U.S. Department of State Daily Press Briefing #84, 00-08-21
From: The Department of State Foreign Affairs Network (DOSFAN) at <http://www.state.gov>
671
U.S. Department of State
Press Briefing
MONDAY, AUGUST 21, 2000
Briefer: RICHARD BOUCHER, SPOKESMAN
STATEMENTS
1 Elections Held on August 20th In Chechnya to Choose New Duma Deputy
RUSSIA
1-2 Validity of Elections Held in Chechnya
2 Nuclear Submarine Disaster's Effect on US-Russian Relations
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO
2-4 Two American Citizens Declared Persona Non Grata in Congo
SOUTH KOREA
4-5 Military Exercises
5 Progress in Korean Reconciliation
IRAN
5-6 Request for US Cooperation in Finding Two Downed Helicopter Pilots
in the Gulf
ISRAEL
6 Discovery of US Army Officer Who Was Missing in Israel /Israeli
Headlines Claiming that US Army Officer Who Was Missing is Spy
CHINA/TIBET
6-7,10 Exclusion of Dalai Lama From UN Summit of Religious Leaders /
Dialogue Between the Secretary and Senator Helms
BRAZIL
7 Brazil's Rejection of Participation in Plan Colombia
HUMAN RIGHTS
7-9 Secretary's Recommendation to President on Human Rights Waivers
COLOMBIA
8-9 Informing Colombia of Human Rights Recommendation
MEXICO
9 Results of Elections in Chiapas State of Mexico
ECUADOR
9 Financial Assistance to Ecuador for Refugees
PAKISTAN
10-11 Demonstration at Pakistan Embassy by Christians /General Musharaff
AFGHANISTAN
10 Handing Over Usama Bin Laden to United States /Use of Ariana
Airlines to Evacuate Children to Germany
MIDDLE EAST PEACE PROCESS
11-12 Palestinian Statement Regarding No Compromise on Jerusalem / Dennis
Ross Trip to Middle East / Millenium Summit Meetings
CHILE
12-13 Secretary Albright's Success in Getting More Disclosure About
Events in Chile
13-14 Attendance at Religious Conference in New York
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING
DPB #84
MONDAY, AUGUST 21, 2000, 12:45 P.M.
(ON THE RECORD UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED)
MR. BOUCHER: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. It is a pleasure to be
back here with you.
If I can off the top just mention - we have a statement in more detail, but
we are talking a little bit about the elections that were held in Chechnya
over the weekend on August 20th by the Russian government to choose a new
deputy for Chechnya. The final results are not yet available. But at this
point, I would say, it is going to be difficult to make any kind of
judgment on the conduct of this election under the conditions that are
prevailing in Chechnya. Voting took place without international observers
present and amid a continuing conflict.
The United States believes that elections in Chechnya can help bring about
reconciliation and the strengthening of democratic institutions. However,
to allow the broadest possible participation, it would be far better for
elections to take place following a political settlement.
With that brief statement - there will be more in writing - I would be glad
to take your questions.
QUESTION: On the Russian nuclear submarine disaster -
QUESTION: So, you don't want to come out against elections, but these
elections - the circumstances would make this election invalid? I mean, are
you going as far as to say -
MR. BOUCHER: You can not make any judgments because there were not
international observers present. It is very difficult to make any judgments
on elections that are held under the conditions that prevail at present in
Chechnya.
What we would like to see is a political settlement and to have elections
after that that could be judged - that could be respected by the international
community.
QUESTION: What does that mean in terms of the status of whoever wins the
election?
MR. BOUCHER: I don't think we actually decide the status of whoever wins
the election.
QUESTION: Well, you can decide whether you want to think whether he or
she is official.
MR. BOUCHER: We don't necessarily deal with the person that will be
elected. This will be a deputy from Chechnya in the Duma and the Duma will
have to decide. But I think we did want to take the opportunity to point
out that, without observers, under the current conditions, you can not make
a judgment on the comment of the elections. Furthermore, what we would like
to see is elections there held after a political settlement.
QUESTION: The Russian submarine disaster and the way the Russian
government handled the rescue operation, does the State Department have any
opinion - I'm sure you're sad to see these sailors perish. But has the
State Department got any reflections on how the Russian government handled
the matter and will it have any effect on US-Russian relations?
MR. BOUCHER: I don't have any reflections or conclusions on US-Russian
relations at this point. We have tried to work with the Russians through
NATO allies and, as you know, NATO allies have been out there helping
them.
