U.S. Department of State Daily Press Briefing, 01-07-10

U.S. State Department: Daily Press Briefings Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

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

Richard Boucher, Spokesman

Washington, DC

July 10, 2001

INDEX:

STATEMENT
1         Conference on Climate Change in Bonn
BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA
1-2       Secretary Powell’s Meeting with Foreign Minister Lagumdzija
UNITED NATIONS
2-4       Conference on Trade in Illicit Arms and Weapons
2-4       US Efforts to Curb Illicit Weapons Trade
NORTHERN IRELAND
4-7       US Efforts to Encourage Peace / Former President Clinton’s Visit to
Northern Ireland
ISRAEL / PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY
7         Visit By Deputy Assistant Secretary Satterfield
7-9       Demolition of Palestinian Homes / Update on Violence
7-9       Tenet Plan / Mitchell Committee Report Recommendations
YEMEN
9-10      Possible Return of FBI USS Cole Investigators / Security Situation
THE HAGUE
10        Possible Defense Team for Milosevic
INDIA
10-11     India-Pakistan Summit

MR. BOUCHER: Okay, ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon. It's a pleasure to be here. If I could start off just to tell you about our delegation to the Bonn Climate Change Talks next week. The talks are a resumed negotiation on climate change that will take place in Bonn from July 16 to 27. Our delegation will be led by Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs Paula Dobriansky. The resumption of the sixth session of the conference follows the suspension of negotiations, if you remember from last November, in The Hague. The high-level segment of this meeting will take place from July 19 to 22.

I want to reiterate, the United States takes climate change very seriously. We will work constructively within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, and we are working with our allies to develop an effective and science-based approach to addressing the problem of climate change.

And with that statement, I would be glad to take your questions on this or any other topic.

QUESTION: Do you have a readout on the visit by the Bosnian Foreign Minister?

MR. BOUCHER: I hadn't thought about it but, yes, we will figure one out pretty quick.

I would characterize the meeting primarily in words that the Foreign Minister -- I guess he is still Foreign Minister for the moment, although we understand from Bosnia that he has been nominated or suggested as the next chair for the Council of Ministers. But I would characterize the meeting in terms that he used.

He talked about the process of Bosnia becoming a state and not just a place. And in many senses, that was the subject of discussion, was development of laws, of the rule of law, of the investment climate, of the rights to property, the process of returning people to their homes with their property rights, and the process of putting in place the series of laws in Bosnia that bring it into conformity and compatibility with European institutions, as well as passing things like the election laws that are necessary for Bosnia, as Bosnia goes forward.

The Secretary expressed our very strong support for this process, said that we would be working with him every step of the way. And they talked, I think, especially about the need to fight corruption and to put in place the principles and the laws that govern a sound economy, so that investment can flow and the economy can grow. Those were the subjects that were covered.

QUESTION: What about Mr. Mladic and Karadzic? I mean, the other thing that Mr. Lagumdzija talked about when he left this building was the fact that there are an awful lot of armed people in Bosnia and they're not just local. Did you talk about --

MR. BOUCHER: Yes, they talked about that. I think the phrase that was used on both sides was to make sure that Bosnia doesn't become a place where bad people can go when they can't go anywhere else. That, I think, was the simplest way of putting the understanding that Bosnia needs and intends to live up to its international obligations with respect to the Tribunal. We felt that was an important part of their cooperation with the international community, as well as an important part of their instituting the rule of law in all of Bosnia-Herzegovina and that, within the context of the entire conversation, about instituting the rule of law.

QUESTION: Did you discuss the idea that NATO might be able to step in to make some arrests instead of relying --

MR. BOUCHER: They didn't discuss anything in particular detail like that. Obviously, the cooperation between Bosnia and the international community in developing this whole process was discussed as well.

QUESTION: Do you have any comments on the ongoing convention or conference at the UN against the illegal arms? Now again, the question goes -- who are those countries, can you name, that are doing multi-billion dollar business which is really -- against the United States, eventually through terrorists, those arms that lands in the hands of terrorists?

MR. BOUCHER: I don't think I have a list of countries who are supplying arms to terrorists for you right now. We all know the countries that have been cooperating with terrorists in the past.

I want to say a couple things about this conference, since you give me the opportunity, and the first is that you stated it right in your question. It’s a UN conference, with a mandate from the General Assembly to discuss trade in illicit arms, to discuss the illegal or black market trade in weapons around the world. That is what we are going to the conference to do and we want the conference to do that effectively.

