U.S. Department of State Daily Press Briefing #45, 97-03-31

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U.S. Department of State
Daily Press Briefing

I N D E X

Monday, March 31, 1997

Briefer: John Dinger

ZAIRE
1           Statement: US Contributes $3 Million to UNHCR Fund for Rwandan
            Refugee Repatriation
12          Update on Peace Talks, Situation in Kinshasa
CHINA
1-2         US Policy on Future of Taiwan, China
2           Speaker Gingrich Remarks re U.S. Defense of Taiwan if Attacked
            by PRC
MIDDLE EAST PEACE PROCESS
2-3,5,7,11  SMEC Ross Assessment of Situation; Mtg w/ Secretary Albright,
            Briefing for President Clinton;
3,7         Ross Meetings with Parties in the Region; Purpose/Objective of
            Travel
3-5,11      U.S. View on Need for Arafat "Red Light" to Terrorism
4-5         Effectiveness of Palestinian Authority Police to Ease Violence
5           Possibility of Secretary Albright Travel to Middle East
5,8-9,11,15 U.S. View of Israeli Housing Construction and Violence in the
            West Bank
6           Israeli Use of Live Ammunition Against Demonstrators
6-7         U.S. Reaction to Arab League Call for Freeze on Relations with
            Israel
7           U.S. Administration Confidence in SMEC Ross Ability to
            Mediate/Negotiate
9           U.S. Policy on Jerusalem, Israeli Settlements
10          OPIC Role in Funding for Israeli Construction in West Bank,
            East Jerusalem
JORDAN
10          Secretary Albright's Meetings with King Hussein
INDIA
11,14       U.S. Reaction to Political Split; Effect on Foreign Minister's
            Visit to U.S.
DEPARTMENT
12          Status of PA/HO Report on Nazi Assets Issue, Delay of Release
12          Enforcement of Parking Regulations for Diplomatic Corps in New
            York City
14          U.S. Policy for Dealing with Diplomatic Traffic Offenses
RUSSIA-IRAN
12-13       Reported Sale of Russian SS-4 Missiles to Iran
RUSSIA
13-14       Report that Diplomat in Washington Stopped for DUI
ALBANIA
14,15       Greek Troops to Participate in OSCE Multinational Force to
            Facilitate Humanitarian Assistance; U.S. Role
NORTH KOREA
15          Status of DPRK Response to Four-Party Talks Proposal; Food Aid
            Requests

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING

DPB #45

MONDAY, MARCH 31, 1997, 1:23 P.M.

(ON THE RECORD UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED)

MR. DINGER: Good afternoon. Welcome to the State Department daily briefing. I have a brief announcement and then we'll go to questions. I want to announce that the United States is contributing new funding in the amount of $3 million to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in support of its expanded repatriation operations in eastern Zaire. This new funding is from the State Department's Migration and Refugee Assistance Appropriation.

The United States has contributed over a billion dollars for humanitarian assistance in the Great Lakes region since late 1993.

I think that's all I have. George.

QUESTION: Speaker Gingrich said to Chinese officials during his visit, "We will defend Taiwan, period." I wonder if you would put it as boldly as he did, (a); and is it appropriate for the Speaker of the House to speak for the Administration?

MR. DINGER: As you all know, the Taiwan Relations Act governs our position on this issue. What I can do is briefly quote the Taiwan Relations Act of 1979.

It says that, It is the policy of the United States to "consider any effort to determine the future of Taiwan by other than peaceful means, a threat to the peace and security of the Western and Pacific area and of grave concern to the United States."

According to the Act, the President is directed to inform the Congress promptly of any threat to the security or the social or economic system of the people of Taiwan and any danger to the interests of the United States arising therefrom.

The President and Congress shall determine, in accordance with constitutional processes, appropriate action by the United States in response to any such danger.

I would also note the U.S.-Chinese 1982 communiqu&eacute; - in that communiqu&eacute;, the PRC articulated its fundamental policy of resolving the Taiwan question by peaceful means.

That Act was passed by Congress in 1979, and I really can't add to that, I don't believe.