It is a very deep tragedy; a terrible situation, particularly for the
families of those involved. But, beyond that, I don't think we need to have
any further comment at this stage.
QUESTION: On Friday, the Department announced or made clear that two
American Embassy employees were kicked out of or ordered out of Congo. The
last I heard was you were trying to sort it out short of that. And I wanted
to see where things stood.
MR. BOUCHER: Well, Ambassador Swing in the Democratic Republic of the
Congo met with President Kabila on August 19th. He protested the Congolese
government's expulsion of two members of the American embassy from
Kinshasa. The two diplomats have now left Kinshasa. They have returned to
the United States. We are considering an appropriate and commensurate
response to the Congolese government's unjustified actions and we will
announce these measures shortly.
QUESTION: Are we going to expel somebody?
MR. BOUCHER: We will take an appropriate and commensurate response. And
when we decide what to do, we will tell you.
QUESTION: Did the - Kabila say what these two had done specifically that
warranted their expulsion?
MR. BOUCHER: I don't know that he did. We certainly do not think that
there are any grounds for their expulsion.
QUESTION: Are we looking at maybe today it might be announced? Or you
just don't know?
MR. BOUCHER: I just don't know. Maybe today; maybe soon.
QUESTION: Do you know how many accredited diplomats the Democratic
Republic of Congo has in Washington?
MR. BOUCHER: I'm not sure, but I think diplomatic lists are available
publicly, so you can check that.
QUESTION: Can you say at least whether these two diplomats - one of them
is supposed to have made some comments at a dinner. Was that person in fact
at this dinner?
MR. BOUCHER: I don't know. But, frankly, whether somebody attended a
dinner or not should not be material evidence. If the question is whether
they have done anything that would warrant their expulsion, we absolutely
think no.
QUESTION: So, they did not make the comments that were attributed to
them?
MR. BOUCHER: Once again, we do not think there is any justification for
these actions. I am not going to get into a little play by play that seems
to indicate whether there might have been a comment or not. But I just do
not have that information; I am not going to deal with any specifics.
The point is, we have looked at the whole situation. We don't think there
is any justification and we will take appropriate action.
QUESTION: In general, then, you don't think the comments made by any US
diplomat anywhere privately in a private conversation are grounds for
expulsion?
MR. BOUCHER: You want me to establish a new doctrine? A corollary to the
Vienna Convention? (Laughter.)
QUESTION: Well, you seem to be saying -
MR. BOUCHER: Let's not try to make sweeping statements here. Our
diplomats there, a public affairs officer and a political officer, have
been ordered out. They have left. We don't see any grounds or any
justification for this.
To start parsing whether somebody went to a dinner and said something,
didn't say something, might have said something like it, I just don't know
and, frankly, I don't think it's material. The fact is, we don't think it's
justified and we're going to take appropriate action in response.
QUESTION: But the Congolese, what they're saying, that the two were
involved in talking about alleged attempts to overthrow Kabila. Are you
saying that they didn't say that or you don't know that they said
it?
MR. BOUCHER: I don't know, personally, and I don't think it's worth our
while to try to go into what might or might not have been said at a
dinner.
QUESTION: I don't understand why it's not worth your while. If you say
there was no reason for them to be expelled, why won't you say - why won't
you be more specific? Did they or did they not say these things? And if
they did, is it you just don't think that those remarks are grounds for
expulsion?
MR. BOUCHER: Well, that's the thing. If we get into - no. The fact is,
whether or not they said things, whether or not these are grounds for
expulsion is something we've already looked at. We've determined that we
don't think there is any justification for their expulsion.
QUESTION: Let's not belabor this. You cannot deny, though, that they made
these statements?
MR. BOUCHER: I think I can say that some of the allegations made against
them are false and outrageous but I can't deal with any specific points.
QUESTION: Korea? There are simulated exercises, but they're exercises
that the US conducts with South Korea and they've been scaled down. The
North Koreans are saying they should be called off or else it could affect
reconciliation between the two Koreas. Does the US have an opinion and
would you cover whether such activities 50 years after the Korean War, in
light of what's going on between the two Koreas, still makes sense?
MR. BOUCHER: Yes.
QUESTION: They still make sense?
MR. BOUCHER: Yes.
