U.S. Department of State Daily Press Briefing #25, 99-03-03
From: The Department of State Foreign Affairs Network (DOSFAN) at <http://www.state.gov>
597
U.S. Department of State
Daily Press Briefing
I N D E X
Wednesday, March 3, 1999
Briefer: James B. Foley
UGANDA
1 Secretary Albright extends condolences to victims and their
families.
1-2,3 An FBI team is already assisting Ugandan government:
another team to arrive shortly.
2 Ugandan government pursuing the band of killers; Rwandan
government also assisting.
3 US government had no prior warning of the attack
3-4 Bwindi national park is difficult to penetrate, not
controlled by any government forces.
4 The acts were criminal, wanton, not political.
4 Information suggests tourists in that area were
deliberately targeted by perpetrators.
GERMANY
5 Convicted murderer is a German national scheduled for
execution in Arizona today.
5 German government has asked for stay of execution.
Department takes no position.
NORTH KOREA
6 Bilateral talks in New York continue today; no prediction
on when they will conclude.
6-7 Dr. Perry not traveling to DPRK on current swing through
Asia.
KOSOVO
7 US diplomatic strategy leading up to resumption of talks
elaborated previously.
7 Ex-Sen. Dole going to Pristina on Friday, to meet with a
range of Kosovar Albanians.
TURKEY
8 US continuing analysis of bombing in response to targeting
of coalition aircraft.
8 Cooperating with Turkish government in this matter.
PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY
9 US would welcome Chairman Arafat's indefinite delay of a
unilateral announcement on independence.
CUBA
10 US would support US-Cuba baseball exhibitions.
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING
DPB #25
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 3, 1999, 1:30 P.M.
(ON THE RECORD UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED)
MR. FOLEY: Welcome to the State Department. Another on-time briefing from
your Deputy Spokesman: I apologize. I see you don't play the same games
when the cameras are rolling as you do on the other days.
QUESTION: (Inaudible.)
MR. FOLEY: I don't play those games.
(Laughter.)
I also noticed that there are never any female journalists playing those
games, either, unless I'm mistaken. It looks like a throwback to another
era.
QUESTION: Could you update us on Uganda, particularly suggestions that
prior warnings of Hutu attacks were ignored?
MR. FOLEY: I've certainly not seen any reference to prior warnings having
been received.
QUESTION: Any update you could give us?
MR. FOLEY: Well, first, I'd like to formally express the condolences of
Secretary Albright and the State Department to the two American citizens
who lost their lives in this brutal attack, Robert Haubner and Susan Miller
of Hillsboro, Oregon. They were innocent victims of a group of mindless
criminals.
Our embassy staff in Kampala are currently working with local authorities,
who performed autopsies on the bodies today. We secured the presence of a
US Government official at the autopsies. In accordance with the wishes of
the families of Mr. Haubner and Miss Miller, our embassy is facilitating
arrangements for return of the remains. Details, including the exact
itinerary and timing have yet to be finalized. The Department continues to
be working with the families in this regard.
In terms of other developments, we understand that an FBI team is on the
ground already. Two FBI agents arrived in Kampala yesterday to assist the
government of Uganda, at their request, with the investigation of the
kidnappings and the subsequent brutal murders of eight of the hostages. A
second FBI team, comprised of five agents, is scheduled to arrive in
Kampala shortly to assist in the investigation.
In addition to continuing to work with the families of the victims and
working with the survivors in Kampala, we've remained in active diplomatic
contact with governments in the region; most especially with the government
of Uganda, which is continuing to pursue the band of attackers and to seek
to capture them and bring them to justice. We've also been in touch with
the government of Rwanda on an active basis to seek their assistance as
well. I understand that the Rwandan authorities are also doing what they
can to try to apprehend the killers. We've been in contact with other
governments, to include the government in Kinshasa, to urge them to bring
to bear any influence they may have in that part of the country where
these Hutu rebels are running loose.
QUESTION: Can I just follow up on that? What I saw of what the government
said was not quite as civilized as what you said. They did not talk about
bringing them to justice so much as going out and just killing them -
finding them and killing them. I just wondered if that troubled you at
all.
MR. FOLEY: I believe that the President of Uganda may have used that term,
but also used the term bringing them to justice. It is impossible to
foresee what the circumstances might be under which they would be captured,
if there were some kind of clash. Obviously, some casualties might ensue.