QUESTION: What about the second part of the question, the propriety of the Speaker of the House saying what he said?

MR. DINGER: The Act, as I just quoted, says that the President and Congress shall determine in accordance with constitutional processes appropriate action in response to any danger. Of course, we're dealing with a hypothetical situation here. Should there be an attack on Taiwan, Congress would have a role, in coordination with the President. The Speaker of the House obviously expressed his views. Our attitude towards this is governed the Taiwan Relations Act, and I simply don't have anything to add to our position. Of course, I don't want to interpret the Speaker's words for him.

QUESTION: (Inaudible) released -

QUESTION: Just a minute. So you're saying that this is a personal remark by him and not a policy?

MR. DINGER: Actually, what I'm saying is the policy of the Administration - actually, of the United States; it was passed by Congress in 1979 - is the Taiwan Relations Act. I'd really refer you to the Speaker in terms of on what basis he was speaking. He obviously expressed his view. I can just point you to the Taiwan Relations Act which governs our relations.

QUESTION: It sounds from your reading of it that the two branches would consult, or cooperate, and work together. Did Mr. Gingrich let the State Department or the Execution Branch, any agency thereof, know that he was going to make this statement?

MR. DINGER: I don't know if he asked us for our opinion about this statement ahead of time. What we're dealing with here is a hypothetical situation - should there be an attack on Taiwan. Frankly, I don't want to get too far into a hypothetical situation. So it's best just to refer back to our 1979 Taiwan Relations Act. It has stood the test of time, and it governs the policy of the United States on this issue. The Speaker certainly had every right to say what he had to say.

QUESTION: Would you like to sum up Dennis Ross' trip for us?

MR. DINGER: Ambassador Ross and Secretary of State Albright talked over the weekend. They then late this morning briefed the President, as you know. Ambassador Ross spent much of last week in the Middle East assessing the situation.

The three obviously discussed ways to help advance the peace process. I'm not going to get into the details of their discussion. We have found that it has been the best practice to refrain from going into the details since public statements from Washington have tended to undermine our effectiveness as facilitators of progress by the parties concerned. So, unfortunately, I can't give you any details of their discussion.

They obviously discussed ways to help advance the peace process from now on.

QUESTION: Going back to what he did out there... we know that he stopped in Morocco and saw Chairman Arafat and went on to Israel. Was that it? Was it essentially one face-to-face with the two leaders, or was there more going on like telephones, doubling back, at least, by telephone of a sort?

MR. DINGER: In fact, there were a number of meetings. I don't have them with me today, but I did outline them on Friday. I could get that again for you. There were a series of meetings; of course, only one with Chairman Arafat, but several with other Palestinian Authority officials. I think it was two, or perhaps three with Prime Minister Netanyahu.

QUESTION: I remember when he went out, the Secretary and others were very clear that what you wanted was a clear red light from Arafat to ask the militants to refrain from violence. I don't know if you include rock- throwing in your category of violence. I think maybe you were talking about terrorism. How did he make out on that front?

MR. DINGER: I think that's not quite accurate. The purpose of Ambassador Ross' visit to the region was to assess the situation, both what's happened and the best way to move forward. That was the purpose of his trip.

He returned late on Friday. He spoke extensively with Secretary Albright over the weekend. They, this morning, spoke with the President on that assessment.

QUESTION: So he didn't ask the President of the Palestinian Authority to put the militants on notice that terrorism would not be acceptable?

MR. DINGER: I'm not going to get into the details of his discussion. However, the purpose of his visit was to assess the situation.

QUESTION: How could I be so wrong? I thought before he went out there everybody down to the elevator operators, if there are any left, were saying that he was looking for a red light, that that's what you wanted from the Palestinians. Dennis Ross wasn't part of that "want" list?

MR. DINGER: I'm not going to go into the details of his discussion. But I think if you check the record, it's really very clear that the purpose of his visit was to assess the situation. Now, prior to his trip, the issues that you raise, of course, we publicly addressed on more than one occasion.

QUESTION: Have you noticed a red light?

MR. DINGER: Separate from Dennis' trip?