QUESTION: Nothing ever ends, right? Korean Conflict -
MR. BOUCHER: Well, I don't know, let's deal with the specific and go to
the general. Ulchi Focus Lens is an exercise. It is routine. It is a
regularly scheduled exercise. It is designed to evaluate combined and joint
coordination, our procedures, plans and systems to conduct a contingency
operation by the US and South Korean forces. The Pentagon obviously can
give you more details on the actual exercise. It is not a provocative
exercise. We would note that the North Koreans have also been conducting
military exercises this summer.
And while we welcome the growing dialogue between North and South Korea and
the improved atmosphere for cooperation, we do hope that this will lead to
a reduction in tensions. But at the moment, there is no significant change
in the military situation on the Peninsula. Our forces remain there in
cooperation with our South Korean allies. They tell us they want us to stay
and we continue to work there in cooperation with them.
QUESTION: And I take it the US doesn't feel it should have any impact on
the progress in Korean reconciliation?
MR. BOUCHER: No, we do not. As I said, we have seen this progress. This
is not a provocative exercise. North Koreans have held military exercises
as well and that hasn't impeded the progress. So we would hope to see the
progress continue and lead to the kind of reductions in tension that we're
all working for.
QUESTION: Can you say that the South Koreans are as enthusiastic about
these exercises as they once were, as the US still is?
MR. BOUCHER: This is something we do in cooperation with the South
Koreans. We do them together, to exercise our joint capability. So, I don't
think there is any distance between us on this.
QUESTION: Has there been any talk on the South Korean part about maybe
even further scaling them down or ending them?
MR. BOUCHER: These things are decided, their nature, their scope, the
conduct of the exercise, it is decided jointly. We are doing what we and
the South Koreans believe is appropriate.
QUESTION: President Khatami has made some interesting comments about how
he was against this clamp-down on the press but didn't really do much about
it. Do you find these comments intriguing or just kind of a statement of
the obvious?
MR. BOUCHER: I have not found the comments yet, so I do not have any
comment on them. But I will look for them.
QUESTION: Also on Iran? The Iranian radio reported today that Iran's
foreign minister has asked for US cooperation in finding two downed
helicopter pilots in the Gulf. What is our response at this point?
MR. BOUCHER: Reported today?
QUESTION: Monday.
MR. BOUCHER: On Tuesday of last week, August 15th, there was an Iranian
supply helicopter that crashed in the Gulf. Is this the one you are talking
about? I assume it is the same thing?
QUESTION: Yes.
MR. BOUCHER: We did have ships of the Multinational Maritime Interception
Force - a US aircraft carrier, the George Washington, Canadian frigate HMCS
Calgary, and the guided missile destroyer, USS Barry. They participated in
a search for the five Iranian crewmembers. The US and Canadian vessels
coordinated rescue efforts with surface and air units.
Three of the Iranian crewmembers were rescued by boats from a nearby oil
rig. We understand two other crewmembers are still missing. So, for details
on the status of the search and rescue, I would refer you to the Pentagon.
But the three that were picked up already were picked up by commercial
people from a nearby oil rig. Our people had participated in the search and
rescue.
QUESTION: Why would the Iranians be asking for US cooperation -
MR. BOUCHER: I guess because there are still two people missing. Whether
the search and rescue continues or not, you can check with the Pentagon.
QUESTION: Did the request for aid come directly from the Iranians to the
US or did it come to the Canadians and then the Canadians came to the
US?
MR. BOUCHER: I don't know. Simple answer. I will check and see if we want
to say. But I will check.
QUESTION: On the US Army officer who was missing in Israel and now found,
there have been some comments out of our Embassy in Tel Aviv. I just wanted
to know what you have, if you have something to update us on this
information.
MR. BOUCHER: At this point, we have seen the wire stories that he's been
found but we don't have confirmation from the Embassy yet.
QUESTION: And you don't have any comment to make on headlines in Israel,
for example, that he's a spy? Do you have anything else on it at all?
MR. BOUCHER: I think the simple answer is going to be, "no." But let me
see if there is anything we want to say.
QUESTION: Given his access to highly secret documents and all?
MR. BOUCHER: There has been a lot of confusion about a lot of reports
concerning this. His actions in particular are still under investigation so
we really can't comment at this point.
QUESTION: Last week, Senator Helms sent a letter to Richard Holbrooke,
exclaiming his outrage over the fact that the Dalai Lama will be excluded
from the United Nations summit of religious leaders. Has there been any
dialogue between the Secretary and Senator Helms on that?
