U.S. Department of State Daily Press Briefing, 01-05-24

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From: The Department of State Foreign Affairs Network (DOSFAN) at <http://www.state.gov>

Phillip T. Reeker, Deputy Spokesman

Washington, DC

May 24, 2001

INDEX:

ANNOUNCEMENT
1         Joint Statement by Governments of United States & Mexico on Deaths of
Fourteen Migrants in Arizona Desert
MEXICO
2-3       Details on Cause of Deaths/ Search and Rescue Operation/ Investigation
2         Working Group Meeting in San Antonio
2         Reports Concerning Mexican Government Giving Survival Kits to Possible
Mexican Migrants Planning to Cross the Border of the United States
2         Details on How Survivors Managed to Make Contact
8         Accounts of Raul Salinas/Links with Drug Cartels in Colombia
9         Extradition of Jose Amezcua
CHINA
3-4       Discussions Continue on Issue of EP-3 Aircraft/ Next Meeting with the Chinese
4         Opposition to Disassembling the EP-3 Plane
JAPAN / SOUTH KOREA / NORTH KOREA
4-5       Possibility of Changing Agreed Framework/ Continuing Policy Review on North Korea
5-6       Meeting of Trilateral Coordination and Oversight Group in Hawaii
5         Building Light-Water Nuclear Reactors
ISRAEL/PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY
6         Meeting with Chairman Arafat/ Meeting with Prime Minister Sharon
7         Israel Stopping Entry of Raw Chemical Materials
ISRAEL / LEBANON
6         Israeli Shootdown of Lebanese Airplane
RUSSIA / AFGHANISTAN
7-8       US-Russian Meeting on Afghanistan/ Russian Support for Northern Alliance
AFGHANISTAN
8         Practice by Taliban of Labeling Minority Hindus
9         Discussions on Armenia and Azerbaijan
PERU
9         Status of Plane Investigation
INDONESIA
10        Political Crisis

MR. REEKER: Good afternoon, and welcome back to the State Department on our final press briefing of this week. I would like to begin today with a joint statement by the governments of Mexico and the United States on the tragic deaths of 14 migrants in the Arizona desert. The identical statement is being released by the Department of Justice here in Washington and by the Government of Mexico through their Foreign Secretary and Secretary of Government, and we'll make the written statement available for you immediately following the briefing.

The United States of America and Mexico express their deep sadness and concern over the deaths yesterday of 14 migrants in the Arizona desert near the border with the Mexican State of Sonora. Those who lost their lives were among a group of 28 migrants abandoned by alien smugglers after crossing our shared border. Others of the group, rescued by border authorities, are in critical condition at a Yuma, Arizona hospital.

Search and rescue operations continue in an effort to find other members of the group. The survivors of this human tragedy are being assisted by the US Border Patrol and Mexican consular officials. Both governments have began an investigation to identify the smugglers responsible for this tragedy and pledge close cooperation to find these criminals and bring them to justice.

The governments of the United States and Mexico condemn the actions of smugglers who put the lives of would-be migrants at risk. We are committed to ensuring a safe and orderly border, and both governments reaffirm their commitment to spare no effort in combating the trafficking of migrants along our border.

These tragic deaths highlight the pressing need for our governments to continue their work to reach new agreements on migration and border safety. This process is already underway under the aegis of a high-level working group on migration launched by Presidents Bush and Fox and co-chaired by the Attorney General and the Secretary of State on the US side, and by the Foreign Secretary and Secretary of Government on the Mexican side. Delegations from both countries will meet again in San Antonio, Texas, June 6 - 8 to discuss specific measures to prevent future occurrences of such tragedies and to promote safe and orderly migration.

The governments of the United States and Mexico express their sympathy and condolences to the victims of this terrible human tragedy and to their families.

And I would be happy to take questions on that or other matters at this time.

QUESTION: How were they found?

MR. REEKER: They were found dead in the Arizona desert near Yuma, as I said. I don't know if I have details on how they died. I believe the temperatures in that desert were in the vicinity of 110 degrees in the last couple of days, and so while I'm unable to give you details in terms of medical cause of death, I think it's fairly obvious that being abandoned in the desert with temperatures like that without water and life-sustaining liquids would cause that.