QUESTION: Well, separate if you like.

MR. DINGER: Of course, what we believed important was that efforts be made to return to the stability necessary, the confidence necessary among the parties in order to make progress on the very difficult and sensitive issues that they need to address.

QUESTION: Let someone else try.

QUESTION: Do you have a sense that over the weekend - yesterday, specifically - that the Palestinian Authority did that? Not only on the question of terrorism but that the Palestinian police have kept rock- throwers away from Israeli troops, and so forth? Was that satisfactory?

MR. DINGER: Thankfully, we have not seen another incident of terrorism. As we have said, as long as I know, there's no place for terrorism in this process. Thankfully, there has not been another terrorist incident.

Regarding the violence, obviously, we would prefer that there wasn't this violence. It goes without saying.

QUESTION: Does the U.S. have the sense that the Palestinian Authority was doing its utmost to curb that violence?

MR. DINGER: We have asked the Palestinian Authority and Chairman Arafat to send a clear signal that there is no room for violence, to make sure that the light is red. I can say that since the horrible, horrific incident of about 10 days ago, there has not been another incident. I guess I'll have to leave it at that.

QUESTION: It didn't have to be public. As long as it was clear - clear, but not necessarily noticeable by the rest of the world?

MR. DINGER: Obviously, everybody is watching the situation.

QUESTION: You would look for what happened on the ground. You wouldn't look for a statement - you weren't looking for a statement from the Chairman, "Cut it out;" that's not what you're looking for?

MR. DINGER: What we were saying is that we hoped that if there were any doubt, that there would be a clear red light. We specifically did not say exactly how that should be demonstrated. Thus far, there has not been another horrific incident this week. We certainly there isn't, and we certainly hope that Chairman Arafat and the Palestinian Authority will make effort to demonstrate that that is not the way to address their grievances.

QUESTION: I'm a little confused. You're talking about specifically acts of terrorism such as what happened in Tel Aviv 10 days ago? Not the rock- throwing on the streets of the West Bank?

MR. DINGER: Obviously, the most pressing issue is a horrific act of terrorism as occurred about 10 days ago. At the same time, the violence did not help the situation. But the most pressing issue is the terrorism.

QUESTION: John, on the streets, the Palestinian police appear to have greatly increased their efforts to prevent demonstrators from using violence against the Israeli forces. Is that true, in your view? Are they doing enough in your view? What's your reaction to that?

MR. DINGER: I've seen the reports about the Palestinian Authority police, what they've been doing. Clearly, people have a right to peacefully demonstrate and to express their grievances.

We would prefer not to see violence. The most pressing issue was terrorism, and thankfully, in the 10 days since the bombing of the sidewalk caf&eacute;, there has not been another incident of terrorism.

QUESTION: Is there any thought being given to Secretary Albright traveling to the Middle East in the near future?

MR. DINGER: The Secretary's position on that issue has not changed. She, of course, is very engaged in the issue. She remains willing and ready to travel when it is helpful and useful.

QUESTION: John, you said Dennis' mission was to assess the situation and how best to move forward. What was his assessment after his trip?

MR. DINGER: That was made to the President. It's possible that Mike McCurry or someone else at the White House can comment on that. The assessment was made to the President. I think I'll leave it with the President.

QUESTION: Did Ambassador Ross ask the Israeli Government to halt its building activity in the area near east Jerusalem? And was there any reaction from the Israelis?

MR. DINGER: I'm not going to get into the details of Ambassador Ross' conversations. Our position, separately, on the construction of the housing in east Jerusalem has not changed. From the outset, we said we did not believe it was a good idea. Our position hasn't changed.

QUESTION: John, do you have anything to say about the "new and vigorous initiative" for the peace process that President Clinton referred to in his letter to King Hassan?

MR. DINGER: I'm not familiar with the letter or with that statement.

QUESTION: Do you have anything to say about Israel's use of live ammunition to suppress the street violence?

MR. DINGER: I'm not familiar particularly with that report.

QUESTION: It's not a report; it's a fact.

MR. DINGER: I'm sorry, I'm not familiar with it.