MR. BOUCHER: I don't know that she has talked to him on this subject. We
certainly made our views quite clear more than a week ago, about ten days
ago, that we do think the Dalai Lama is an important religious leader who
has something to contribute to this conference and we would have liked to
have seen him there. We would like to see him there - I'm not exactly sure
about the timing of the conference - and we do not think the organizers
should have excluded him, because of perceived objections by a particular
country.
QUESTION: There is a delegation of religious leaders coming through
sponsored by - to Washington sponsored by the Chinese embassy. Are there
any outlets for talking to them about why they're not part of the - the
Dalai Lama is not part of the delegation?
MR. BOUCHER: I think if you look at what I know, at least, about this
situation, it was the organizers that perceived some kind of pressure or
assumed some kind of pressure and did not put out the invitation to the
full conference. I think that is not the right decision, frankly.
We do, obviously, when we talk to Chinese religious delegations--and I'm
not aware of any particular one--but we always raise with the Chinese the
status of Tibet and fulfillment of religious obligations in Tibet and
things like that.
QUESTION: Last week, the Government of Brazil rejected the idea of
participation in the Plan Colombia, to help the United States combat narco-
traffickers there. Brazil is one of the leaders of Latin America and there
is also reaction from other countries, saying that they don't want to
participate, too, in helping in Plan Colombia.
How do you plan to convince these Latin American countries of the urgency
of the situation in Colombia?
MR. BOUCHER: I think if we had to, we would. But I think if you look
carefully at what happened during the Secretary's visit last week and the
things that were said, you will find first of all that the Brazilian
government is not opposed to Plan Colombia. Second of all, you will find
that there is support in the region for taking action against drugs in the
region and particularly in Colombia. That was a major topic of her trip and
we would be glad to get you a ton-and-a-half of information on it.
QUESTION: The Secretary is supposed to soon make her recommendation to
the President on the human rights waivers. Do you know when she is going to
do that?
MR. BOUCHER: The Department's recommendation has been made and now the
President will obviously consider that and make the decision. I don't have
anything to announce and we have to refrain from comment until he has done
that.
QUESTION: Can you say when was it delivered? Today? Yesterday?
MR. BOUCHER: I think it was actually done by the Acting Secretary last
week. So that has been done.
QUESTION: But you don't have a day?
MR. BOUCHER: No, I don't have a day.
QUESTION: Who was the Acting Secretary?
MR. BOUCHER: Frank Loy, Under Secretary Loy.
QUESTION: You say you can't tell us what the recommendation is. So we
have to wait? We have to wait for the White House to decide?
MR. BOUCHER: Yes.
QUESTION: Can you say whether last week - was it done before this
massacre of children or after?
MR. BOUCHER: That is something that I would have to check on. I don't
remember the exact timing of either event, frankly.
QUESTION: Do you know how many meetings you had with the human rights
groups before you came to your decision on whether to certify or not?
MR. BOUCHER: I talked to at least about two or three. Again, I will have
to check on that as well. There were additional ones last week. So, the
record has been clear.
QUESTION: Have you informed them of your decision?
MR. BOUCHER: It is not our decision; it is our recommendation and then
the President makes the decision. So, I am sure when the President makes
the decision, the people will be informed.
QUESTION: So you don't necessarily tell the people, tell the Colombians,
what your recommendation is?
QUESTION: Or the human rights groups?
MR. BOUCHER: Well, he was asking about human rights people.
QUESTION: I'm asking about the Colombians.
MR. BOUCHER: Our recommendation goes to the President and he has to have
a chance to look over the recommendations and decide. We don't start
broadcasting our internal recommendations.
QUESTION: Given that you've received political support, pledges of
political support, would you be at any point looking for any kind of more
tangible support from some of the countries the Secretary visited last
week?
MR. BOUCHER: I know there are a great number of countries, ourselves, the
Europeans, others, who are contributing and supporting this. I don't know
that others have been asked, but I will try to check for you and see if
there are.
QUESTION: In the future, could you say whether you would want more
tangible -
MR. BOUCHER: I am sure we would welcome any contributions. We think this
is an important thing. It is important for the United States. It is
important for the countries in the region. We would welcome any contributions.
But that's not to say the same thing as we've been out soliciting and
getting turned down or anything like that.
QUESTION: Right, I understand.
QUESTION: Do you have any comment on the results of the elections in
Chiapas State of Mexico, and if the Secretary plans to discuss the issue -
not the elections but the Chiapas issue - with the President Elect of
Mexico this Thursday?