But I believe President Museveni also talked about bringing them to
justice.
QUESTION: What is the FBI going to do?
MR. FOLEY: The FBI is helping assist in the investigation.
QUESTION: I don't understand; what is there to investigate?
MR. FOLEY: Well, there's forensic evidence; there's interviews with the
survivors, and liaison with the Ugandan authorities who are investigating
the murders. They're establishing the facts of the case, and could also
help in the elaboration of an eventual indictment, if such were to ensue in
US courts. I'm not saying that that would be the case, but the FBI can
assist foreign governments at their request.
I know you asked me the question, yesterday, about the definition of
terrorism and whether that would be applicable here. In that eventuality,
the FBI work would be laying the groundwork for such an indictment, if that
were to occur. But also, the FBI can assist, at the request of foreign
governments, in their own investigation of such matters.
QUESTION: It's possible these people - the Interhamwe guerrillas - might
be indicted in a US court and attempts will be made to extradite them
back?
MR. FOLEY: Well, it's 'way premature to speculate on that possibility.
The fact is that the matter is being investigated by Ugandan law enforcement,
with assistance from the FBI on the ground. Until it's possible, definitively,
to identify the perpetrators, and to definitively ascribe a motive for
their barbaric acts, it's not possible to apply the textbook definition of
terrorism. That may be, indeed, where the evidence leads; but it's
getting ahead of the investigators at this point.
QUESTION: Jim, did the Ugandan government invite the FBI, or did the FBI
go on its own?
MR. FOLEY: I believe it was the at the request of the Ugandan authorities.
QUESTION: Jim, just going back to what George asked, a little more
specifically. Apparently today Britain asked the government of Uganda to
investigate reports that warnings of attacks by the rebels had been
received and were not communicated. Have you not received this report?
MR. FOLEY: As I mentioned a minute ago, I've not heard that report that
there were prior warnings that came to the attention of the Ugandan
authorities. We did not have any prior warning.
QUESTION: Let me just follow up, too. Apparently the Ugandan President
also said today that some of the park rangers had heard that this could
happen, but didn't communicate that to the military. Can you --
MR. FOLEY: Well, we certainly noted, in our Consular Information Sheet,
the fact that there were instances of banditry and armed robbery that have
occurred in Southwestern Uganda, and also that instability in the
neighboring countries of Rwanda and in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
could be a factor; and therefore, urged American citizens to stay in touch
with the American Embassy before traveling there.
But in terms of your specific question: Did we have any advance warning
that these Hutu rebels that, after all, operate normally not in Uganda but
in the neighboring countries, might take an incursion into Uganda and
threaten the lives of foreign tourists -- no, we had no such information.
QUESTION: Can you give us an idea of how difficult a task this is going
to be, to actually find these people and bring them to justice?
MR. FOLEY: Well, I'm told that park - the Bwindi National Park - is not
called "the Impenetrable Forest" for no reason. In fact, it is virtually
impenetrable; it is a very thick jungle, and it's also mountainous. It's an
area, as I indicated yesterday, that's not really controlled by the
governments in the region, given the topography and the terrain. Therefore,
it's not difficult for a rebel group to insinuate itself into and
throughout that area without being detected. I can imagine that it
would be difficult to track them down as well. But we can make no
predictions as to the eventual success of the regional governments to
track down and locate the perpetrators. But we do know that we are
getting cooperation from some of those governments that I mentioned
that have forces in the area and that are endeavoring -- actively
now -- to try to track them down. We are hopeful that will be possible.
Certainly, we're not going to rest until that happens. It may not be easy;
it may take some time, but it will have the highest priority of the United
States.
QUESTION: Are you aware of any specific information as to who these
specific people may be? Do you know of any people who survived, came away
with any names or any kind of information that could authorities some
indication of exactly who these individuals were?
MR. FOLEY: Well, the word "individual," I think, is tricky. I don't know
if the eyewitnesses managed, or the victims who survived managed to get any
particular names. It would surprise me if they identified themselves, the
perpetrators. But we do have a reasonable idea of who they are collectively,
because they identified themselves to the victims as Rwandan Hutus, and
they indicated to the victims that they were acting because they opposed
the Tutsi ethnic group in Rwanda, they opposed the government in Rwanda,
they opposed, I believe, the government of Rwanda's policies in the
Democratic Republic of Congo. Therefore, they were acting to send a signal
in that regard.