QUESTION: You're not familiar that Israel is using live ammunition and -

MR. DINGER: Yes.

QUESTION: You're not aware of it?

MR. DINGER: Right, I'm not.

QUESTION: The building's not aware of it.

MR. DINGER: I can't say about the building. We've been following this very closely. Of course, you know we have an excellent embassy in Tel Aviv, an American consulate in Jerusalem. We're watching very closely. I have not been following the details of the demonstrations, and the Palestinian Authority and the Israeli police reaction to it.

QUESTION: Could you take the question, please, about live ammunition?

MR. DINGER: I'd be happy to look into if we have any reaction to that, yes.

QUESTION: Do you have any response to the Arab League announcement this morning?

MR. DINGER: I don't want to go into great detail, since we do not have an authoritative copy of the Foreign Minister's recommendations to member Arab League states. Mostly we've been seeing the wire reports this morning. However, our view is quite clear, and that is that sustaining a regional environment supportive of peacemaking is an essential part of promoting peace in the area.

We hope that the Arab League recognizes that it has a responsibility to shape such an environment. The United States, in fact, believes strongly that enhanced ties between Israel and her Arab neighbors contribute significantly to this goal and facilitate progress, including in the bilateral negotiations toward a comprehensive peace.

QUESTION: John, I don't know if you've been watching the statements made while Ross was in the region, but at least by one account he was denounced rather forcibly by a Palestinian official. I think he suggested he wasn't objective; that he was a Zionist; that he was biased. Of course, there was some of this toward the end of the Hebron negotiations, too.

Does the State Department have any reservations about Dennis' ability to mediate between the two sides?

MR. DINGER: None whatsoever. The quote that I have seen, of course, is not from a Palestinian Authority official -

QUESTION: No.

MR. DINGER: -- but from a PLO official.

QUESTION: PLO official. I'm, sorry.

MR. DINGER: Our belief is that Dennis' record speaks for itself. His position as a trusted mediator seems clear to us, because, as we've just been discussing, he was in the Middle East last week. He met with Chairman Arafat, Prime Minister Netanyahu, various other officials on both sides. We have no indication whatsoever - quite the contrary, we have every reason to believe that he remains a trusted and effective mediator and negotiator in the Middle East process.

QUESTION: It looks like this briefing is going to come to an end at some point without you confirming that the two principal U.S. objectives currently may or may not have been raised by Dennis Ross on his trip: halt the construction and Palestinians or Arafat give a clear signal that you don't support terrorism, and you don't want terrorism used as an instrument. (Inaudible) is to get them back to the table. We haven't heard anything about that either. We're walking out of here with the notion that he assessed the Middle East situation, which I think he probably did.

MR. DINGER: The purpose of Ambassador Ross' trip to the Middle East was, under the President's direction, to assess the situation there. Separately, on the issues that you raise, we have been very clear in our U.S. position - me - but also Secretary Albright and the President have been very clear. Those positions have not changed.

QUESTION: Let's take it from today, if I may. Is it the U.S. position that the negotiations could resume without Israel halting construction, reversing its groundbreaking - I don't know how you reverse groundbreaking - without stopping the development of the project and without Yasser Arafat making the public statement very similar to ones that he's made in the past where he renounced terrorism?

MR. DINGER: Our position was and is that clearly the peace process is facing a difficult moment. It is important for both sides to have confidence in each other. There are a number of ways to help move toward that and to build confidence. I don't want to be prescriptive in what's necessary. We are willing to assist them in any way appropriate or possible to help build, or I can even say rebuild, the confidence necessary for them to address the very, very difficult and sensitive issues that lie in front of them.

QUESTION: I'd like to ask whether the U.S. has a view on whether the place where the groundbreaking has occurred is in East Jerusalem or is not in East Jerusalem?

MR. DINGER: I don't have a view for you on that.

QUESTION: Because you know there are differences of opinion about that. Some of the Palestinians say that that is not in fact East Jerusalem; that is Bethlehem.

MR. DINGER: Frankly, I am not interested in getting in a debate like that, because the bottom line is the United States has expressed for some time its position that this construction should not go forward.

