.

MR. BURNS: Right.

QUESTION: You made some reference to a full-time negotiator. You mean he will have someone under him who will be on the job full-time? And we don't know who that is yet?

MR. BURNS: Yes, if you - Dick Holbrooke is replacing Dick Beattie.

QUESTION: Right.

MR. BURNS: Who is the presidential emissary for Cyprus.

QUESTION: Right.

MR. BURNS: Dick Beattie had a Cyprus coordinator, a foreign service officer, Jim Williams, who worked with him full time. So now Ambassador Holbrooke will also retain the services of a foreign service officer who will be working at this full time.

A week a month for Dick Holbrooke is a full month for most other people, if you've ever seen -- I know you have see Dick work.

QUESTION: Oh, yeah.

MR. BURNS: He'll work about 160, 170 hours in a week, maybe 200 or 300 hours in a week, if he could do that. So we think a week a month with the special Cyprus coordinator working full time, with the addition of our embassies in the area -- in Cyprus, Greece and Turkey -- this is going to be a very vigorous, aggressive effort to try to move the peace effort forward on Cyprus.

QUESTION: I remember his extensive traveling on the Bosnia agreement. In this part-time duty, will he be making trips to the area to talk to leaders there?

MR. BURNS: Well, I expect that when he does travel to the region, he will travel not only to Cyprus, but to Greece and Turkey as well.

QUESTION: All right.

MR. BURNS: I expect he will be in touch very closely with the Cypriot Government, with the Turkish community on Cyprus, with the Greek Government, and with the Turkish Government, absolutely.

QUESTION: Do I understand correctly, he is not suffering any pay loss in doing this job? I know at that level, pay is probably, you know, kind of a - -

MR. BURNS: It's kind of a --

QUESTION: -- an ugly word because those kind of jobs --

MR. BURNS: At that level, pay is really a --

QUESTION: -- dividend, a bonuses.

MR. BURNS: -- theological matter more than anything else.

QUESTION: I don't think it's measurable. What I'm trying to figure out is if he is going to be able to maintain a full-time existence in the Wall Street world with all the full benefits of that, while also working for the U.S. Government, but not drawing any pay from the U.S. Government. Is that correct?

MR. BURNS: Right, he is a presidential emissary. He is an appointment of President Clinton and Secretary Albright. He is not joining us full time. He is not going to be a full-time employee. He will retain his position and his pay from Credit Suisse-First Boston.

Since Dick joined Credit Suisse-First Boston back at the beginning of 1996, he has not had any business interests in Greece, Turkey or Cyprus. He told me this morning, when I talked to him at great length about all these issues, that for the period of time when he is the president's special emissary for Cyprus, he will not be conducting any business interests in this part of the world -- in Greece, Cyprus and in Turkey -- which is only appropriate, given the role that he is going to have. But he will be continuing his business interests in other parts of the world for Credit Suisse-First Boston.

He is a very determined man. He has got a lot of ideas that he brings to this job. He has an intimate familiarity with the problems of the Eastern Mediterranean. When he was Assistant Secretary of State, you will remember, he was quite active on this problem. I can tell you, Secretary Albright is delighted to retain his services for this job. Now, he will be reporting to her and he will also be, of course, working very closely with our assistant secretary of state designate who, if confirmed by the Senate -- Mark Grossman -- will be on board this Summer.

QUESTION: But he will not be paid by the U.S. Government for his part- time --

MR. BURNS: He will not be paid by the U.S. Government.

QUESTION: All right. Let me ask you some substantive questions, if I may. First of all, is the United States, as a matter of policy, interested in reversing the partition of Cyprus?

MR. BURNS: The United States is interested in promoting a settlement on Cyprus.

QUESTION: That wasn't the question.

MR. BURNS: Well, I am answering the question as I wish to answer it.

QUESTION: Sure.

MR. BURNS: Because it is a very - I mean I know why you asked the question.

QUESTION: Yeah, because there are Turkish troops on the island.

MR. BURNS: Right.

QUESTION: Do they belong there? A Turkish state has been declared. I mean, you know, we all play around the edges of this thing all the time -- bringing the parties together, gaps, you know, non-gaps, UN, British, everything. Basically it is 23 years now of trying to get a fix on if the U.S. Government has a position. And besides wanting amenity and commerce and, of course, keep that area quiet because it is an explosive situation, does the U.S. believe, number one, that partition should be reversed? Does the U.S. believe Turkish troops should serve, even in the UN peacekeeping force if there is one? What about the 80,000 Anatolians who have populated that part of the island? What is the U.S. position? Should it be a tight bi-zonal community or a loose federation? Could you give us a general idea whether the U.S. has any position on any of these issues?