But we don't accept any such pseudo-justification for such barbaric acts.
These were not only criminal acts and acts of wanton murder, but they were
perpetrated by the very same people who killed more than half a million
people in Rwanda itself, some five years ago now. In other words, these are
genocidal elements, and to ascribe any kind of legitimate or even quasi-
legitimate political motivation to a band of killers is something that is
unthinkable.
QUESTION: One more question. Are you aware of any events in that part of
Africa that may have driven these people in towards that forest? I mean,
any reason at all, any disturbances that may have driven them into that
part of Uganda, that they sort of saw an opportunity to do something like
that? Or do you think this was a target for that area, where they knew that
foreigners could be?
MR. FOLEY: Based on the limited information we have thus far - it would
look as though the latter scenario were the case; namely, that these rebels
deliberately marched into Southwestern Uganda with the deliberate intent to
sow terror among Western tourists -- perhaps, to discourage Western
tourists from traveling to that part of Uganda. After all, the rebels have
opposed the authorities in Uganda, as well, because of Uganda's support
for Rwanda, Uganda's involvement in the internal conflict in the Democratic
Republic of Congo.
It looks at this point, Betsy, to have been a deliberate act. I have no
information that events inside Congo had pushed them in that direction,
no.
QUESTION: Jim, could I switch to another law enforcement matter? Have you
seen that the German government has issued an appeal to the International
Court of Justice in the case of one of the Lagrand brothers in Arizona. Was
the State Department at all involved in that process?
MR. FOLEY: Yes, I've seen that report. The case involves, as you say,
Walter Lagrand, who is one of two brothers who committed murder during a
1982 bank robbery in Arizona. Both were convicted and sentenced to death,
and Lagrand's brother was executed on February 24. Walter Lagrand's
execution is scheduled for today in Arizona.
Germany is involved in this case because the two brothers were born in
Germany and are German nationals, although they came to the United States
as small boys, and lived here throughout their lives. Germany filed suit in
the International Court last night on the grounds that the two brothers
should have been advised that German consular officials could be notified
of their arrest and detention.
The requirement for giving this advice to foreign nationals is set forth in
the Vienna Convention on consular relations. Germany asks, among other
things, that Walter Lagrand not be executed, pending the court's final
decision in the case.
The Department of State has transmitted a copy of the papers filed with the
court to the governor of Arizona. We understand that the governor has
decided to proceed with the execution, assuming that it is not stayed by
the US Supreme Court.
QUESTION: Does the State Department take a position, other than simply
transmitting the documents?
MR. FOLEY: No, we have not. We simply transmitted the documents.
QUESTION: Could I ask one more Uganda question? Can you give us an idea
of how serious a threat this is to the economy of Uganda, whether this
particular tourist site brought in a lot of money for that government?
MR. FOLEY: Well, I don't have those statistics; perhaps the Ugandan
Embassy might have that for you. We have, for our part, issued a Public
Announcement, warning American citizens not to travel to that part of the
country, pending further clarification of the situation there. When you
have an incident - and we've not had one like this in that park - when
something like this takes place, then we owe it to American citizens to
warn them not to travel there any longer.
How long that warning would remain in effect would depend on events to
follow: on the assessment of the threat, the assessment of what measures
the authorities are putting in place -- not only to chase down the
perpetrators, but to ensure that region becomes more secure and such events
cannot happen again. It's difficult to forecast when we'll be able to
revise our warning in that regard.
QUESTION: In the recent days the Turkish Government, at the highest level,
is militarily threatening Greece with a series of aggressive statements.
The lack of condemnation by your government has been perceived by Ankara as
a green light for more attacks. I'm wondering, do you condemn those
aggressive Turkish statements against Greece?
MR. FOLEY: I'm not aware of such statements.
QUESTION: Two Korea questions: Do you have any update on the New York
talks? Also, according to a South Korean report, the United States told
South Korea that North Korean leaders, Kim Jung-Il, is due to visit China
in September. This would be his first trip abroad. Do you have anything on
either one?
