Federal News Service | July 3, 2001
BRIEFER: RICHARD BOUCHER, DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN LOCATION: STATE DEPARTMENT BRIEFING ROOM, WASHINGTON, D.C.
MR. BOUCHER: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Pleasure to be here.
I don't have any statements or announcements, so I'd be glad to take your questions. Mr. Schweid?
Q Why don't we pick it up where we left off yesterday --
MR. BOUCHER: (Chuckles.) Okay.
Q -- Israel and the Palestinians. The Cabinet's Cabinet, or the inner cabinet, or the kitchen cabinet, whatever -- the elite of the Israeli Cabinet met and scoffed, as the AP story put it, at the U.S. admonition that it doesn't like targeted killings. One Cabinet minister wondered what the U.S. would do if terrorism was afloat in Manhattan.
In any event, is this just a disconnect? I mean, Israel and the United States can't agree on this, I take it. Yes?
MR. BOUCHER: We have our view.
Q Well, is the U.S. view that Israel -- the general who was here yesterday, when he came out after seeing the chief of staff, after seeing Mr. Powell, he said, "We have the right to defend ourselves." Any quarrel with that?
MR. BOUCHER: No.
Q So how do they do it? If they have discriminate killing, they -- of armed civilians, if they have, you know --
MR. BOUCHER: Barry, I don't think -- Israel defends itself in a variety of ways that we are involved with, that we assist with. We think this policy is not right, and we've said that many times, made it quite clear, I think.
Q Okay. And can I pursue one other thing --
MR. BOUCHER: Sure.
Q -- the Syrian-Israel dispute over whether Syria launched a missile or not? Is there anything the U.S. State Department can do to shed light?
MR. BOUCHER: No. That's not the kind of matter I'm able to comment on.
Q Can I just get back to the targeted killings? Are you doing anything but stating your view publicly at this podium and obviously, I'm assuming, in meetings with Israeli officials? I mean, what are you doing? I mean, if you dislike this policy, obviously Secretary Powell has been --
MR. BOUCHER: We've made clear our opposition to it -- publicly, privately.
George?
Q I think the secretary was supposed to have, at one point, a meeting with the EPA administrator -- today, was it? And --
MR. BOUCHER: He meets with her periodically. I don't know if there's a meeting today or not --
Q All right. Well, irrespective of whether there's a meeting, is there something going on vis-a-vis the environment in advance of --
MR. BOUCHER: (Chuckles.)
Q -- of, I guess, the G-8 summit?
MR. BOUCHER: Yes.
Q Okay.
MR. BOUCHER: Next question.
There's always something going on with regards to the environment. We've been working on climate change policy. We have -- the secretary has worked very closely with the -- with Governor Whitman, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, and other members of the Cabinet, as you know, on climate change policy.
The meetings coming up in Bonn, first of all, are about the same time the leaders' meeting of the G-8 that comes up in Genoa, will provide another opportunity to discuss climate change policy with other governments. And it's important that we be out there and able to elaborate on the U.S. position, so people are -- you know, we're in a position of discussing it now.
I don't have any new announcements or statements for you at this point. I'm sure we'll be in a position to state the U.S. view at those meetings.
Q Well, is the U.S. (evolving ?) with a view toward these meetings?
MR. BOUCHER: We're looking towards those meetings as an opportunity to state the U.S. case.
Okay, let's go down here.
Q Has there been any decision yet on handing over the U.S. serviceman to Japanese police in Okinawa?
MR. BOUCHER: No, we're still looking at that request from the Japanese.
Q Richard, a question on Pakistan's ambassador to the U.S. Maleeha Lodhi is pretty angry and upset with the State Department; also at the Bush administration. She is saying that, one, her foreign minister was not treated as the Indian foreign minister. He didn't get the red carpet treatment here. And two, that there's a discrimination, comparing with Indian and Pakistan, dealing from the United States, and Pakistan should be treated in the same way. So do you have any comment on that?
MR. BOUCHER: No.
Q Richard, can you discuss a report of asylum request by an Iraqi diplomat and heir?
MR. BOUCHER: Sorry, we don't discuss alleged asylum requests, so I can't.
Yes.
Q Mr. Boucher, do you may have some information today in regards to the congressman --
Q Can we stay on --
Q -- that was involved in that --
MR. BOUCHER: Let me take care of this and then take care of that. I can't go into any specific situation; the Immigration Service would have to do that, but there was one aspect that you asked about yesterday which was a question of regulations, and both State Department and INS regulations say that a visa is not required of a Mexican official bearing a diplomatic or official passport who is entering the United States for a visit of up to six months as long as they're not a permanent employee assigned to an office of the Mexican government in the United States. But whether in this specific case this person qualified for that, I don't know, and the Immigration Service would have to do any specifics.