MR. BURNS: We have lots of positions. We usually don't articulate our positions publicly, however, just as we don't in the Middle East peace process because we want to preserve the best chance to make progress, and that is to be a confidential negotiating partner.

Now, Barry, you have outlined some of the problems that have characterized the Cyprus question for a long, long time. We have a view; and that is, it is terribly complex and terribly difficult and challenging and we are going to use our best negotiating skills, working with the United Nations and the United Kingdom and others, with all the parties, to try to promote a settlement.

Now, a settlement will mean that all these different parties will have to compromise and work together in order to agree on a future that will bring permanent peace to Cyprus. That is our objective. But I am not willing today to go into a lot of detail about our positions on these issues. I think we ought to give Secretary Albright and Ambassador Holbrooke some time, now, that Ambassador Holbrooke has just been appointed, to develop a strategy and to go out to the region and to discuss our strategy with the parties. But that strategy will be very much in support of the United Nations.

QUESTION: Does that mean you're making a new start? Or do you pick up -- however you interpret it or choose to interpret it -- do you pick up with the agreement for some type of bi-zonal federation? Do you pick up with that and - what the heck was the - there's something else that's floating out there -- and that essentially it's a U.N. operation that the U.S. is assisting.

And, oh, here's the other thing. And do you support direct talks between Clerides and Denktash?

MR. BURNS: Well, we certainly do if that's what they want to do. And there may be --

QUESTION: Well, one does and one doesn't. So, do you support --

MR. BURNS: We always support talks between the parties, obviously, in any conflict. In this case, the United Nations is trying to arrange talks for July in New York and obviously the United States supports the UN action.

Now, you ask an interesting question -- what kind of strategy is the United States going to bring to bear in this problem?

Dick Holbrooke takes the job today and he's in Europe. He will be back in the States in a couple of days. He will be consulting with Secretary Albright about the best approach to take. We need to see, of course, what happens with these UN sponsored talks in the next couple of weeks to see if they move forward. If they don't move forward, how best can the United States support the efforts of Secretary General Kofi Annan? All this needs to be discussed. But I think we can say this -- this is a rebirth and a renewal of the American policy in Cyprus. Secretary Albright would not be bringing Dick Holbrooke in if we did not intend to make a very determined effort to move forward. On Cyprus?

QUESTION: On Cyprus.

MR. BURNS: Yes, sir.

QUESTION: Going back to a question that Barry alluded to -- does this satisfy the international community, this arrangement with First Boston and Credit Suisse?

MR. BURNS: Credit Suisse-First Boston is the --

QUESTION: Oh, forgive me. Turned them around.

MR. BURNS: Yes.

QUESTION: Given the --

MR. BURNS: I usually put First Boston first, but in this case, the company insists of putting Credit Suisse first. I don't know why, but they do.

QUESTION: I understand. Well, one understands.

MR. BURNS: Boston's last again, George says. He's always tormenting me about Boston.

(Laughter.)

QUESTION: Just to get us back, however, to international concerns, while he, himself, does not involve himself in business in that region, nonetheless, one presumes the company will continue its extensive involvement. Does the international community, or have you approached the international community, are you concerned about the international community that this gives an American company a leg up in that region in terms of commercial interest since we understand the commercial issue --

MR. BURNS: Or a Swiss company.

QUESTION: -- or a Swiss company, since we understand that commerce plays a major role in all of this?

MR. BURNS: Yes. Listen, I think there is a very clear line here and everyone in the region will see it as a clear line. Dick Holbrooke, a very honorable person, is going to put all his efforts into diplomacy in this region. He has not conducted business there since he joined CS-First Boston back in, I think, February or March of 1996, whenever that was. He intends not to conduct any of the company's business there. That's all I think one can reasonably ask. He's not being brought on as a government employee. He is retaining his private position. We have a long tradition in this country of people coming from the private sector and essentially volunteering for service without any kind of remuneration from the U.S. Government because they are patriotic, because they want to make a contribution.

QUESTION: But not always is that practice necessarily accepted in the international arena where people do suspect or concern themselves about whether there is a commercial advantage to these --

MR. BURNS: Henry, I don't expect we're going to have any problem. I think that the Cypriots and the Greeks and Turks are going to be delighted that Secretary Albright - President Clinton and Secretary Albright have now named Dick Holbrooke as the American negotiator. That means that we are making a serious effort to try to bring peace to Cyprus. So, I really don't anticipate this to be a problem at all. Dick has made a very clear statement to me about what he will and will not do in terms of his business interests and that statement, obviously, meets with satisfaction on our part.