MR. FOLEY: On the second question, no, we have no such information;
therefore, I believe it's wrong to report that we've told the Chinese
authorities that because --
QUESTION: Told South Korea that Kim Jung-Il would visit China in
September.
MR. FOLEY: I see.
QUESTION: Either way?
MR. FOLEY: We have no such information, no.
In terms of the bilateral talks going on in New York about the Kumchang-ni
underground site, those talks, which began on Saturday in New York, are
continuing today. We can't predict yet when they may conclude. I really
don't have more to say on that. As you know, we don't talk about those
negotiations while they're occurring. We hope that they wrap up sometime in
the next few days, but I can't tell you when they're going to end or how
they're going to end, either.
QUESTION: Can you say if you feel like you're making any progress?
MR. FOLEY: I wouldn't want to say that.
QUESTION: I mean, I assume you are.
MR. FOLEY: If we were, I wouldn't say it, because we never talk about the
negotiations while they're ongoing.
QUESTION: One thing about Perry's trip. I notice North Korea is not on
the itinerary. Is that still a possibility - that at some point before he
concludes his work he'll go to North Korea?
MR. FOLEY: I don't know that there are any plans in that regard.
Certainly he's not going there on this swing through Asia.
QUESTION: Can you say why?
MR. FOLEY: Well, because he's still in the middle of his comprehensive
review of US policy toward North Korea. He deemed it helpful to go out to
the region to consult with our treaty allies - South Korea and Japan - and
also to consult with the Chinese authorities as he's elaborating his review
and thinking about the various options that we face, and the various
policy factors he's going to take into consideration. He's been out
there previously, so this is a second round of consultations. He's
been consulting with policy experts here in Washington, with the academic
community, with Congress. It's an ongoing effort, and we felt it was
important to talk to friends and interested states in the region at this
point.
QUESTION: New subject - on Kosovo, can you tell us if the Administration
is planning to send Richard Holbrooke to Belgrade; if he's going, when he's
going; why, and why he hasn't been involved until this point?
MR. FOLEY: That's a lot of "whys," can I can answer it with a single no;
namely, that we've made no such decision in that regard.
QUESTION: There's a report in The New York Times today that he is
planning to go. Are you saying that report is incorrect?
MR. FOLEY: I can't confirm the report. Certainly, we're looking at a -
I've been asked this question over several days - namely, what is our
diplomatic strategy leading up to the resumption of talks on March 15. I've
laid out a few things that we have planned, including the visit of Senator
Dole to Kosovo. Secretary Albright spoke to him, as you know, a few days
ago and the President has asked him to go to Kosovo. He's going to do so,
leaving tomorrow and arriving there on Friday.
We've also talked about the fact that the Kosovar Albanians will send a
delegation here to Washington to talk with us in the next number of days. I
still don't have a specific date for that yet. I've been asked the question
about what we're doing with the Serb side. Ambassador Hill was in to see
President Milutinovic the other day, and more diplomatic contact with the
Serbs is likely. I wouldn't rule out any particular option; but we've made
no decisions, though, in that regard.
QUESTION: So this is one option under consideration?
MR. FOLEY: Well, there are a number of options under consideration.
QUESTION: Do you have Sen. Dole's itinerary Friday?
MR. FOLEY: He's going to be in Pristina. He's going to meet with a range
of Albanians. I don't know if I have his particular schedule in front of
me. Excuse me one second, as I check. As we've said previously, he's going
to Kosovo to advance the search for a political settlement to the crisis in
the region. His trip will support the negotiating efforts of Ambassador
Hill and his Contact Group colleagues. He's expected to arrive in Kosovo
on Friday. He will meet with a broad range of the Kosovo political
leadership, including leaders of the KLA. He will encourage them to endorse
the decision of the Kosovar Albanian delegation to sign on to the
Rambouillet accords for an interim political settlement.
As we reported previously, Ambassador Hill has reported encouraging signs
in the last few days that the Kosovar Albanians are moving towards full
implementation of the Rambouillet accords. Once the Albanians accept the
Rambouillet text formally, pressure on the Serbs to do so will mount. We
believe that that message will become increasingly clear to President
Milosevic in the days to come.
Certainly an unequivocal "yes," which we expect from the Kosovar Albanians,
will allow the international community to focus attention really where it
belongs, which is on the Serb failure to agree to the proposals of the
Contact Group.