QUESTION: No matter where it is.

MR. DINGER: No matter where it is. No matter how you want to define where it is. We don't believe it should go forward, and our position has not changed.

QUESTION: If it were Bethlehem, it would be a violation of - it would be an even clearer violation, some would say, of signed agreements, would it not?

MR. DINGER: It's not in Bethlehem.

QUESTION: You don't think it is?

MR. DINGER: In Bethlehem? I don't believe so.

QUESTION: Not proper, but - not proper Bethlehem the city, but is it part of East Jerusalem?

MR. DINGER: Our point is that wherever it is, it should not go forward.

QUESTION: Well, where are you going to go with that? I mean, you can just do so much with geography. Wherever it is, there's a city called Jerusalem, and there's an area referred to by some people as the West Bank; and, if you don't want construction to go ahead, whether it's in Jerusalem or in the West Bank, is it a leap of logic to conclude that the State Department doesn't think Israel has the right to engage in any construction for the foreseeable future?

MR. DINGER: I don't think we're talking about rights here or anything like that.

QUESTION: Well, you'd rather they not.

MR. DINGER: We believe that it's necessary for both sides to take actions or to not take actions in a way that builds confidence and allows them to address effectively the issues that lie before them.

QUESTION: All right, but the linchpin of that, John, was that Jerusalem specifically is a final status issue and construction in Jerusalem at this point is unwise, according to the President; shakes the confidence of the Palestinians - Okay? Now, if you take Jerusalem out of that equation, then where are you? Then any construction by the Israeli Government would be unwise and makes the Palestinians unhappy, and then therefore should not be pursued? You don't mean that, do you?

MR. DINGER: We have two separate issues here. One is that Jerusalem is a final status issue.

QUESTION: Exactly.

MR. DINGER: It's one of those very difficult issues that I've been talking about that the parties have to confront now and have to take on. Separately, you also have an issue of settlements, and you know our position on settlements. We believe that they're unhelpful.

QUESTION: That doesn't leave much (inaudible).

MR. DINGER: I'm not going to -

QUESTION: Can a guy add a wing to his house in Tel Aviv if he wants to? (Laughter)

MR. DINGER: I don't think I'm going to speculate about other projects. What David was talking about was the construction at Har Homa, and we've expressed -

QUESTION: Right. He's trying to place it on a map.

MR. DINGER: We've expressed our position on that construction.

QUESTION: If I might pursue that same idea but differently. The Overseas Private Investment Corporation has never been willing to fund or offer investment insurance to investors in East Jerusalem nor on the West Bank, as a matter of fact, because it's still occupied territory. However, there are to be 1500 hotel rooms built on Har Homa, and that means major hotel building, perhaps by Americans. Will the Administration refuse to let the OPIC offer such investment guarantees and loans for building on Har Homa?

MR. DINGER: I'm not aware that OPIC is an actor in this issue, so I can't really speculate about what we would do if OPIC were going to become involved.

QUESTION: They've just offered the Marriott Hotel such a guarantee in Gaza, and they have refused a Palestinian in Jerusalem similar guarantees for a $24 million hotel which he has a license to build but hasn't begun yet. Is the Administration going to maintain the Leahy Amendment ban on U.S. aid being spent in the occupied territories or East Jerusalem? That's the question. Could you take that question and see if -

MR. DINGER: No. As far as I know, we don't have any plan to change our policy.

QUESTION: Have you got anything to tell us about the King's visit? We know he's seeing the President. The Secretary's seeing him on Wednesday, is it?

MR. DINGER: The schedule now -

QUESTION: Can we just -

QUESTION: It's still the Middle East.

QUESTION: All right.

MR. DINGER: The schedule for Secretary Albright is to tomorrow, April 1, attend the President's bilateral with King Hussein of Jordan. Then on Wednesday, April 2, she is scheduled to have a bilateral meeting with King Hussein at 12:15 and at 12:30 to host a working lunch for King Hussein. Of course, she is seeing him this evening in New York City where she will attend a Seeds of Peace dinner in honor of the King and Queen Noor of Jordan.