QUESTION: Have you gotten any expressions of delight yet from the Greek - from the Cypriot Government?

MR. BURNS: We're just announcing it for the first time.

QUESTION: Oh, it's been on the wires for hours.

MR. BURNS: Right here. It was leaked out of the White House this morning; it wasn't leaked here.

(Laughter.)

QUESTION: Do you think Cyprus is delighted that Holbrooke is taking this job?

MR. BURNS: Pardon?

QUESTION: Do you think the government of Cyprus is delighted that Holbrooke is being assigned to this --

MR. BURNS: Oh, I expect you will see from the region - from Cyprus, Greece and Turkey - very strong support for this appointment. I can tell you that we have consulted with the governments of the region, before this announcement was made. We were told privately by all of the governments concerned they were very, very pleased to see this very strong demonstration of American interest in the Eastern Mediterranean.

QUESTION: Still on Cyprus.

MR. BURNS: Yes.

QUESTION: What can you point to in the recent past that gives you any hope at all that there is possibility for movement?

MR. BURNS: Well, I think, Jim, that's a very good question. I know from my conversations with both Secretary Albright and Dick Holbrooke this morning that both of them see this as a great challenge. Neither of them believe that the United Nations or the United States or the United Kingdom is going to be able to pull off a diplomatic coup in the next week or two. This is going to take concerted effort, probably over many months - maybe even many years - to come up, to develop a strategy for Cyprus that actually moves the parties towards a resolution after 23 years of stalemate.

So we don't approach this with any degree, any illusions about how easy it's going to be. It's going to be very tough. That's why we're bringing in our toughest negotiator, and our most brilliant negotiator outside the U.S. Government, to work on this problem. Dimitris?

QUESTION: Do you expect Ambassador Holbrooke to be involved, aside from Cyprus, with the problems in the Aegean between Greece and Turkey?

MR. BURNS: You know, I don't know. I have not talked to Dick about this. We'll have to see whether or not he plays a role in that. I think his main focus is going to be on the Cyprus problem.

QUESTION: I'm sorry - do you expect him to attend the possible negotiations in New York between - talks in New York between President Clerides and Denktash?

MR. BURNS: I know that he will not be attending the talks in New York. It's too early for him to do that; he is just coming on board. Whether or not the United States is represented is an issue that we haven't yet resolved. These are UN-sponsored talks. Secretary General Kofi Annan knows that we are giving our full support to his effort. There's a lot of room here for the United Nations, the United States, the UK to combine our efforts to be complimentary to each other, and try to push forward on the same program.

QUESTION: So the leading roll is with the United Nations on this?

MR. BURNS: Right now the United Nations is, of course, pulling together a meeting. We fully support that. I think the United Nations is also very pleased to see the United States step up to the plate with this important nomination.

QUESTION: I know it's way too early to say, Nick, but at this point, can the United States rule out a Dayton-style shuttle diplomacy peace?

MR. BURNS: You know, I talked to Dick about this this morning; we anticipated this question. All countries, all regions, all problems are different. The negotiating process at Dayton turned out to be the perfect negotiating process for those countries at that time in their conflict. It remains to be seen if a Dayton-style negotiation or some other style of negotiation best fits a resolution to the Cyprus problem. Dick does not come to that with any preconceived notions. He'll obviously want to talk to Secretary Albright about this, and then we'll move forward. So, no conclusions yet - we'll have to see where we want to go.

QUESTION: So no reservations at the Holiday Inn?

MR. BURNS: Excuse me?

QUESTION: We shouldn't make reservations at the Holiday Inn?

MR. BURNS: In Dayton?

QUESTION: Yeah.

MR. BURNS: No, no, you can hold off on your reservations at Wright- Patterson - however much we are attached to Wright-Patterson.

QUESTION: Another subject?

MR. BURNS: Yes, sir.

QUESTION: Yes, thank you, Nick. Congressman Bilbray has confirmed the content - his contribution to the article in The Washington Times on Monday about three incidents of sniping -- cross-border sniping - this is near San Diego, on the Mexican border. Sniping on - firing on border patrol agents. There are reports that this has been happening for some time, not only in California, but also in the El Paso area. I would ask, one, is the United States Government speaking to the Mexicans about getting law enforcement or Mexican army in there to get the snipers out of range?

MR. BURNS: Bill, I'm going to have to refer you to the proper authorities on this - the border patrol, the Justice Department. I'm not aware of the incidents. I will be glad to maybe take the question to see if other government agencies can answer it for you. But have you checked with Justice?