QUESTION: Have any survivors been able to identify the people that were involved in this?

MR. REEKER: At this point I'm not aware of the details. Obviously, as I said in the statement, Border Patrol officials and Mexican consular authorities are working with the survivors, as well as carrying out a search and rescue operation to see if any additional survivors can be found. We are going to investigate the incident and cooperate fully between our two governments to identify smugglers and bring them to justice, as I indicated. So I don't have anything further to report on that investigation at this point, but it will be ongoing.

QUESTION: I understand that the working group is meeting in San Antonio. Was this meeting previously scheduled or is it specifically because of this incident? And will the chairs, meaning Secretaries Powell and Ashcroft, be going, too?

MR. REEKER: I believe this was a meeting that was scheduled. This is the next scheduled meeting of that group -- as I said and as you repeated -- June 6 - 8 in San Antonio. And in terms of who is actually leading the delegation at this point, I don't know. I don't believe at this point the Secretary is scheduled to be there.

QUESTION: There is word that the Mexican Government is giving kind of survival kits to possible Mexican migrants that are planning to cross the border of the United States.

MR. REEKER: I saw that report, and I understand that the Mexican Government has stated that is an erroneous report. I didn't have any details on it, but I do understand that Mexican officials have said that that report was wrong.

Any other questions on this?

QUESTION: Forgive me if you said this already, but did you have any more details about how the survivors managed to make contact?

MR. REEKER: I don't have details on that, and we can try to look into more from that. But other than what I said in a statement, there was a group, we believe, of 28 migrants who were abandoned by the alien smugglers after crossing the border, an area that often has some great distances and great temperatures. And so there are survivors at a hospital in Yuma who were rescued by border authorities. And based on that, the search and rescue operation is continuing to try to see if there are any further survivors.

QUESTION: One more. In the investigation to identify the smugglers, it is only the INS and the Mexican consulars, or there are involved in other federal --

MR. REEKER: Well, I think the US Border Patrol, which is obviously separate from the INS, is the major US law enforcement agency involved. But there may be local law enforcement agencies as well, as well as other federal agencies. You may want to check with the Department of Justice in terms of the law enforcement matter and the investigation on that.

QUESTION: A different subject -- on China, the plane in Hainan. The Chinese are saying that there is a done deal and everything has been agreed to. A State Department official is saying that it is still negotiating.

Could you clarify a little bit?

MR. REEKER: Right. Discussions continue on the issue of our aircraft, the EP-3 aircraft. As we have said before, our strong preference remains to repair and fly out our airplane. That is obviously the fastest and most efficient way to return the aircraft to the US. And as has been indicated before, we are prepared, if necessary, to disassemble and fly out the aircraft from China's Lingshui Airfield on Hainan Island.

But as I have said to a number of you earlier today, and I believe even the Chinese said, technical discussions about the feasibility of that option and what we finally determine to do are still ongoing.

QUESTION: Is it your understanding that the Chinese have given their final offer? I mean, they are saying that this is a done deal.

MR. REEKER: No, my understanding is very clear that the discussions are still ongoing on that matter, and we are still looking at the technical options.

QUESTION: Among the various ways in which the US has proposed getting the plane out of there, has one of them been to get the plane out by not flying it -- disassembled, if you will? Has that been one of the things that have been brought up --

MR. REEKER: I think I just said in the past 15 seconds we are prepared, if necessary, to disassemble and fly out the aircraft.

QUESTION: No, not disassemble and fly out. I just want to make sure I understand what the Chinese are saying that they agreed to.

MR. REEKER: That I don't think anything has been agreed to at this point is also what I said. Those discussions are still ongoing.

QUESTION: Do you know when the next meeting is with the Chinese to discuss this?

MR. REEKER: I don't know. There are ongoing discussions. In terms of a formal meeting, I don't know what is scheduled. I am just not in a position to provide a report on every meeting that goes on, but we are engaged in ongoing discussions and expect that to continue. We will keep you posted as we get any updates.