I think the most effective way of doing that is going to be to concentrate on the kinds of steps that governments can take to have properly licensed trade, to track things, to do things such as the United States does, in terms of being one of the 12 countries that outlaws the, or that regulates, the brokering of arms trade. The kinds of things the United States does in terms of licensing all trade in weapons like this, the kinds of things the United States does in terms of following up, doing end-use checks, doing checks on where these arms go. So that is the kind of -- those are the kind of steps that we would like to see in the program of action that comes out of this conference, so that the conference can effectively address the illicit international trade in weapons.

As far as the kind of problems that have been created by these weapons, I think we have seen illegal weapons or illicit weapons show up in zones of conflict throughout the world. We are familiar, I think, with the situation in a number of West African countries and other parts of Africa, where diamonds were being traded for the -- and weapons were being bought on the open market, illegal weapons.

So we have been dealing with both parts of that problem, both the diamond problem, in terms of getting a system with the diamond merchants together, and there was just a meeting in Moscow not long ago to regularize the trade in diamonds, but also the other side of it, to deal with the weapons problems.

And the last thing I want to say about this -- the United States has worked around the world in supporting regional efforts to control the illicit trade in arms. We have worked in the Americas on an Organization for American States Convention on Small Arms. We have worked internationally on the Vienna Firearms Protocol, the OSCE in Europe, Framework Document on Small Arms, a number of other international efforts to curb the illicit trade in these weapons. And one goal that we have at this conference is to make this kind of structure and this kind of regulation of the illicit trade an international effort.

QUESTION: Just to follow up, (inaudible) reference according to the reports are from China and Pakistan. So since the Secretary is also visiting China and also -- how the US will enforce their opposition from these countries, or how the US is working with these countries?

MR. BOUCHER: Well, I think the first task right now is to go to this conference, try to get agreement at this conference on actions that governments can take, that the international community can take to curb the illicit trade in small arms and weapons. This subject of small arms trade has been a feature of his discussions in many places. The Secretary discussed the small arms trade when he was in Africa, for example, because we have supported out there the Southern African work on this problem. And I am sure it will be a feature of his discussions in other places as we go forward. But the most immediate effort is being made up in New York to get a program of action that can do something effective about the problem.

QUESTION: And you agree that the problem is serious?

MR. BOUCHER: Absolutely. I think that is clear from the statements we have made.

QUESTION: Can you talk about a reported split with some of the member states on a ban on military assault weapons? There seems to be some difference between the United States and some other states on what should actually go into the consensus document.

MR. BOUCHER: The issue to us is not a question of domestic law. I think many countries have many different internal regulations about weapons, about who should own them, about what kinds of weapons are available, things like that. The issue to us is a question of the trade and how it is regulated and how it is handled, how it is measured, how it is tracked, where weapons go. Different countries are going to have different laws about what people can have, what can be traded, what can be sold to different groups, what can be sold to governments and non-governmental groups.

But the important thing is this be properly handled, that it be carefully managed. We think along the lines of the kind of licensing practices that we have. So, I guess I would say in the end the issue of "this gun is good, that gun is bad," is not the issue for the conference. The conference's issue is how do you regulate the illicit trade in guns.

QUESTION: Have you spoken on the Secretary's meeting with the Bosnian Foreign Minister?

MR. BOUCHER: Yes.

QUESTION: All right, I have another one then. How about the President, the former President of the United States, contacting the State Department preparing to go to Ireland to try to help out? Are you encouraging Bill Clinton to make the trip?

MR. BOUCHER: We are aware of former President Clinton's travels. We were aware of his visit to Chequers and his willingness to contact the parties. We welcome his support, obviously now in a private capacity, for the Northern Ireland peace process. We continue to believe that full implementation of all aspects of the Good Friday Agreement is the best way forward for all the people of Northern Ireland, and we support the efforts of the British and Irish Governments to restore momentum towards this objective.

We are continuing to work with these governments. Our Ambassador Richard Haass, the point person for Northern Ireland, has been in regular touch with the British and Irish Governments and we'll closely follow and monitor developments in the talks that they are having now.

QUESTION: A follow-up? This came up last week, when the decommissioning problem was so evident and Mr. Trimble was stepping down. It sounded as if the State Department didn't think there had to be some super special new initiative, that it was there already and it's up to the parties, with some US help, to resolve the problems. Mr. Clinton's -- by contrast, of course, President Clinton made a super effort.