QUESTION: Yes, yes, I have, and with the Defense Department. Congressman Bilbray and others are calling for National Guard troops to come in and protect the border patrol from this sniping. But it seems like a State Department matter, since the fire is coming, allegedly, from drug - the traffickers and the assassins over there. And also, our border patrol people are being - contracts are being let on their lives, I understand, as well.

MR. BURNS: Bill, I just don't have information to me. But I would suggest that you continue talking to the other government agencies involved here. If we have anything on this, we'll let you know.

QUESTION: Okay, thank you, Nick.

MR. BURNS: Yes.

QUESTION: Yes, I wanted to ask you when the Secretary is planning on meeting with Senator Helms about his vociferous non-support for Governor Weld for the ambassadorship to Mexico; and if she's planning on trying to soften his railing against the governor.

MR. BURNS: Well, I'm glad you asked that question, because I think there is very firm support in this Administration - from the President and Secretary Albright - for the nomination of Governor Weld to be our next ambassador to Mexico. He's been an outstanding governor, by all accounts. He's a very impressive man. He's got wide experience. He is willing to do this job, which is a very tough job. We think he's superbly well-qualified. He's from a great state and a great city, and we fully support him.

Secretary Albright obviously talks to Senator Helms regularly about a variety of issues. She'll obviously be talking about this, since this is one of the senior appointments that President Clinton will be making this year to fill out our ambassadorships overseas. There's no question to anybody in this building that our relationship with Mexico is among the two or three or four most important and difficult relationships that we have anywhere in the world. That's a key post.

We have ten or 11 Cabinet secretaries that go to Mexico every year to work on these issues. We have a variety of interests. It's a 2,000-mile border - tremendous economic, immigration, environmental, political issues at work here. We need someone in Mexico who has skills as a negotiator; someone who can work well with the Mexican Government; someone who can work well with agencies of our own government to bring our government around to a unified policy on Mexico. Governor Weld is the person to do that. So we firmly stand behind him. Secretary Albright will be talking to Senator Helms about this.

QUESTION: What do you think she's planning on talking about specifically to convince Senator Helms --

MR. BURNS: Well, I am sure she is just going to want to review with Senator Helms the logic of this nomination from our point of view; the many skills that he brings to this job; the impressive record that he has as an executive official in Massachusetts, as a federal official when he was at the Justice Department in the last administration. I think he held the number three position in the Justice Department. He is a very impressive man; he is a man with a lot of energy. We hope very much that he will be able to join the administration as our ambassador to Mexico.

QUESTION: Just concerns --

QUESTION: Can I --

QUESTION: Yes.

QUESTION: One final thing. This weekend he said that Weld was loose- lipped and just not qualified. He was just unacceptable in his mind.

MR. BURNS: Yes. We saw Senator Helms' statement. We have talked to Senator Helms' staff, some of us, about this. You'll have to ask Senator Helms for any kind of elucidation of -- any kind of explanation for his statement. I don't want to speak for Senator Helms, obviously. Talk to Mark Thiessen, his spokesman. But I can certainly speak for Secretary Albright and she and the President stand behind this nomination.

QUESTION: One of Helms' concerns is that Weld apparently supports the medicinal use of marijuana and Helms apparently thinks that this does not send a tough enough image to narco-traffickers. Do you have any response to that?

MR. BURNS: Well, I'm not intimately familiar with Governor Weld's position on that issue. I can only say that President Clinton and Secretary Albright have a very clear policy on the narcotics issue as it pertains to Mexico -- and that is that Mexico is a major transhipment point for crack cocaine and other drugs that come into the United States from South America. After their recent visit to Mexico City, we have an agreement with President Zedillo that we will work together very hard, very aggressively to turn off that flow of drugs into our country. As Ambassador to Mexico, Governor Weld would have that as one of his primary responsibilities. We have absolute confidence that he would be devoted to that cause and would represent our country convincingly and effectively on that issue.

QUESTION: Nick.

MR. BURNS: Still on Governor Weld?

QUESTION: Talking about political appointments, really. Can you tell us more about the nomination of Ambassador Martin Indyk for the position of assistant secretary of state for middle east affairs?

MR. BURNS: I don't believe that the White House has made any announcement -- I don't believe, unless I missed something when I was away -- as to who is going to be the next Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs here at the State Department. So, I can't get ahead of the White House. The White House makes nominations for assistant secretaries.

QUESTION: There is no nomination, official nomination for Mr. Martin Indyk for this position as far as you know?

MR. BURNS: I don't believe there is. You can check with Mike McCurry and Ann Luzzato at the White House, but I am not aware that there is.