QUESTION: Another subject - Turkey as it relates to Iraq. Turkey's
President Demirel said today that Ankara could not accept US strikes in
Northern Iraq that led to a closure of an oil pipeline that carried crude
from Iraq to Turkey. It sounds as if the Turks believe that the US air
actions broke that pipeline and cut off their flow and cut off their
commerce that they need badly. Does the US have any up-to-date assessment
about US bombing and pipeline damage?
MR. FOLEY: Well, we are continuing further analysis to determine what
actually had happened. As we've reported previously, on the 20th of
February and also on the 1st of March, US forces hit several targets that
were associated with Iraqi attempts to engage our aircraft on those days.
As you know, we are targeting not only air defense radar and weapons
systems, but also other parts of these Iraqi air defense command-and-
control early warning and communications network.
We targeted these facilities because we believe that they serve a function
in the operation of Iraq's air defense system in that part of the country.
As I said, we're conducting further analysis of those strikes, and we're
cooperating with the Turkish Government in the investigation of this
matter. We can state certainly that we don't intentionally target an
infrastructure associated with the Oil-for-Food program, but this matter is
being looked into.
QUESTION: Isn't this a potentially sensitive matter since the US uses
bases in Turkey, the Incirlik air base, to patrol the northern fly zone in
Iraq?
MR. FOLEY: Well, absolutely; we cooperate very closely with the
government of Turkey in this important common endeavor. So we're consulting
with them and working with them on this issue.
QUESTION: According to Greek Cypriot press report, Ambassador Miller is
going to go to the area. Can you confirm this?
MR. FOLEY: I have not heard that report. I'd be happy to look into it for
you, though.
QUESTION: Will the Secretary be traveling to Brussels on her way back in
the upcoming days?
MR. FOLEY: I don't have any information on her schedule beyond what I
know it to be in Asia.
QUESTION: Last weekend, the Simitis Government transferred safely from
the Greek Embassy in Nairobi to Athens, the remaining three Kurdish women
of PKK. Any comment for the record?
MR. FOLEY: Yes, I commented on that last week. You need to check the
transcript.
QUESTION: What did you say? No, Mr. Foley, that's happened last weekend.
The transportation of -- it happened last weekend. It was Saturday and
Sunday.
MR. FOLEY: I spoke to that on the record last week.
QUESTION: Do you have any comment on the New York Post report on the
apparent Mossad wiretapping involving -
MR. FOLEY: I believe the White House has dismissed the report out of
hand. I don't have anything to add.
QUESTION: This is a follow-up. Did you cooperate with the Greek
Government for this transportation from Nairobi to Athens?
MR. FOLEY: On which transportation?
QUESTION: For the three Kurdish women from Nairobi to Athens. Did you
cooperate with the Greek Government?
MR. FOLEY: In the comment that I gave that you are asking me about, I
noted that the United States was opposed to this granting of asylum. So we,
by any definition, could not possibly have cooperated in such a transfer.
QUESTION: Jim, I was wondering - Palestinian officials saying today they
have informed Washington that Arafat will delay his announcement of a
Palestinian state indefinitely.
MR. FOLEY: I've not heard that, but certainly we would welcome that if it
were the case, since we believe that any such unilateral action in that
regard would set back the cause of peace, and of a settlement of the Arab-
Israeli conflict, or the issues dividing the Palestinians and the Israelis.
Any unilateral acts would, in fact, reverse progress for all sides. So if
that is true, we would welcome the development.
QUESTION: Has anybody - Dennis or anyone - been traveling to the Middle
East?
MR. FOLEY: Not that I'm aware of. I haven't spoken with him in several
days, but I'm not aware that he's traveling. I can check that for you,
though.
QUESTION: The Baltimore Sun says this morning that the Orioles and Cuba
are closer to agreement because the proceeds over which they have been
arguing are too small to make much of a difference, and that the prospects
for the game or games taking place have brightened. Do you have anything on
that?
MR. FOLEY: Well, we would support the idea that American baseball players
could show their stuff in Cuba and vice versa, as you know. We hope that
that can be arranged in conformity with US law. I don't have any update,
though, on how those talks are going.
Thank you.
(The briefing concluded at 2:00 P.M.)
|