Is there any reconsideration, now that a week has gone by and that a problem lingers on, is this Good Friday Agreement in peril and does it require some special effort at this point?

MR. BOUCHER: I could be cynical and say another week has gone by in a problem that has lasted 20 or 30 years. But --

QUESTION: No, no, the Good Friday Agreement was a breakthrough.

MR. BOUCHER: The Good Friday Agreement was a breakthrough and we're very much supportive of the efforts that the British and Irish Governments are making right now to try to move that forward.

We have been in touch with them closely. I think President Bush in his conversations with British and Irish Prime Ministers over the course of the last several months has made quite clear that he has offered to be helpful to the peace process in any way we can. We have appointed a very senior representative to follow this and work this process for us. So I think the United States is as activist as we have ever been. What is happening right now is the British and Irish Governments are trying themselves to focus on the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement and that's a process that we support wholeheartedly.

QUESTION: Can you be more specific about who Ambassador Haass has been in touch with, for example? Has he talked to the Progressive Unionist Party or their armed wing since they pulled out of the process today? And also has he been in touch with Sinn Fein in the last couple of weeks on the specific issue of disarmament?

MR. BOUCHER: I would have to check more precisely. I don't have a list of people that he has been able to talk to.

QUESTION: This isn't the first country former President Clinton has traveled to since he left office, and he seems to be traveling around the world. Is there a concern that perhaps some of his efforts might coincide with US foreign policy, or is there any kind of coordination between some of his trips and US -- and the current Administration?

MR. BOUCHER: There is no ban on travel by former presidents.

QUESTION: Right, but he is going in some kind of capacity --

MR. BOUCHER: I have to say that --

QUESTION: Well, he is going in some kind of ex-official capacity.

MR. BOUCHER: Let me try to address it this way, as a generic question without -- former presidents often travel. They have a role in the world. In the posts I have been in, I have seen President Carter a couple of times, I have seen former President Bush a couple of times. And I think former President Ford came through, but I didn't see him. So it is not unusual for former presidents to travel. And generally, I think, we find that they keep in touch with the Administration, that they keep in touch with the current Administration. They often contact our diplomatic representatives overseas when they are traveling. And they are very interested in knowing where we are in policy terms and what we are trying to do.

To that extent, I think we find them all generally very positive and very supportive of our policy. It is different -- I think to say that we are aware somebody is traveling, we are helping them out, we are keeping them informed of our policy -- that doesn't mean we are necessarily using them as a particular diplomatic agent on a particular question. That is a different sort of thing that sometimes happens, but at this point, I don't think we are in that position with any of the former presidents.

QUESTION: Well, some of them go abroad just like big speeches -- speaking fees. But that hasn't been true of President Carter, and apparently it isn't true of President Clinton. Has there been any -- will there be any briefings of them? Will he carry any messages? Will you arm him, or make use of his visit, by close consultation with him?

MR. BOUCHER: I think I just answered that kind of question generically. I don't want to try to deal specifically with the issue of President Clinton.

QUESTION: Okay, I just was trying to make the point, generically presidents travel abroad for all sorts of reasons, like big speaking fees --

MR. BOUCHER: Well, I just said, generically we keep --

QUESTION: -- and to try to do some good. This guy is trying to do some good.

MR. BOUCHER: Generically, former presidents travel abroad for all kinds of reasons. We frequently keep them well informed of what our current policies are and what the current issues are. Generally we have found them to be very supportive of the efforts that we make, whether it is in this Administration or previous ones.

But, as I said, we are not -- I am not aware that any particular president has a particular role at this point in terms of a designation for any specific problem.

QUESTION: Actually, I have one follow-up. Is it possible that President Clinton could be helpful, though, in this process?

MR. BOUCHER: I can't deal with the specifics.

QUESTION: Why not? I mean, he has been out of office for five months. He is the guy exactly who authored the Good Friday Accord.

MR. BOUCHER: I think I said, we welcome the fact that he is supporting this in his private capacity. Yes, that is helpful. But I am not trying to imply something more than what I just said.

QUESTION: May I follow in a different (inaudible)? Before he leaves Washington, do you think he is in touch with President Bush? And traveling - - like travels to India?