QUESTION: On another subject, I don't think we have had a chance to ask --

MR. BURNS: But let me just say, if I could say this, Jim. Excuse me, Jim. Martin Indyk has been an outstanding Ambassador to Israel. He is very close to our senior leadership here in our government.

QUESTION: Yes.

MR. BURNS: And well known to them. He worked directly for President Clinton at the NSC.

QUESTION: Yes.

MR. BURNS: He has worked directly for Secretary Albright during the last six months.

QUESTION: Yes.

MR. BURNS: He is very highly thought of. He has been an outstanding ambassador to Israel.

QUESTION: I'm sure, I'm sure he is a very good friend of Israel --

MR. BURNS: He is. He is an outstanding friend of Israel and he is a great American diplomat.

QUESTION: I am sure he is, but his nomination is raising some concerns in the Middle East. Observers feel that he, as an APEC lobbyist in 1985, and also as a founder of Near East Policy Group which both of them are very supportive of Israel, raises some concerns and understandably so. Can you allay their fears?

MR. BURNS: Well, let me just say, again. He has not been nominated to any additional posts. He is currently the American ambassador in Israel. I would hope very much that the next Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs would be supportive of the government of Israel.

I can't imagine an Assistant Secretary of State who is not friendly towards Israel, who didn't understand Israel and be a supporter of Israel, but also to be someone who understood the Arab world and understood the fact that we have broad-based interests in the region. I just want to take the opportunity to say that. The United States is Israel's best friend and we will continue to be Israel's best friend, as well as a friend to Arab countries, to the 22 nations which are Arab nations.

QUESTION: The concerns that raises that he was a lobbyist here --

MR. BURNS: He has not been nominated for the post, but if he is nominated for the post, I can tell you he would be superbly well qualified if that turned out to be the nomination, both as a conduit to Israel and also to Arab countries. If you talk to a lot of Arab diplomats who have worked with Martin Indyk, talk to Palestinians, talk to Egyptians, Jordanians, talk to Gulf officials, Martin Indyk is a respected figure throughout the Middle East.

QUESTION: I'm sure he is.

QUESTION: Will you do one more on Weld?

MR. BURNS: Yes. I'll be glad to do one more. Jim, do you mind? We'll go back to Weld and then we'll go to your question.

QUESTION: Is it your understanding that Senator Helms, the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is not in a position to personally prevent the nomination from reaching the Senate Floor?

MR. BURNS: Well, I did not address myself to that question in my own remarks. Senator Helms is the Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee. Any individual wishing to be confirmed by the Senate for nomination must, of course, have a hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and then a vote before the full Senate. Senator Helms is a powerful individual. We have great respect for him. Secretary Albright has worked very hard to work on a good cooperative basis with Senator Helms and she will approach this task, obviously, in that spirit -- the spirit of cooperation with Senator Helms.

QUESTION: Do you think that if he wishes to, he could stop this nomination from reaching the Senate Floor; or do you not think that is the case?

MR. BURNS: Well, I'm not an analyst on legislative affairs. Obviously, he is the Chairman of the committee and, therefore, we'll need to talk to him about this particular nomination. He is a very important figure on that committee.

QUESTION: Do you expect the Secretary to speak to him on this matter before the end of the week?

MR. BURNS: I expect she will do it at the first opportunity, yes. Betsy?

QUESTION: The District Attorney's Office in New York City has a finding on the incident that involved several diplomats on December 29th of last year.

MR. BURNS: Yes. Yes.

QUESTION: They have found that the police officers acted reasonably and appropriately and the diplomats could be charged a variety of charges were the various governments to grant diplomatic immunity. I've been told that the DA's office has notified the State Department of this finding. Is that true? And what are the next steps?

MR. BURNS: The Assistant District Attorney for New York County informed the Department this morning, sent a letter to us this morning on the incident. In late December there was an altercation between the New York City police and two diplomats, one from the Russian Federation and one from Belarus.

We have just received this letter a couple of hours ago. We are currently reviewing the letter. I understand that there is a news release that has been put out by the District Attorney, which essentially says the investigation has been completed. It has concluded that the police officers acted reasonably and appropriately - I'm reading from it - and that diplomats could be charged criminally if they did not have diplomatic immunity. The charges range from driving while intoxicated to obstructing government administration, resisting arrest, harassment and disorderly conduct.

Those are charges brought by the assistant district attorney in the County of New York. We have just received the full report. We are looking through it. Obviously, I don't have a lot to say until we are finished with that review. But the next step, if charges are to be brought -- and it looks like they are -- by the County of New York, the next step would be for the State Department to approach the Embassy of the Russian Federation and the Embassy of Belarus and inform them formally of these charges, and of course, to request a waiver of diplomatic immunity. Yes. I'm sorry, Jim was next, and then we'll go. Yes.