QUESTION: Are you strongly opposed to disassembling the EP-3 plane simply because it's very humiliating for the United States to --

MR. REEKER: I don't think humiliation has anything to do with it. As I indicated, the strong preference has been to repair and fly out the airplane. I think anybody thinking about it would realize that that is the fastest and most efficient way to recover it. But as we discuss options in this and look at the technical possibilities, we are prepared, as I said, if that is what is necessary, to disassemble the plane and fly it out that way. So we will continue to discuss this with the Chinese.

QUESTION: What is the holdup? Why are things still being discussed?

MR. REEKER: I don't think I could give a particular reason when something that we have to discuss with both sides -- you might want to ask the Chinese that. As we have said, we would have a preference --

QUESTION: Would you say -- (inaudible) --

MR. REEKER: I would say we are having continuous discussions, as I said, on this, on the technical nature. We have to make some determinations of what the final decision will be in terms of how we will recover the aircraft, and that is ongoing.

QUESTION: Different subject?

MR. REEKER: Anything else on China?

QUESTION: There was a story in the Korean press that the US is going to present to the countries of Japan and South Korea who they will meet with -- the US will meet with tomorrow and this weekend -- the possibility of changing the Agreed Framework, you know, that the US and North Korea --

MR. REEKER: I had at look at the story I think to which you are referring, and I don't believe it was really quite that definitive. As we have said about the Agreed Framework -- and I believe Ambassador Boucher mentioned it again just a couple days ago -- we will abide by our commitments under the Agreed Framework and we expect the North Koreans to do the same.

As you know, our policy review on North Korea is continuing and no final decisions have been made on that. We are open to considering ways to improve the Agreed Framework to advance our goals, but I don't have anything certainly to announce in that regard as we conduct our review in a thorough manner and anticipate completing that.

As you mention and as we previously announced, there will be a meeting this weekend -- Saturday, to be exact -- in Honolulu, Hawaii, of the Trilateral Coordination and Oversight Group. We will have a US delegation meeting with delegations from Japan and the Republic of Korea. Our Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and Pacific Affairs James Kelly has departed today to Hawaii to lead our delegation for that.

And as we also mentioned when we announced that meeting, we will have before the meeting bilateral US-Korea and US-Japan meetings, and I believe Korea and Japan will have a bilateral meeting as well on the 25th and 26th of May.

QUESTION: But the article doesn't say that the US portion of the agreement would change, which is to provide the oil. The agreement says that the US would seek to change the type of plant that would be provided to North Korea from a light-water reactor plant to a steam-- basically a steam plant.

MR. REEKER: Right. As I said, we expect fully to abide by our commitments under the Agreed Framework, and again we expect North Korea to abide by their commitments as well. So while we continue our review of North Korea policy, we will continue to look at these issues.

One key goal, as you know, has been to bring about a complete and verifiable end to North Korea's nuclear program, and we are open to considering ways to improve the Agreed Framework to advance our goals in that regard. But I certainly don't have anything to announce at this point.

QUESTION: You say you want to improve the agreement. What's wrong with it?

MR. REEKER: What I said, George, was we are open to considering ways to improve the Agreed Framework. I didn't say there was anything wrong with it.

QUESTION: Can I just follow up on that? Building light-water nuclear reactors specifically, is that considered part of the commitments from the US side?

MR. REEKER: I just don't have details to go back into. I can pull out all the stuff from the Agreed Framework, if you want, again. I mean, we have been over this many times. It is well known to everybody.

QUESTION: There are some --

MR. REEKER: We have a North Korea policy review which is ongoing, so clearly I don't have anything to announce from that. Let me repeat once again, we will abide by our commitments under the Agreed Framework and we expect the North Koreans to do the same. And obviously we will be discussing all these issues with our allies at the so-called TCOG meeting in Hawaii this weekend.

QUESTION: Can you say whether the US delegation is taking -- what parts of -- you know, parts of this revision of policy that is being considered to share with our --

MR. REEKER: I can't say. We will leave that to share with our allies, which we do first before we share it with you.

QUESTION: Are we making any progress on having a meeting scheduled with Yasser Arafat?