MR. BOUCHER: That is a question you can ask at the White House. And we have frequently been in touch with former presidents at senior levels, not necessarily the President's level. I don't know if in this instance or in the instance or in the instance when President Clinton traveled to India who he talked to.

QUESTION: He is going again in December --

MR. BOUCHER: You can ask the White House in December --

QUESTION: -- before presidential trip next year.

MR. BOUCHER: Please.

QUESTION: Do you have anything on Deputy Assistant Secretary for Near East Affairs being sent to the region as an open-ended envoy? That sounds rather peculiar, but you know what I mean.

And also, do you have any reaction to more bulldozing of Palestinian houses today?

MR. BOUCHER: Yes. Let me start out with the travel of David Satterfield, the Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of Near East Affairs. He will travel to the region later this week for meetings with the parties. The focus of his trip is to follow up on the discussions that Assistant Secretary Burns and Secretary Powell have held in the region. Clearly, the emphasis will be on improving security cooperation, the restoration of calm and progress towards implementation of the Mitchell Committee recommendations in all their aspects.

As for the situation on the ground, with the demolitions, we are deeply troubled by the Israeli entry into Palestinian controlled areas and the demolition of Palestinian homes in Jerusalem and Rafah over the last two days. We've been in contact with the Israeli Government at the highest levels in the last 24 hours and we have urged an immediate halt to any further demolition of Palestinian homes and destruction of Palestinian property. Actions such as these demolitions are highly provocative, they undermine confidence and trust between the parties and they can only make it much more difficult to restore calm and move forward with the implementation of the Mitchell Committee recommendations.

It continues to be our hope that the improvements that we saw in the security situation last week will be restored and sustained. And it remains, in our view, absolutely critical that the Palestinian Authority exert its maximum efforts to bring the violence to a halt. Furthermore, Israeli and Palestinian Authority leaders must also sustain and improve their cooperation on security issues, abide by their commitments in the Tenet work plan and avoid provocative actions that make the restoration of trust and confidence more difficult.

Our representatives in the region remain in continuous contact with Palestinian and Israeli leaders on the political and the security side. Our efforts are focused on security cooperation and practical efforts to bring down the violence and to move forward discussion of the Mitchell timeline.

QUESTION: (Inaudible) said you would be in contact at the highest level about the demolitions. What kind of response did you get?

MR. BOUCHER: Our Ambassador has been in touch with senior leaders in Israel and made quite clear our point of view on this matter. As for the response, I think we will just leave it to the Israelis to describe their response.

QUESTION: The Israelis claim that they needed to go into Gaza, I guess early last night, in order to stop grenade attacks that were coming from this specific refugee camp. In terms of the information that is being shared, was the US aware in, at least that case, that there were a number of attacks coming from there? They say this is what they had to do, but is there an agreement at least that there were these attacks on Israeli bases that were coming from this particular camp?

MR. BOUCHER: I think we are all quite aware that the various places that attacks have come from, shooting has come from. Obviously, we are keeping in touch with both Israelis and Palestinians on the security situation. We also need to make clear that it's our view that the parties themselves need to address the sources of the violence and that they need to address the areas and instances where shooting is coming or violence is coming. And that is one of the reasons why we stress, again and again, the importance of the trilateral security cooperation, that it is just that kind of cooperation that can address the sources of violence, the areas where the violence is coming from and what to do about them.

QUESTION: Well, if I could follow up, the trilateral security cooperation talks have been going on and off since April. Yet these kinds of attacks continue. The Israelis claim this has been absolutely what they need to do in order to maintain security. Are you -- and I kind of asked this yesterday -- are you saying, are you proposing alternatives at this point, and can you kind of get into them? What should the Israelis do?

MR. BOUCHER: The key part of your question is "on and off."

QUESTION: Yes.

MR. BOUCHER: What is important is the parties both bear down, have these meetings, do these meetings, and do them properly, but also that the parties make their maximum effort. And I think we have made quite clear all along, especially in terms of what we have said about the kind of effort we are looking for from the Palestinian side, that we have not yet seen that kind of maximum effort. And it is important to stop the violence, it is important that the parties themselves bear down and stop the violence through their own efforts.

QUESTION: Well, I mean, you are saying that they should make an effort to stop the violence, but this kind of -- would you call this demolition a provocative act? I mean, that certainly isn't a --

MR. BOUCHER: I already called it a highly provocative action.

QUESTION: And you said you (inaudible) chances of realizing the Mitchell recommendations and so on. Does that --

MR. BOUCHER: In all their aspects.