QUESTION: They'll see each other at dinner.

MR. DINGER: They'll see each other tonight. They will see each other tomorrow at the White House, and we expect that they will have a meeting and a working lunch on Wednesday here.

QUESTION: Do you want to go back?

QUESTION: Okay. I just wanted to go back with Dennis Ross' visit. When he was there, I mean, will you just tell us, was he satisfied with Netanyahu's efforts, or was he satisfied when he left that Netanyahu was going to do all that was possible to build confidence with the Palestinians?

MR. DINGER: Ambassador Ross gave his assessment to the President, so I think I'll just leave it at that.

QUESTION: Is the United States now satisfied with Arafat that he's doing enough to stop terrorism?

MR. DINGER: I think we sort of went over that. I would note that very thankfully there has not been an incident since the one ten days ago. We feel it important that both sides work to rebuild the trust and confidence necessary to deal with the difficult issues ahead of them.

QUESTION: How do you feel about the rock throwing, now in its twelfth day?

MR. DINGER: The what?

QUESTION: The rock throwing. When you talked about people's rights to demonstrate, I don't suppose you mean with rocks.

MR. DINGER: We believe strongly in the right to peaceful protest.

QUESTION: How about unpeaceful protest?

MR. DINGER: We would prefer to see peaceful protest.

QUESTION: On India. You have anything on the fall of the Indian Government?

MR. DINGER: The only thing I can say is that this is an internal matter for the Indians to resolve, and we're confident that our close relations with India will continue.

QUESTION: The Foreign Minister is supposed to visit in the next week or in the next ten days. Is the visit still on?

MR. DINGER: We are not changing our planning for the Foreign Minister's visit.

QUESTION: Any change you may have to talk with him because of the fall of the government or are things the same?

MR. DINGER: At the moment we are still planning on welcoming the Foreign Minister of India in the middle of April.

QUESTION: You began with an announcement on Zaire. Do you have any encouraging thoughts on the Zaire situation or discouraging?

MR. DINGER: I don't have too much news on Zaire. We've noted that an Alliance spokesman is reported March 31st to have said talks between the Alliance and the Zairian authorities could begin as early as April 3, probably in South Africa. That Alliance spokesman said a cease-fire would depend on the talks. I can't confirm that. I can just confirm today that we still find our embassies reporting that the streets of Kinshasha are calm. We still hope that both sides will talk, engage in an immediate cease- fire and find a peaceful and democratic way to bring this issue to a resolution.

QUESTION: About a month ago, Nick said that the State Department Historian was going through the records to find out if the State Department had any record of any possible malfeasance on this Swiss gold issue. He said it would be out in a couple of weeks. That's long overdue. Can you give us a situation report on when we can expect to see that?

MR. DINGER: As you know, about a week or ten days ago, I think, we announced that the report would be delayed by at least two weeks. Our point of view was that there is an enormous number of documents to go through. We're doing our best. We felt it important to take the time necessary to do as complete as possible a report, and it was going to take a little more time than we thought. The point is to get it right, not get it done on some artificial deadline.

So we now are aiming, I believe, for the middle of April to try and have the report done.

QUESTION: John, the new regulations for diplomatic parking by diplomats at the U.N. are supposed to go into effect tomorrow. Is everything going according to plan, despite the unhappiness up there?

MR. DINGER: Everything is going according to plan. You'll note that last week the U.N. Legal Office issued an interpretation of the new parking regulations. We've welcomed the legal counsel's confirmation that generally the elements of the New York parking program are within the scope of the host country's power to establish the laws and regulations governing the operation of parking of diplomatic vehicles.

The legal counsel did have some potential reservations about a few aspects of the program, and we hope that our further clarification will help explain how the program has been developed in order to be consistent with international law obligations. We've been actively engaged in a series of meetings with the diplomatic community in New York and officials of the city in order to clarify all aspects of the program. We expect it will go into effect on a comprehensive basis, as scheduled, tomorrow, April 1.

QUESTION: Have you seen the reports of the Russian sale of SS-4 medium- range missiles to Iran?