QUESTION: We haven't had a chance to ask you about some statements made by the new Iranian President, which seem to be less intransigent and less truculent than those made by his predecessors about relations with the United States. Have you seen those statements? And do you detect any change?

MR. BURNS: Well, many of us saw the press conference that he gave in Tehran, I think the week before last. You have seen President Clinton's comments on President Khamenei, who has not yet taken office. I think I would refer you to President Clinton's comments.

QUESTION: The comments I was talking about were President Khamenei's response to President Clinton's statement in London.

MR. BURNS: I have not seen President Khamenei's response to President Clinton, and I will be glad to look into that and try to get something for you.

QUESTION: Well, essentially he - welcome may be too strong - but he was interested in those remarks about possible contact between the two governments. When you take the question, do you see any weather change since the new man has taken over?

MR. BURNS: See if what - excuse me?

QUESTION: Have you seen an weather change?

MR. BURNS: Weather change, from Tehran, you mean?

QUESTION: Yeah.

MR. BURNS: Yes, I be glad to take that question and look into and try to get you an answer.

QUESTION: Africa?

MR. BURNS: Yes.

QUESTION: In Germany the Foreign Ministry announced that it is in possession of information - information which it calls absolutely sound - of indications of massacres and acts of genocide in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as it now called.

MR. BURNS: Which government?

QUESTION: The German Foreign Ministry.

MR. BURNS: German Government.

QUESTION: And they have even gone so far as to, on the basis of this information, take the initiative within the EU to send a delegation to Congo in order to investigate. And more specifically, since there are also indications that these acts of genocide are not a thing of the past, but are ongoing in Eastern Zaire and also in Kinshasa, that they will also have the task of setting a stop to this.

I was wondering since the U.S. has made this a major issue and has seen the same reports -- perhaps they are in possession of the same type of information -- what steps would you want to take or Ambassador Richardson to take when he goes to Zaire with regard to these matters in particular, the genocide and massacres?

MR. BURNS: Well, this is a question that has been a great interest to us for well over a month now. Secretary Albright and Ambassador Richardson have both been very forthright in calling for the United Nations to launch a formal investigation into the allegations of brutalities and massacres against the Rwandan Hutu refugees in and around Kisangani.

We have talked directly to Mr. Kabila about the importance of the Congo cooperating with this investigation. Secretary General Kofi Annan has spoken out very clearly and with a great deal of justifiable anger about this. We fully support the United Nations effort to look into this, to prepare a report, and to bring those who are responsible to justice. We trust that Mr. Kabila and his government will support this effort.

QUESTION: Will you take any measure with regard to possible ongoing acts of violence against the Hutus? Is there any attempt to set a stop to that? Not simply to investigate things that have occurred, but --

MR. BURNS: We have called upon Mr. Kabila, who exercises authority in Congo, to control his own troops, to have better discipline among his troops, and to make them responsible for the treatment of civilians whom they encounter in the course of their own duties. That is a very important message. We have given it quite clearly. The United States was the first country to speak out about this, and we have spoken out loud and clear. We're not going to stop now. We're very concerned about this.

This is a potential black mark against the Congo. We think that the government officials in Kinshasa ought to be seized by it and ought to do the right thing here -- turn over for prosecution those government soldiers or rebel soldiers at the time who may have been - may have been - responsible for these massacres. Betsy.

QUESTION: Nick, there is a wire story this morning that your good friends the French have sent an economic delegation to Libya with the express purpose of expanding economic ties with that country. Are you aware of this trip? Do you have any reaction?

MR. BURNS: I'm not aware of it. I haven't seen anything like that. We are good friends with the French. We had an excellent mission to the Caucasus with them. We get on well in Bosnia, on the Congo. I know nothing about a French delegation to Libya.

Of course, that would be out of bounds because there are United Nations sanctions in place against Libya because Libya, we believe -- there is substantial evidence that Libya directed the shoot-down of Pan Am Flight 103 in December 1988. We haven't forgotten the people who died on that flight. That is the reason for the sanctions - and a French UTA airliner that was shot down. The French Government itself has charged Qadafi's brother-in-law with implication in that particular terror attack.

So the Libyans have a lot to answer for. No government ought to break the UN sanctions. I'm not saying the French are at all. But no government ought to break those sanctions.

QUESTION: On Hong Kong.

MR. BURNS: Yes, ma'am.