MR. BOUCHER: I don't have any comment on the elections there. She will
meet with President Elect Fox on Thursday. I suppose the issue may well
arise. They will have a chance to talk about a great number of things, but
we will have to see what happens.
QUESTION: I just want to ask, last week in Ecuador, the Secretary said
that the United States would consider expanding or offering more money to
the Ecuadorians for refugees --15 million now, I believe, allotted--and
also said that the US would be considering funding for their development
zone in the north to kind of build up the infrastructure there.
Has there been any - I realize she just said it on Friday and it's too
early to say anything, but -
MR. BOUCHER: Thanks for the question and thanks for the answer.
QUESTION: (Inaudible.)
MR. BOUCHER: The State Department confirmed that she only said it on
Friday and it is too early to expect a complete answer or announcement. But
we do intend to do what she said and we will announce it as soon as it's
ready.
QUESTION: Richard, going back to the Dalai Lama, you said that he is an
important spiritual or religious leader. How much pressure or interest is
the United States taking or putting on the Chinese or on the UN that he
should be part of the UN religious leaders' delegation next week?
MR. BOUCHER: It is not our conference; it was organized privately by a
non-profit, nongovernmental organization. I can't remember the name exactly
right now. It was being held in part in UN facilities. And for that reason,
there was this perception or assumption that a particular country would not
want the Dalai Lama to be there and he was invited only to activities that
were outside of the United Nations facility.
We don't think that's the right conclusion. We think he deserved to be
there as a full participant. But, again, we are not organizing this. We
have made quite clear what our views are.
QUESTION: Do you have any comments on the demonstration at the Pakistan
Embassy by a large number of Christians against attacks on Christians in
Pakistan and also burning of churches in Pakistan?
MR. BOUCHER: No, I don't have any comment on that.
QUESTION: And, again, the Taliban government are saying that we will not
hand over Usama bin Laden to the United States and at the same time use of
Ariana Airlines to evacuate children to Germany. Don't you think this is -
the Resolution 1267, which you said in a report, also doesn't allow that
Ariana Airlines should be flown to Germany or other countries - that's
against the UN resolution?
MR. BOUCHER: That is something I would have to check on. We've done a
statement already on it. Okay, we did a statement last week.
QUESTION: But don't you think really that by allowing Ariana Airlines,
you are giving up or bowing down to the terrorists?
MR. REEKER: The statement answered that question.
QUESTION: But that doesn't answer really that you are giving up to the
Taliban government -
MR. BOUCHER: It's nice to come back from vacation. Everybody's being so
helpful to me. (Laughter.)
Look, we've issued a statement on it, we've given your views on it. I think
the statement answers the questions as best we can, so we'll stick with
that.
QUESTION: Okay, finally, one more. If you have any comments on General
Musharaff of Pakistan has said that Pakistan will continue to support
terrorists or militants against India in Kashmir.
MR. BOUCHER: I have not seen the statement. I think our policy is quite
clear.
QUESTION: The Palestine cabinet, I guess it's called, of the de facto or
would-be Palestine government or Palestinian government, says there is no
room for a compromise on the issues, that they're sticking to their
position. So what do you think of that, if it's not just a public
statement? Is it a real position, do you know, via Dennis Ross? And can
Dennis Ross now go on vacation and be one of the Beach Boys perhaps?
(Laughter.)
MR. BOUCHER: Such as it is, Dennis is now on vacation. But he is
continuing his meetings in the region. He has met with Prime Minister Barak,
he has met with Egyptian Foreign Minister Moussa over the weekend, he will
meet with Chairman Arafat later today. He has also met with the negotiators
from both sides and he will continue these meetings throughout the trip,
the vacation trip, the trip that he's on.
QUESTION: Where did he see Mr. Moussa? Which vacation spot, Cairo or
Alexandria?
MR. BOUCHER: I think he went to Alexandria to meet with Foreign Minister
Moussa.
Clearly, there has been progress at Camp David on the core issues. The
Israelis and Palestinians have resumed their discussions. We are ready to
support this in any way possible, as the President said, but only when the
parties are ready to make the tough decisions can we bring them together.
So if the parties are ready to make the tough decisions, we're ready to
bring them together.
QUESTION: It seems clear the President is going to see Barak and Arafat
in New York. But I don't think an American official has said that; I think
it was over the weekend or Friday - I wasn't here Friday. Can you confirm?