Q Is the State Department conducting any investigation -- (inaudible) -- to find out what --
MR. BOUCHER: Again, with regard to a specific case, you'd have to talk to the INS.
Q Have you received any diplomatic note from the Mexican government expressing concern about this incident?
MR. BOUCHER: (To staff.) Did we get an answer on that one? I don't think we did. That's another one we've got to double-check on. Sorry.
Q Okay, just one more.
MR. BOUCHER: Yeah.
Q In regards with the meeting of the G-8, is the U.S. involved in providing security or some sort of support for security?
MR. BOUCHER: With the G-8?
Q With the meeting of the G-8?
MR. BOUCHER: Our security people, the people who protect the president and other American dignitaries obviously work very closely with all the other security people involved in the G-8, but in terms of actual on-the-ground presence, it's really largely the responsibility of the host government.
Q I just want to follow --
MR. BOUCHER: No --
Q I'm sorry, just to follow the -- (inaudible word) -- question. There was a time when Congress requested more H-1 -- H-1 visas; now, from 95 (thousand) to 195,000. Now many of those companies have gone out of business, bankrupt, or they have laid off those employees.
Now they're out of status. Now they're seeking jobs or to stay in this country. There have been a number of -- the Supreme Court has also took some steps in a number of cases, as far as immigration -- immigrants are concerned, one about this visa. Number one, if the State Department --
MR. BOUCHER: If you get to the end of your question, I'll refer you to the Immigration Service, because we don't do people in the United States, and it's the same answer. If you ask about people in the United States, whether they're Mexican officials who came in transit or whether they're H1 visa holders who may be in California, looking for jobs, Immigration Service is responsible for them. We take care of people overseas who want to get in. Once they're here, Immigration handles them.
Q Including the extension for 245-I and the --
MR. BOUCHER: I don't know what 245-I is, but I bet it's Immigration Service.
Q I have a couple of questions on Iraq. On the defectors, it's not really alleged anymore if U.S. law enforcement officials are confirming that it has taken place?
MR. BOUCHER: I'm sorry. Do you have a name of a U.S. law enforcement official confirming that it's taken place?
Q I don't have a name, but --
MR. BOUCHER: I don't either. Thank you.
Q Okay. (Laughter.) You said yesterday that there was no change in the efforts to bring Saddam Hussein -- to indict Saddam Hussein for war crimes. Can you talk about the efforts, though, thus far to bring him to justice, the investigation, or --
MR. BOUCHER: I don't have the full brief with me here. Obviously, we've been collecting information. I think part of our cooperation with the Iraqi opposition, for example, has been in terms of collecting information. There's been an effort under way for some time.
Q But nobody thought that Slobodan Milosevic would be brought to justice for his alleged --
MR. BOUCHER: I think the people who set up the tribunal and who carried through the indictment and who have undertaken this effort for lo, so many years to get him to The Hague did think that he would be indicted and did think he would be brought to trial. And we've done it.
Q Well, can you say that you're confident that that'll happen to Saddam Hussein as well?
MR. BOUCHER: I don't think we have exactly the same kind of effort under way, so I wouldn't make exactly the same claim.
Q Can I ask you --
MR. BOUCHER: Let's go to the back.
Q All right.
Q Will the U.S. continue to seek smart sanctions on Iraq, now that it doesn't appear to have been accepted by the Security Council?
MR. BOUCHER: We see that, what's happening today in the Council, in terms of the rollover to be, shall we say, a phase or a stage in the process, and not the end of the process. We will continue to work on the new policy, to get the policy implemented by the Council.
The Council at the beginning of June said that they wanted to take a new approach to Iraq, and we think it's important to continue the work to carry this out. We've made some significant progress in terms of getting four of the five members of the Council to agree on the goods review list. That's the core of any new system, and we'll continue to work on that.
We think it's important also for Russia to consider its position and try to bring itself into line with what the other members of the Council are doing.
So we'll keep working on that. There will be, we think today, a rollover resolution to extend the period that we have to work on this. We've accepted the proposal for a five-month rollover. And we'll use the next 150 days to try to implement what the Council said it would do in terms of a new policy. We think it's a better policy and one that the Council should follow.
Q Is the U.S. ready to consider concessions, such as direct foreign investment in Iraq's oil sector?
MR. BOUCHER: I don't think there's any particular negotiation going on on points like that at this stage. What we're looking at -- we've done the list. There are various other elements that have to be done.