MR. DINGER: I have not seen those reports.

QUESTION: Could you see if you can work up some guidance on that? There are some stories out there today.

MR. DINGER: We can look into the issue for you; sure.

QUESTION: I thought I saw a report this morning that here in Washington a Russian diplomat may have gotten in trouble with the law?

MR. DINGER: There are reports that a Russian diplomat was stopped over the weekend for driving under the influence. I don't have any details of that specific incident. I can, if you are interested, run down our position on violations of that sort.

QUESTION: (Inaudible).

MR. DINGER: Pardon me?

QUESTION: I assume you're against it?

MR. DINGER: Yes, we are against driving while under the influence. Let me just briefly say -

QUESTION: The reports said that the local authorities asked for a waiver of immunity.

MR. DINGER: I can't verify that. We encourage local authorities to inform us if they have stopped a diplomat. I just can't confirm it. We did look into it this morning. I could not this morning confirm that that has happened. I think the report was that it happened late last night was what I saw.

Let me say that we encourage local authorities to tell us when this happens. In each case, we send a letter informing the appropriate embassy of the type of violation cited. For a serious violation, such as driving while intoxicated or under the influence, we formally request a waiver of immunity in every case. If the foreign government grants a waiver, allowing prosecution of the diplomat, we, of course, abide by the court's determination and assign points or suspend driving privileges.

If a waiver is refused, we certify the diplomat's immunity to the court and the matter is not prosecuted. However, we record the violation on the diplomat's Department of State driving record and assign the relevant points as if he or she were found guilty of the offense.

We have a very unforgiving DWI/DUI policy. Since 1992, we have imposed 13 one-year suspensions because waivers were not granted. We've received also 13 waivers of immunity allowing diplomats to be prosecuted for DWI offenses.

If a diplomat is involved in two alcohol-related incidents during his tour, we require his withdrawal from the U.S. Since 1992, we have required the departure of eight diplomats for repeat DWI offenses.

QUESTION: Was the Secretary surprised at the fall of the Indian Government? And also if the Foreign Minister visits, does she have any message for him?

MR. DINGER: I'm sorry -do we have any message for . . .?

QUESTION: For the Foreign Minister?

MR. DINGER: This issue is domestic political issue in India. At the moment, we are going ahead with planning for the Foreign Minister's visit.

QUESTION: Was she surprised when she learned of the fall of the government?

MR. DINGER: I don't think we want to characterize our reaction to this. It's purely an internal Indian matter.

Yes, Mr. Lambros.

QUESTION: Any comment on today - Greece's decision to deploy 700 soldiers to Albania as part of an Italian-led multinational security force to protect humanitarian relief operations?

MR. DINGER: We are pleased that the OSCE and the UN Security Council have approved the formation of a multinational protection force to help the government of National Reconciliation re-establish order Albania and facilitate humanitarian assistance.

While the U.S. will not be a participant, we will consider specific requests for support for its efforts on a case-by-case basis.

Separately, the U.S. fully supports and will participate in establishment of an OSCE mission in Albania to assist in efforts towards political reconciliation and democratic development as well as in humanitarian relief.

QUESTION: Are you expecting to be asked to do an airlift, or something like that, for this Albanian force?

MR. DINGER: I don't think we have any good feel for whether we'll be asked. On a case-by-case basis, we'll be happy to consider those requests and fulfill them whenever possible.

QUESTION: Have we heard back from the North Koreans yet on Four Party talks, or have they requested any other meetings having to do with food?

MR. DINGER: No, and no. No, we have not heard back; and, no, we have no plans at the present time, that I know of, for meetings since the one held last week.

QUESTION: A question on the Middle East again. Yesterday, Prime Minister Netanyhau said that this land at Har Homa was purchased by Israeli Jews and it's rightfully their land even if it falls within east Jerusalem territory. If that's the case, would that change your view of this building there, if it is owned, in fact, by Israeli Jews?

MR. DINGER: I'm just not familiar with that assertion. To the best of my knowledge, it would make no difference to us.

QUESTION: Thank you.

(Press briefing concluded at 1:58 p.m.)

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