Or will Albright see them? What is your contact at the Millennium Summit
with these millennium leaders?
MR. BOUCHER: I'm sure we will meet with a great variety of leaders. For
the President's schedule, you have to get that from the White House. For
the Secretary's schedule, we haven't announced it yet.
QUESTION: That covers everybody I asked about, I guess.
MR. BOUCHER: That covers everybody.
QUESTION: Do you know when Dennis is actually going to begin the relaxing,
leisure portion of his trip?
MR. BOUCHER: I am never sure he will get any pure leisure out of this
vacation. It seems to be a combination; he will have meetings along the
way. He will also have activities and leisure activities with his
family.
QUESTION: Where is he going to see Arafat, by the way? I'm sure it will
come from there, but in Ramalla or in Gaza or where?
MR. BOUCHER: I don't know for sure, actually. I can check.
QUESTION: If he's meeting with all these officials, why are you guys
calling it a vacation?
MR. BOUCHER: Because that's the way it was planned and his family is out
there with him and they're trying to have a little vacation in the middle
of all of this.
QUESTION: Several months ago, the New York Times had an editorial
praising Secretary Albright for the State Department's forthrightness on
the activities in Chile in 1973 and they added - Jamie Rubin was very
surprised at this - at the positiveness of the praise for the Secretary. He
said the editorials don't generally do this. But they said they hope that
Secretary Albright would exert her influence to get the CIA to be more
forthcoming and there has been some concern expressed at the documents that
are being withheld.
Do you know whether Secretary Albright is having any success in getting
more disclosure about the events in Chile?
MR. BOUCHER: The documents in question are voluminous and we are still on
track to meeting our September 14 deadline timetable for releasing the
documents. The Secretary has been dealing with this. She talked about it
quite a bit during her trip last week to Latin America. She also spoke with
Director for Central Intelligence, George Tenet, this morning. They're
working together on this project to try to get the maximum possible release
of documents consistent with the need to protect sources and methods.
So that is where we stand. We're working on it. We will meet the deadline
and we will release as many documents as we can.
QUESTION: On this subject, do you have a time frame for this final
vetting or edit process between the CIA and the State Department regarding
these classified documents? Tenet said it was going on I guess last week
when he wrote a letter to Congress. Is that process done?
MR. BOUCHER: No, I don't have an exact time frame on that. There is an
interagency process that is coordinated by the National Security Council.
We are working within that framework to try to secure, as I said, the
maximum possible number of documents for release.
QUESTION: Is it going on right now?
MR. BOUCHER: I would have to check on exactly the schedule of meetings
and things like that. But the time table is to have everything ready and be
able to release it in mid-September.
QUESTION: Richard, the phone call this morning, can you elaborate a
little bit on that? Was she asking him, saying, listen, you know, it's
really important, could you re-look at the stuff you are planning on
withholding?
MR. BOUCHER: I would not describe it that way. It's something they have
talked about in the past. They have kept in touch on the issue. She just
came back from her trip to Latin America, where the issue was raised, and
where she discussed it. So it was getting back in touch and continuing to
work together on this process.
QUESTION: Is it fair to say that she raised with him the concerns about
this that she heard from the officials that she met with in Santiago?
MR. BOUCHER: I don't think I can characterize it any more than I
have.
QUESTION: Can you say how long it was?
MR. BOUCHER: No.
QUESTION: The figure of 11,000 documents has been floated around for
release in September. Are those State Department documents or are they from
all agencies? And, if so, what proportion of those are, in fact, CIA
documents?
MR. BOUCHER: That will depend on many of the final decisions on which
documents.
QUESTION: But you already have a rough number, so you obviously have an
idea.
MR. BOUCHER: Estimated number. But what proportion is what, we'll have to
see when the decisions on release are made.
QUESTION: So you mean, if the CIA withholds them, you will offer some
other State Department ones in exchange or what? (Laughter.) You've given a
number, so you obviously have an idea what quantity would be available?
MR. BOUCHER: We have an idea. We have an estimate of the total number of
documents. To start breaking it down into percentages will depend on a lot
of decisions that are yet to be made.
QUESTION: Is the Secretary or anybody from the State Department going to
attend the convention in New York, the religious convention, conference?
MR. BOUCHER: I will have to check on that; I don't know.
Thank you.
(The briefing concluded at 1:15 p.m.)
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