QUESTION: In all their aspects. Can we take it from that that he is going to stay there until that happens?

MR. BOUCHER: I don't know exactly how long he will stay there. I don't think he has a precise date for return yet. But obviously he will be out there to do the job that he is expected to do, and then at some point he will return to Washington. I don't have a date yet for his return.

QUESTION: Is there going to be a point where the Mitchell recommendations expire? I mean, last week you mentioned earlier in the week that the time is right now. Is there a point when it just -- it's no longer necessarily on the table from the US perspective?

MR. BOUCHER: I don't have a date for that.

QUESTION: Obviously.

MR. BOUCHER: But clearly, as the Secretary I think discussed on the airplane, if you look back at what he said on the way back from his trip in the Middle East, he made clear that these are the recommendations on the table, there is no Plan B. But at the same time, it is important that we do this. Otherwise, eventually this becomes just another piece of paper. Right now this is the path, this is the real path to getting the parties what they want, which is an end to the violence and a return to some security for people on both sides and a return to negotiations. And we think it is very important that they take that opportunity. We think it is very important they make a maximum effort to make this opportunity work.

QUESTION: Switching subjects. We have discussed for the past several weeks the status of the FBI's leaving Yemen, and I would like to know again, if you don't mind updating us on that. And can you also address the question of whether or not the timing of whether the FBI might go back into Yemen is related to personality problems or disputes between the senior FBI agent in charge, John O'Neill, and Ambassador Bodine?

MR. BOUCHER: The issue of the FBI's presence in Yemen is obviously something that we work with the FBI and that we need to work closely with the FBI on, as well as the Yemeni authorities. Ambassador Burns was just in Yemen. He had a thorough and serious discussion with the Yemeni leadership about the security situation, about the need to pursue the investigation, and about our desire and their desire to work together in doing that.

We are working to see the conditions created where the FBI can go back. That is our Ambassador's job, as well as our job from here and from our envoys. It is important that we do that, because it is important to the United States Government that we have the people there on the ground that can pursue this investigation and finish it as necessary with work on the ground.

In terms of the issue involved, I think we have discussed it enough, that we have made clear the FBI felt the security situation in-country was not such that they could remain there. When the security situation has changed, when they feel it is comfortable enough that they can go back, that it is okay for them to go back, safe enough for them to go back, then I'm sure they will.

QUESTION: Well, is it just the security situation, or is there a difference of opinion that is more related to personalities involved?

MR. BOUCHER: No, I would describe it as the security situation.

QUESTION: And has it been discussed here by the Secretary and the senior levels of the FBI, or does he plan to talk to the new FBI Director when he is confirmed about it?

MR. BOUCHER: I don't know. The Secretary talks periodically with the FBI Director, or senior officials in the FBI. I don't know if the situation in Yemen has come up at his level yet.

QUESTION: Do you have any view about lawyers, including the former Attorney General Ramsey Clark going to defend Slobodan Milosevic?

MR. BOUCHER: No, because I hadn't heard about it.

QUESTION: Okay. Can you --

MR. BOUCHER: I will check and see if we have anything. I think we believe that everybody is entitled to representation.

QUESTION: Another subject? Richard, this summit between India and Pakistan comes closer and closer now, and the Secretary making his trips to Asia and other parts of the world. One, if he is planning to make a trip to India sometime after the summit, or in the near future; and two, I am sure he has been briefed on a daily basis about the India-Pakistan situation and the upcoming summit on July 14th in Delhi and Agra at the Taj Mahal.

So any -- what does he think, or outcome or his views, comments?

MR. BOUCHER: I think we will leave the outcome to the Indian and Pakistani Governments. I think the Secretary has told various people in the region that he looks forward to visiting out there, but there is no particular trip or timing scheduled. So that means he will be visiting after the summit. I wouldn't go so far as to say in the near future.

The question of India and Pakistan and the issues that they are going to be dealing with are very important to them and to the United States. We look forward to them establishing a base of cooperation for them to produce a more peaceful and stable situation in the region. And it is our hope that they will do that.

QUESTION: Any specific recommendations for the two countries that the US is offering?

MR. BOUCHER: I think I will leave that to our representatives in the field.

QUESTION: Thank you.

MR. BOUCHER: Thank you. [End]

Released on July 10, 2001

U.S. State Department: Daily Press Briefings Directory - Previous Article - Next Article