U.S. Department of State 95/12/15 Daily Press Briefing

From: hristu@arcadia.harvard.edu (Dimitrios Hristu)

U.S. State Department Directory

Subject: U.S. Department of State 95/12/15 Daily Press Briefing

Office of the Spokesman

[...]

FORMER YUGOSLAVIA

Reports of Arrest Warrants for Bosnian-Croats ..........1-2

Karadzic Decree to End War .............................2-3

Report of Tuzla Blizzard ...............................11-12

[...]

TURKEY

Proposed Sale of U.S. ATACM Missiles ....................9-10

[...]

[...]

Q Moving onto Bosnia. There were arrest warrants issued today by the Bosnian Government for 82 Bosnian Croats. Mr. Tudjman says that is action contrary to the Dayton accord. Do you have anything on that at all?

MR. DAVIES: I don't have anything on that. Were those based on press items that have just come in?

Q Yeah, that moved on the wire in the last couple of hours.

MR. DAVIES: Okay. I don't have anything on that. Obviously now Dayton is signed in Paris. So the clock is ticking on various aspects of the accord. They include the human rights aspects, the arms control aspects, elections, all the rest of it. So we look to the signatories of the Dayton agreement to follow through on their undertakings.

Q This would indicate, though, that we already have a disagreement among the signatories as to what is proper under the accord and what isn't. Tudjman says these arrest warrants are not proper.

MR. DAVIES: We'll have to look into that, and perhaps we can get you something a bit more specific. I just don't have anything on that for you.

Q And Karadzic issued a decree today ending the state of war. Do his decrees have any authority?

MR. DAVIES: They don't have any bearing on the situation. He wasn't at Paris. He didn't sign the Dayton agreement in Paris. We take note of that.

I suppose, generally in the context of what's occurring there, that's not a negative development. It's not an important development either, from our standpoint.

Q The downside of that is that he excluded the suburbs of Sarajevo from that decree.

MR. DAVIES: Again, the decree itself is not of great moment to us. What's important right now is Dayton and the provisions of the Dayton accord. That's what we're concerned about and that's what we're going to hold the parties who signed the Dayton accord to.

Bill.

Q About that, do you have any further reaction, enlightenment about what was meant when the suburbs of Sarajevo were excepted. This continues to be at least a rebellious populous amongst the Bosnian Serbs there. Have you got anything at all?

MR. DAVIES: What's important here is what's in the Dayton accords which is a big, thick, specific targeted agreement that covers the issue of territory; that covers what is to become of those parts of Sarajevo. Declarations by persons who haven't signed the Dayton accord are of very little importance at this stage.

No, I'm not going to respond to that particular point.

[...]

Q On another subject. Is the Turkish tactical missile sale now a done deal?

MR. DAVIES: My understanding is that there may have been some congressional notification already on the sale of ATACM missiles to Turkey. Our view is that Turkey has a need for this missile. Turkey, to the United States, is a very important country. It's in a tough neighborhood, an unstable area, and it needs to continue to improve its defense capabilities.

The ATACM is a weapon that we believe Turkey needs in order to counter the very real missile threat that that country faces from other countries in the region, such as Iraq and Iran. The proposal to sell ATACMs to Turkey has been around for a while. We've been considering it for months.

We could find out for you exactly what stage we're at in the process of conveying these missiles.

Q Is there any proviso attached to the conditions of the sale that it should not be used against internal targets -- like Kurds?

MR. DAVIES: The ATACM is not a missile, we don't believe, that would be a useful missile to use for anything like that. It's our understanding, according to its characteristics, that it's used more for longer-range military uses than would be the case if Turkey were to consider using it for internal use. We're obviously very concerned. We're looking at this whole process, and we'll be tracking Turkey's purchase of the missile, and we'll be tracking the missile according to the regulations that we've got for transfer of such technology.

Q But there is no explicit part of the contract that says it should not be used --

MR. DAVIES: I don't know if there is. It's perhaps something we could check for you, but I don't have the contract in front of me, so I don't know.

[...]

The two-plus feet of snow, the blizzard that pretty much closed down Tuzla to air traffic was the result of the storm or system track being almost directly over that part of Bosnia-Herzegovina --

MR. DAVIES: Bill, let me stop you. You're asking a question about weather in Bosnia. I think that's not something that I can get into. I'm not a meteorologist.

Q But let me ask you this --

MR. DAVIES: I think we have questions over here, Bill, so I want to move quickly.

Q I have a question I think is quite relevant.

MR. DAVIES: What is it, Bill.

Q In the winter, there's rain every two or three days -- rain or snow every two or three days. That's the forecast for the next five days. The storm tracks continue to go over our sector in Bosnia. Does the Department take into account, or are you looking at the 30 and 90- day forecast as to see where the jets are going to be as to the weather? Basically, are you going to take the weather into account in your deployment --

MR. DAVIES: I got your question. It's not our deployment. It's the Defense Department's, and I don't do weather. I'm sorry, I can't help you there.

Are there questions over here? None?

Q Thank you.

(Press briefing concluded at 1:53 p.m.)

END