USIA - State Department Report (96-08-01)

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From: The United States Information Agency (USIA) Gopher at <gopher://gopher.usia.gov>

STATE DEPARTMENT REPORT, THURSDAY, AUGUST 1, 1996

(Burundi, Liberia, Panama, NKorea, Bosnia) (550)

BURUNDI -- Burns said that although the United States shares the concerns of the Arusha conferees at the August 31 meeting, it has made no decisions about imposing sanctions on Burundi. African regional leaders agreed on sanctions to bring down the government of Pierre Buyoya, a Tutsi, who seized control of Burundi from the elected President Sylvestre Ntibantunganya, a Hutu. African leaders who ordered sanctions were from Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, Rwanda, Zaire, as well as from the Cameroon (the current chairman of the Organization of African Unity) and Ethiopia (the former chairman). Burns said that while the United States believes the sanctions may have a "beneficiary impact," the only U.S. action taken to date has been to suspend $1.7 million in developmental aid. Howard Wolpe, President Clinton's special representative and envoy to Burundi, remains in the region for consultations, but has yet to meet either Buyoya or Ntibantunganya, Burns said.

LIBERIA -- The United States supports the July 31 decision by Liberia's three main factions to disarm their fighters and declare a ceasefire, Burns said. Noting that other similar agreements have been made in the past and then fallen apart, Burns expressed the U.S. hope that this time concrete actions would be taken to keep the peace.

PANAMA -- Burns responded to allegations made in a Washington Post article ("Panama's Banks Remain a Conduit for Cocaine Traffickers' Billions," by Douglas Farah, August 1 edition) that little has changed in Panama since the regime of General Manuel Antonio Noriega. Burns said that the United States believes that Panama has taken initial steps to deal with its narcotics and money-laundering problems, and while the United States is far from satisfied with the results, it continues to help Panama push for progress in these areas.

NORTH KOREA -- The United States has no plans to provide additional food aid to North Korea despite the recent flooding that has devastated parts of that country, Burns said, because the United States has already contributed $6.2 million in food aid to North Korea via the World Food Program. U.S.-produced grain is currently being loaded on the "Tampa Bay" and is expected to reach North Korea around August 22.

BOSNIA -- President Franjo Tudjman of Croatia will meet with President Clinton, Vice President Gore, and Secretary of State Christopher in Washington D.C. August 2. The U.S. objective for the talks is to convince Tudjman that he must pressure the Croats to accept the slim-majority win of the Moslems in recent municipal reunification elections in Mostar, Burns said. Although Burns refused to characterize the August 2 meeting as a "crisis summit," he said that the United States "needs to get satisfaction on Mostar .... Hope for the new state certainly is going to be diminished if Mostar is not settled." In addition, the United States wants to see greater commitment on the part of Croatia to the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, improvement on human rights issues, and more cooperation in apprehending Croatian war criminals, Burns said.

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