Q Are you working on a "Plan B" just in case you can't get the Russians on board, an alternative to food-for-oil and an alternative to the current proposal?
MR. BOUCHER: No, I think Plan B is to stay where we are, with an imperfect and, granted, not necessarily well-functioning system. But the alternative to proceeding with a new policy is to keep the old one.
Q To ask a somewhat relativistic question, you've asked the Russians to sort of maybe reconsider their position, but sort of along the lines of what Fawn (sp) was saying, at this point do you think that some of the other areas where you didn't reach the kind of consensus, such as some of the border state provisions, is there room there to maybe step back and reevaluate those kinds of things?
MR. BOUCHER: We're not reevaluating, we're proceeding forward. We're proceeding forward to put in place the details, to put in place the pieces of the resolution that need to be done. That's our goal. That's what we're actually going to be doing for the next 150 days.
The fact that all those pieces were not put in place in the first 30 days probably should come as no surprise to people who have watched these things in the past. It's taken six months to two years to work out that kind of detail in the past. We had hoped to do it in 30 days. The Council set itself a limit of 30 days. And I think the fact that four out of the five were able to agree on the toughest part, which is the list, shows the Council could have done it in 30 days if everybody had wanted to play ball. But now we've given ourselves another five months to work through these, and we'll be working through those other pieces as we go forward.
Q North Korea. Is there another session with North Korea?
Q Hold on. To Iraq.
Q You want to do Iraq?
Q Do Iraqi opposition support still the sanctions, or did they ask any demand about sanctions?
MR. BOUCHER: Well, as far as I can tell, Iraq has denounced everybody, including people that were trying to help them. Iraq's government has shown itself steadfastly opposed to any attempt to ease up on the flow of goods to the Iraqi people. I suppose that shouldn't come as any surprise, although it's still a shock to us all how Iraq's government shows such callous disregard for its own people. And as I noted, they seem to have denounced the British resolution, the Russian resolution and just about any other resolution that's out there, and doesn't -- don't seem to indicate any desire to live in harmony with the international community or to fulfill their obligations.
Q Can we stay with Iraq?
MR. BOUCHER: Yes.
Q Will you insist, in the terms of the rollover, on a restatement of the language of Resolution 1352? There have been some reports that Russia is now quarreling with that kind of language being included in the rollover terms.
MR. BOUCHER: There are meetings going on right now in New York where exactly how to formulate this is being worked on. So that will be worked out in New York. I don't have a definitive answer on that one yet.
Iraq, or something else?
Q Yeah, Iraq. In regard to economic retaliations by Iraq, are there any specific efforts to combat that or to assuage it?
MR. BOUCHER: I think we've been making clear all along that we understand that while there is an overall benefit from enhanced trade with the people of Iraq, that Iraq has also threatened retaliation against some countries, particularly neighboring states, and therefore we have been working with other governments. I don't have any specifics to talk to you about, but we have been working with other governments to make sure that the interests and the needs of the neighboring states are looked after and that, should Iraq try to carry out any sort of retaliation, that people wouldn't suffer as a result of supporting the international community and its obligations.
Q Is there any communication with OPEC on this matter?
MR. BOUCHER: We've been talking to individual governments.
Q On North Korea?
MR. BOUCHER: North Korea.
Q Is there another meeting in prospect at some point?
MR. BOUCHER: I don't think there's anything scheduled at this point. I can double-check. We met in New York June 13th to arrange bilateral talks. We have not yet received a direct response from Pyongyang. They did issue a public statement on June 18th, but we don't consider the June 18th public statement, which discussed some ideas about dialogue, we don't consider that to be a response to the proposals that we made. And so we would expect to get a direct response back through the usual channel.
Q What do you mean, the proposal? The agenda, or --
MR. BOUCHER: The proposals that were made both in the president's statement --
Q Oh, okay.
MR. BOUCHER: -- and also in the specific meeting that Jack Pritchard had in New York.
Q Right.
MR. BOUCHER: Okay.
Q So why didn't you consider the public statement a response?
MR. BOUCHER: Because it's not.
Q It doesn't address the --
MR. BOUCHER: It's not a response to what we've talked to them about in private.
Q Do you think --
MR. BOUCHER: It doesn't respond to the request, and we think a private discussion deserves a private response.
Q Bill Gertz today reported that there was an engine test in -- that North Korea's tested an engine for a long-term (sic) missile. Does that violate the agreement on --
Q (Off mike) -- the AP.
Q Was that the AP?
Q That's -- (off mike).
Q Sorry. Does that violate the moratorium on missile testing that the North Koreans agreed to in terms of --
MR. BOUCHER: Let me try to address this in a number of ways and first of all tell you that I can't address it in any specific way, which is whether or not such an event occurred. It would be an intelligence matter, and I can't talk about intelligent (sic) matters.