MR. REEKER: I don't believe there is any change in what the Secretary said Monday. Oh, in terms of the --

QUESTION: Setting up a meeting with -- no, not coming here. But yes, setting up the meeting with the new special assistant.

MR. REEKER: Right. Let's talk about developments there. As we said yesterday there, Ambassador Martin Indyk and our Consul General Ronald Schlicher have met with Prime Minister Sharon. That was on Monday. And they will be meeting with Chairman Arafat soon. I believe Chairman Arafat has returned to the region from Paris, where he was. I believe he was also in Cairo.

Our Ambassador in Jordan, Ambassador Burns, is in Amman, and he will join in those efforts. So I don't have any schedule or specific meetings to announce at this point, but we would expect them to meet with Chairman Arafat soon.

QUESTION: Any comments on developments today in the Mid-East, with the Lebanese plane being shot down?

MR. REEKER: On that, I don't think I really have anything to add on that incident other than what has been reported in the press, and I will just refer you to the Israelis and the Lebanese on that specific incident with the plane from Lebanon.

In terms of the broader issue, I would reiterate again that we have made our position very clear regarding the need for both sides to do everything they can to stop the violence. They know what they need to do, and we have repeatedly called for an end to Palestinian attacks from and Israeli incursions into Palestinian-controlled areas. There is an opportunity here for both sides to seize, and we encourage them to do so.

In terms of the opportunity presented by the Mitchell Committee Report, we are urging them to work with us to implement the recommendations of that.

QUESTION: But I think, I believe it was Tuesday, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon called for a ceasefire between the sides, said Israel would honor one if the Palestinians honored one, too.

Would you call this a ceasefire? I mean, can you say that -- you know, the intent of a ceasefire really is to cease fire, so --

MR. REEKER: I have seen continuing reports today of violence. As I just said, you know we have continuously called for an end to Palestinian attacks from and the Israeli incursions into Palestinian-controlled areas. I have seen more reports just recently this morning on more tragic deaths.

So there are continuing examples of the horrible tragedy of the ongoing cycle of violence, and that is what we have said needs to be broken. And both sides have an opportunity to seize the opportunity that has been presented by the Mitchell Report in terms of recommendations that they can now work together to implement and confidence-building measures that can help the situation.

QUESTION: Given the Secretary's emphasis on the need to improve the economic situation in the Palestinian Authority, do you have any response to the fact that Israel appears to have stopped the entry of all raw chemical materials into the region -- into the area -- and which they say is because of the potential to make bombs. But the Palestinian Authority says it affects pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, shoes --

MR. REEKER: I am not aware of the specifics of that. I would certainly stand by what the Secretary has said in that regard, but I just don't have anything on those reports.

QUESTION: New subject. Can you give us a readout on the US-Russian meeting this morning on Afghanistan?

MR. REEKER: Right. I believe that is still going on, or maybe it just finished, so I don't have a complete read out on it but we can talk a little bit about it. Deputy Secretary Armitage was leading the group of US officials that were meeting with Russian officials in the third round of bilateral consultations regarding Afghanistan. That actually is today and tomorrow.

The US-Russia Working Group on Afghanistan discussions, as I said, are chaired by the Deputy Secretary and, on the Russian side, by the First Deputy Foreign Minister Trubnikov. The talks focus on the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, implementation of the UN Security Council Resolution 1333, UN efforts to seek Taliban compliance with US Security Council Resolutions 1267 and the 1333 requirements. Obviously counter-narcotics issues are involved here and there are regional issues, including the Central Asian states and their ability to counter threats emanating from Afghanistan.

As we have discussed before, the US and Russia agree that the situation in Afghanistan, and especially the Taliban leadership's support for terrorism, continues to be a threat to interests of both countries, as well as to regional and international stability. So we pursue those talks and quite appreciate the Russian team being here and working with them.

QUESTION: In those talks, does the US side bring up Russian support for the Northern Alliance? I mean, my understanding is that the US position so far has been not to take sides in what may or may not be much of a civil war right now in Afghanistan, but do we bring that up?

MR. REEKER: I think you characterize our position correctly there in terms of not taking sides in that. Obviously we have broad discussions with Russia on the humanitarian crisis there and focusing on implementation of the Security Council resolutions. As I mentioned, counter-narcotics is an aspect of that and regional issues, but in terms of any more specific details I just don't have any readout on them.