QUESTION: The General Accounting Office today released a report confirming the national security concerns raised by two Congress people - Congressman Spence and Gilman - over the U.S. export of sensitive technologies to Hong Kong after its reversion to China. The report also recommends that the U.S. Government should improve its ability to monitor controlled items exported to Hong Kong in order to determine if the amount of controlled exports significantly increases after Hong Kong's reversion. Well, what is the Administration going to do to address the concern?

MR. BURNS: I have not seen the GAO report. I would like to see the report and have our experts analyze it before I have a comment to make on it. But it's a fair question. Let me take the question and try to get back to you on it.

QUESTION: We understand that Mr. Yong Yun, who is a former aide to Mayor Barry, was supposed to have made a court appearance yesterday in the District and did not show up. And there is some suggestion that he may be in South Korea and is the United States doing anything to get him over here?

MR. BURNS: No. I don't believe John nor I have heard about this. We will have to look into this, too.

QUESTION: Thank you.

MR. BURNS: Lots to look into, today. Henry?

QUESTION: There was a conversation last week that you would be aware between the Secretary of State and the Foreign Minister Lloyd Axworthy of Canada on salmon.

MR. BURNS: Yes, that's right.

QUESTION: And we were led to believe by your - by John Dinger, who ably stood in for you, in your absence.

MR. BURNS: Yes, he did, very ably.

QUESTION: That this was --

MR. BURNS: He was delighted to do it, too.

QUESTION: He was very delighted to do it, yes. And we were told at that time, that about mid-week we could expect some continuing efforts on the salmon issue.

MR. BURNS: Yes.

QUESTION: Can you tell us about where we stand on those efforts? And as a side issue, as well, we have Senator Ted Stevens talking about refusal to pay for environmental cleanup on the military installations in Canada as retribution for action that country has taken. And from the Canadian side we have a 90-day notice given to the State Department that they want Nanoose Bay naval test range closed, that being the submarine torpedo launching test range.

Given this escalation, in the interim, can you tell us anything about what is going on and what is likely to happen?

MR. BURNS: Well, Henry, the United States remains committed to resolving the Pacific salmon dispute with Canada. Secretary Albright, I believe, has spoken twice with Minister Axworthy over the past ten days or so. She, of course, has congratulated him upon his election as a member of Parliament and the fact that he'll be Canadian Foreign Minister.

We hope that this conflict can be resolved by both the governments and the stakeholders involved. We do encourage continued talks among the stakeholders. It wasn't the United States that curtailed these talks. It wasn't the United States that walked away from the negotiating table. The United States was willing to stay at the negotiating table and we're willing to go back to the negotiating table, but we need a partner which is willing to negotiate with us on a good faith basis. That means no unilateral measures taken unfairly against American fishing vessels or American interests. We think the tension should be cooled. We ought to talk amicably because we are best friends and neighbors. Even though the Toronto Blue Jays stole Roger Clemens from the Red Sox, we're best friends and neighbors.

QUESTION: Yes.

MR. BURNS: We think that, really, the time has come to lower the temperature, talk about this amicably and move forward.

QUESTION: Without going over the plowed ground that we have been as to who was responsible for the talks, yes, the Canadian ambassador did walk away from the talks --

MR. BURNS: There is no question about who's responsible for curtailing the talks. He walked away from the talks.

QUESTION: He argues that your representative, Mary Beth West, was not - had not approached the table under the provisions that they had assumed was --

MR. BURNS: Well, we disagree with that.

QUESTION: There is genuine disagreement. The fishing season, however, Mr. Burns, is upon us. American ships are moving north to catch fish. There is heightened tension in Canada and, indeed, in the United States areas where this is involved.

MR. BURNS: Yes.

QUESTION: And one would presume that the Secretary of State and Mr. Axworthy are anxious to get these talks back. And that is really what I am asking you is do we have a timetable for those talks?

MR. BURNS: I don't believe we have a timetable for the re-commencement of the talks, but Secretary Albright wants to use all of our resources and efforts here to resume the talks and reach an agreement. Now, it will take good faith on the part of the government of Canada and all the stakeholders involved from the Western American states and the Western Canadian provinces. But we are certain that that can happen if the governments give the right signals. Walking away from talks is not the right signal. Rejoining the talks would be the right signal.

QUESTION: Well, to follow up on that, last week we were given a three point position that Canada -- which would be evidence that Canada was dealing with this in good faith -- that there would be no more arrest of ships. There have not been any further arrests of ships. That there be no more threats by Canada about actions. That, indeed, has happened. And that there would be a willingness on the part of the negotiator to return to the table and talk, and I understand from the Canadian officials that that has been done. Those steps having been taken, the encroachment of the season upon us, the fact that historically every time American ships have moved up into the fishing ground, talks do cease, do we have any encouragement that something is going to move forward on this?