But on North Korea's missile activity in general, I'd say that we think those activities continue to pose a threat to regional security and stability and to U.S. friends, forces, and interests. We expect North Korea to abide by its moratorium on the launch of long-range missiles. We will continue to take steps to address North Korea's overall missile efforts and to work closely with other countries in doing so.
The article claims that North Korea conducted a ground-based test of its rocket engines, not a flight test. A flight test, of course, would be prohibited by the moratorium. It would be a very serious matter and contrary to the understandings between the two sides.
Okay.
Q On India --
Q I just want to -- but a ground-based test is not prohibited by the moratorium?
MR. BOUCHER: The moratorium is on launches, flight testing. That's what we have understandings on.
Go to the back.
Q On Milosevic?
MR. BOUCHER: Yep.
Q The trial today he said the trial is to produce false justification for the war crimes of NATO, that -- committed in Yugoslavia. What's your comment on that?
MR. BOUCHER: I don't have any comment. I'm sure there will be a lot of outrageous things said during the course of the trial, and we'll rely on the court and the prosecutors to establish the facts.
Q There's also reports that some of his deeds in the late '80s and early '90s were agreed by Western governments, some -- U.S. or the U.K. or Western governments, and then it's a trade-off, and then he was sort of saying they betrayed --
MR. BOUCHER: As I said, they're going to say all kinds of things during the course of this trial. We'll leave it to the court, the tribunal, to establish the facts. And I think you've seen as well a variety of people who were around in the late '80s and early '90s, from our side, who can tell what they did and did not agree to, and it sounds like they did not agree to much of anything.
Q He even said the whole tribunal is a false tribunal.
MR. BOUCHER: Yeah. Again, we'll let it be sorted out. The truth will out, don't worry.
Q I want to ask you about American POWs forced into slave labor in Japan. Can you spell out what is the U.S. policy on American POWs forced into slave labor in Japan who are seeking compensation from those companies?
MR. BOUCHER: The U.S. policy for 50 years, ever since the treaty of 1951 has been to recognize that the claims were settled at that time. The treaty of peace with Japan that was signed by the U.S. and some 40 allied nations settled all the claims and since then, U.S. administrations as well as courts have held that those claims were settled.
We have every sympathy with the injustices and the terrible hardships that many, many people suffered at the hands of Japanese forces during the war, and it was deemed at the time, frankly, to try to settle those claims right away and to get those people settlement, and they were paid, in fact, compensation of various kinds right after the war, often using assets taken from Japan. So those claims were settled by the treaties shortly after the war for the people involved and since then, all the courts and the administrations have held that that was a final settlement.
Q On India, according to India Globe and other news, Osama bin Laden has threatened U.S. interests in India in connection with Indian government's arrests of his number of terrorists in India. Now, do you think this issue has come up here in this building during Sonia Gandhi and Brajesh Mishra's meeting with a number of U.S. officials?
MR. BOUCHER: I don't -- I don't know.
Q And what U.S. is doing really about this threat and Indian authorities are taking very seriously. Are they --
MR. BOUCHER: I'm not going to be in a position to go into any specific threat in a specific place. We have put out advisories right now that indicate the possibility of terrorist attacks around the world. We're very concerned about the situation at this moment. With regard to the specific situation that arose in India, I know there were some press reports a while back about some arrests that the Indian government made. The Indian government would have to comment on that, but I would say generally that we cooperate very closely with the Indian government and we work very closely with them to counter terrorist threats.
Q Thank you.
MR. BOUCHER: Okay.
Q Can we go to Mexico? How the U.S. sees plan of the Mexican government to seal its south border to Guatemala to prevent illegal immigration and drug smuggling?
MR. BOUCHER: That is something that we have generally talked to the Mexican government about and we want to work cooperatively with Mexico to prevent the transits and the illegal immigration of all kinds, and to make immigration an orderly and safe passage for everyone. So I don't think I can comment on a specific plan or proposal from the Mexican government, but I'd just say it's been a subject of interest to us in regularizing and making safe the whole process of immigration.
Q What do you think about the Plan Pueblo Panama? (Inaudible.)
MR. BOUCHER: I don't know.
Q Don't know?
MR. BOUCHER: No. Nothing specific on that.
Q Is the secretary of State going to meet with the Guatemalan president which is here in Washington?
MR. BOUCHER: I know the visit is coming up. Let me see what I have on the particular meetings.
Q I think it will be on the 3rd.