QUESTION: Will you be discussing during this meeting the new practice by the Taliban of labeling all minority Hindus, and is there anything planned to reach out to the Taliban to try to get them to stop it? I mean --

MR. REEKER: I think we covered that the last two days. I don't know that - -

QUESTION: No, no, I understand. I mean, is there anything new, at least?

MR. REEKER: I don't believe there is anything new to add. I don't know that that would be a subject specifically of our discussions with the Russians in terms of security issues and compliance with UN Security Council resolutions and terrorism and counter-narcotics per se. It may come up in the course of discussions since they are looking at Afghanistan, but I don't think I have anything to add to what we have said about that reported plan of the Taliban to implement such a sort of egregious step.

QUESTION: Can I follow up? I mean, I know we've talked about it and -- I mean, are you waiting for something to happen before someone takes some kind of action? I mean, in the last couple of days there have been a lot of comparisons to the Nazi era and what the Nazis did to the Jews and --

MR. REEKER: I think our statements were really quite strong on that. As I said yesterday, we had raised that with Taliban officials in terms of our view on that. I'm not quite sure what step you're anticipating next.

QUESTION: This is on Mexico. I was trying to find out if there is new information from the US Government on the investigation of the accounts of Mr. Raul Salinas that were tied in the United States and Switzerland, and also if the US Government was aware of his links with the drug cartels in Colombia.

MR. REEKER: I don't have anything for you on that. If it involves an investigation or a law enforcement matter, I suggest you might try the Justice Department.

QUESTION: There is another case, the extradition of Jose Amezcua. He is known as one of the kings of the traffic of methamphetamines to the United States.

MR. REEKER: Is that what you asking about yesterday, George?

QUESTION: Yes.

MR. REEKER: And I still don't have anything on that. We can try to look into that, but extradition is usually a law enforcement matter and you might also want to check with Justice on that.

QUESTION: Did somebody request the extradition of this person?

MR. REEKER: I would ask you to check with the Justice Department, and we can also see what we can find out here. Thanks.

QUESTION: Going back to the Russian delegation, I understand there is going to be discussions on Armenia and Azerbaijan as well; is that correct?

MR. REEKER: I wasn't aware of that being part of our discussion. Obviously with First Deputy Foreign Minister Trubnikov here, he has been involved in those issues, but this is a working group on Afghanistan

QUESTION: Okay. Just do you have anything on Russia and some of these other former Soviet countries having met and agreed to set up a rapid reaction force?

MR. REEKER: I don't.

QUESTION: (Inaudible.)

MR. REEKER: Sorry.

QUESTION: For the record, could you give us an update of where the investigation is on the Peruvian situation?

MR. REEKER: Sure. Let just check on that. I don't think I really have anything new to report on that, but just to update you, the US team investigating that tragedy continues to work with their Peruvian counterparts in the joint investigation. Cooperation, I must say, has been excellent. There are a number of issues that remain to be reviewed. I believe over the past weekend, US and Peruvian teams interviewed Kevin Donaldson, the pilot, and Jim Bowers, who lost his wife and daughter in the tragic incident, as you know.

The Peruvian team is still here in the United States, and we expect to have a report in the next few weeks, as soon as it is complete and we have the answers that we need, and then we will be able to share our findings with the public.

QUESTION: Do you have anything to say about the situation in Indonesia?

MR. REEKER: Indonesia. Certainly. That's a subject we haven't talked about for a while. We certainly have been watching the developments in Indonesia closely.

Let me just say that the United States hopes to see Indonesia achieve a timely resolution of the political crisis taking place there, ideally in a way that promotes reconciliation and effective governance. Whatever the outcome, we are prepared to support any resolution that can be achieved through peaceful and constitutional means.

It is difficult, I think, to exaggerate the importance for Indonesia's future of avoiding violence or incitements to violence as they try to resolve that conflict.

QUESTION: Thank you.

MR. REEKER: Is that it? Thanks.

(The briefing was concluded at 1:30 p.m.) [End]

Released on May 24, 2001

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