MR. BURNS: Well, we don't believe that the advent of the fishing season means the talks should cease. We think the talks should continue. We approach it with the greatest respect for Canada, for the Western provinces and for the stakeholders and we hope to make progress.

QUESTION: One very final question. We have an American Senator now and a Canadian Premier arguing about this, tit-for-tat retaliation. This can't be what is in the interest of both countries.

MR. BURNS: Well, emotions are high. There are legitimate interests involved here, economic interests, other interests and it is up to the two governments to send the proper signals. We are sending a signal of cooperation and of hope that this very disruptive issue can be decided very quickly.

QUESTION: Have you gotten no signals from the Canadian Government? There was a supposition once the Canadian elections were over --

MR. BURNS: Well, we were pleased that the arrests - that our ships now have not been detained for a while. There was a report this morning that one had been, but we think that report is false; so we hope that trend continues. Secretary Albright, of course, will want to work with Minister Axworthy cooperatively, and that is what she intends to do.

QUESTION: Can we have John Dinger back?

(Laughter.)

MR. BURNS: Was John more forthcoming? Did he tell you our state secrets?

QUESTION: Put aside the GAO report, as the date for the Hong Kong reversion approaches, the Congress concerns also is being intensified. And, also, the GAO report today I think reveals this kind of intensified concern over Hong Kong. So, what would you like to say to address those kinds of concerns?

MR. BURNS: Well, the United States has made its view very clear. We expect the reversion will be peaceful and stable; that it will result in the continuation of the civil and political rights of the people of Hong Kong, of its way of life and of its enormous success -- economic and political success. We don't believe there is any reason to adjust in any way the laws of Hong Kong that give the people of Hong Kong the right to political freedom; the right to say what they want to say, print what they want to print -- the freedom of press; the right to assemble politically and to have free political parties. All of this is very, very important. We have consistently supported the democrats of Hong Kong in maintaining these rights and the economic status which, of course, has brought success not only to Hong Kong but to the United States. We have thousands of American companies - I think 40,000 Americans live there -- and tremendous American financial interest in what happens. So the reversion needs to go well.

It will go well if the people of Hong Kong are allowed to maintain their economic and political way of life.

QUESTION: But the question is that, does the government have any concern over the exports to Hong Kong after its reversion?

MR. BURNS: Yes, and I have decided that I am going to take that question and get back to you with a brilliant answer. I promise that.

QUESTION: Just one more, and a brief one.

MR. BURNS: Yes, we have another back here, yes.

QUESTION: Well, this will be very brief. Has John Hirsch, Ambassador Hirsch declared the very brilliant evacuation at Sierra Leone finished?

MR. BURNS: We believe that evacuation by the U.S.S. Kearsarge is essentially finished. We believe there may a couple of American citizens remaining in Sierra Leone by their own choice. We think that they should have left. They decided to stay. We hope that they will be safe.

The Kearsarge now is evacuating people to Conakry in Guinea. There, people are proceeding on to destinations in North America and in Europe. I think the final totals are 2,509 people have been brought out, of whom 451 are American citizens.

There is a very nice ending, at least to the story of three little kids -- two 4-year-old kids and one 9-month-old child, who were left without their parents or guardians in the evacuation, and they were picked up on Brussels by our American Consul General Ted Halstead and his wife -- three little kids without escorts, no one knows where the parents are. But we think we have found at least next of kin.

Mr. Halstead and his wife are boarding a plane today from Brussels to fly back to Dulles to bring these kids back to people who can take care of them in the United States. It's a wonderful thing that this foreign service officer and his wife are doing, and we commend him for it.

But I think the American military has distinguished itself with this evacuation. It's been in the best humanitarian interests and traditions of our country. They have shown why they are the best military in the world -- the way they have been able to do this and be so responsive to so many thousands of foreigners who did not have a way out.

Considering what happened at the Mammy Yoko Hotel, completely destroyed. Much of downtown Sierra Leone has turned into a fire fight between the Nigerians and the rebels. Thank goodness these thousands of people got out in time, including 451 Americans. Yes.

QUESTION: Nick, did you have statement on the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square incident?

MR. BURNS: I don't believe I have a formal statement on the anniversary of Tiananmen. Obviously, we know that we mark this anniversary. We remember what happened in the Spring of 1989, when peaceful demonstrations spread throughout the country but they were met by violent force from the government. We greatly regret the violence; the people who were killed and wounded; the resulting crackdown on democrats and human rights champions. We continue to stand up for the rights of the political dissidents and the people of China to have greater political freedom.

(The briefing concluded at 2:03 P.M.)

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