MR. BOUCHER: President Portillo to meet with President Bush and U.S. Trade Representative Zoellick, to discuss bilateral issues. I guess the embassy would have more information on particular meetings with NGOs or others. So I guess he doesn't have a separate meeting with the secretary, but I think we do have meetings with the president and with U.S. Trade Representative Zoellick.
We have an excellent relationship right now with Guatemala and I think the visit is a reflection of that.
Q Richard, do you have anything on reports of an American missing in Macedonia?
MR. BOUCHER: I think all we really have is that we've seen them. Yeah. We've seen the press reports; the embassy and well as the local police force is looking into the disappearance, and that's all we know at this moment.
Q Into the disappearance?
MR. BOUCHER: Yeah.
Q Not the reported disappearance?
MR. BOUCHER: The reported disappearance.
Q Okay. I mean, you seemed to be --
MR. BOUCHER: The possible disappearance.
Yes.
Q Richard, it looks like the intelligence plane, which is about to be returned to U.S. custody after I guess a little more than three months, do you have any details on that, and is this chapter in the U.S.-Chinese relations closed and can we look to a more productive future?
MR. BOUCHER: Let me give you the details on the airplane. The recovery operation that began on June 13th has been completed. After final loading operations, the remaining parts of the EP-3 aircraft, including the fuselage, are currently en route to the United States. The final flight of the AN-124 that carries the airplane departed Lingshui today at 4:45 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time.
The AN-124 will make brief stops in Manila and Hawaii while on route to a final destination of Dobbins Air Force Base in Marietta, Georgia.
The flight is scheduled to arrive in Hawaii later today, at about 11:30 p.m. Eastern Time. So they're still a ways from Georgia.
As far as the future of the U.S.-China relationship, certainly we're glad to resolve this issue and to get the airplane back. We do seek a productive relationship with China. As the secretary and the president have made clear on a number of occasions, we don't see China as an enemy; we don't think China should see us as one. We look for a relationship that's marked by cooperation, not confrontation, but we also look to raise in a serious manner some of the issues that divide us.
Q (Off mike) -- adversaries, or similar words, because it was described as a strategic adversary. I don't mean to, you know --
MR. BOUCHER: No, I'm not going to play word games with you. I think --
Q No, no, I'm just -- it's important, the words, because you remember the Clinton administration; you saw quite a different relationship, and it sounds like this administration is --
MR. BOUCHER: I do remember the Clinton administration.
Q You were there.
MR. BOUCHER: I was around.
Q And it sounds like this administration on this subject, like so many, has begun to find --
MR. BOUCHER: I think the phrase that's been used, Barry, is "strategic competitor," which is not "adversary."
Q Okay.
MR. BOUCHER: But in any case, rather than trying to parse an individual word or not --
Q No, that's all right.
MR. BOUCHER: -- I want to say we look for a productive relationship.
Q Sure.
MR. BOUCHER: We look to bring China into the system of world standards and world's rules. Whether that applies -- whether it's a matter of trade or human rights or proliferation, we look for China to participate in and abide by the standards that the rest of us use. And within that context, we look for a productive relationship with China.
Q Do you think the feeling is mutual at this point?
MR. BOUCHER: You have to ask the Chinese, but --
Q So you want to forget what happened and what China did to the United States?
MR. BOUCHER: I didn't say that.
Q So what's your answer?
MR. BOUCHER: My answer is that we obviously are very cognizant of what happened, very cognizant of what happened to our airplane and its crew. We're aware of the entire scope of the relationship, and we look within that context to try to make productive things happen.
Q On the Middle East problem, any phone calls recently that you can tell us about?
MR. BOUCHER: No. No phone calls. There was a security meeting last night with -- a trilateral meeting with the parties that was quite constructive, we think, and there will be another one soon. Our ambassador there, Consul General Schlicher, had been in close touch with the leaders in the region, continue to have meetings. Ambassador Burns, who is in the region, and the secretary here have followed the situation closely. We're looking to do everything we can to work with the parties, to try to get them to calm the situation. And we'll continue to urge them to make maximum efforts to do that.
Q Is today still possibly day one?
MR. BOUCHER: I haven't seen any of your dispatches report quiet, but we'll see.
Q Will there be, like, a system to let us know when it's day one?
MR. BOUCHER: Yeah, we're going to put up a thermometer -- (laughter) -- and we're going to have a little chart, and it will go up and down every day and back --
Q Well, a clock, because --
MR. BOUCHER: Maybe a clock.
No. The answer is no. I think once we have a real period of quiet, then we can start debating and discussing these (plans ?). Clearly --
Q We're going to quietly exit.
MR. BOUCHER: -- that hasn't happened yet.
Thanks.
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