USIA - State Department Report, 97-04-23

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

REPORT ON STATE DEPT. NOON BRIEFING, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 23

(Albright/Moscow trip, Zaire, China/Qian Qichen visit, Peru, North Korea, Dalai Lama, Iraq, Algeria) (1050)

There was no regular briefing, but State Department Spokesman Nicholas Burns did speak on-the-record with reporters. No transcript is available of this briefing.

ALBRIGHT/MOSCOW TRIP -- Secretary of State Albright leaves for Moscow April 30. She will spend May 1 with Russian Foreign Minister Yevgeniy Primakov discussing issues surrounding the proposed NATO-Russia charter. "We are not expecting any conclusion of the NATO-Russia negotiations next week in Moscow," Burns said. The hope is to resolve differences so that an agreement can be reached sometime this spring, Burns said.

Further negotiations led by NATO Secretary General Javier Solana are expected.

Albright is not expected to see Russian President Boris Yeltsin, who will not be in Moscow during her visit. Albright returns to Washington May 2.

ZAIRE -- The United States is once again calling on the rebel alliance led by Laurent Kabila to allow relief agencies immediate unhindered access to Rwandan refugees in Zaire, Burns said.

Burns said that the Rwandan Government has dropped its objections to repatriating the Rwandan Hutu refugees who had fled to Zaire. Kabila is holding up relief and repatriation efforts due to "security concerns," according to Burns. As a result, many refugees are falling ill to cholera and starvation; many are dying.

Burns placed full responsibility for the plight of the refugees on the rebel alliance. "The rebel alliance has to prove that it is responsible enough to handle a situation like this," Burns said. The price that will be paid by Kabila's forces for failing to meet their humanitarian responsibilities, Burns said, will be "their reputation and credibility and how the rest of the world looks upon them. This is, of course, a test. They control Kisangani -- no one else does -- and they won't let these 100,000 people out of Kisangani.... They (the rebel alliance) are responsible; there can be no further excuses for this."

Burns was asked if the rebel alliance's current behavior will affect relations with the United States if Kabila gains control of Zaire. "I don't know who is going to lead Zaire in the future," Burns said. "But obviously whoever does will be judged on that person's platform and policies. If the rebel alliance would like to have normal relations with western governments, they have got to act in a credible way, in a humanitarian way. And that doesn't seem to be the case right here."

CHINA/QIAN QICHEN VISIT -- Albright will meet with Chinese Foreign Minister Qian Qichen April 28 during his April 28-30 visit to Washington, D.C. "They are going to be discussing the full range of U.S.-China issues, including nonproliferation, human rights, trade, Hong Kong, Korea...," Burns said.

PERU -- The United States believes the Peruvian Government "acted responsibly yesterday in launching the raid on the Japanese Embassy," Burns said. "The Peruvian Government acted in good faith since December in trying to negotiate a peaceful conclusion to the terrorism (and) to the hostage taking."

Burns said the U.S. Government had received no advance notification that Peru's Government was launching the April 22 raid which reportedly killed 14 Marxist guerrillas holding 72 hostages. The government of President Alberto Fujimori did not ask for U.S. assistance during the four-month standoff, and none was given, Burns said. A State Department official who participated in the briefing acknowledged that the United States had contributed over the last few years non-offensive anti-terrorist equipment to the Peruvian National Police, such as flak jackets and communications equipment.

The State Department official noted that the Peruvian military was responsible for conducting the April 22 raid, although the Peruvian National Police had been present around the perimeter of the Japanese diplomatic residence since terrorists seized the compound December 17. "As far as we understand, (the police) did not take part in the raid itself," the official said.

NORTH KOREA -- U.S. and North Korean officials conducted a 90-minute meeting in New York City April 22, Burns reported. North Korea has yet to respond one way or another to U.S./South Korean offers for peace talks for the Korean peninsula. No date has been set for the next set of discussions.

The North Korean delegation has been attempting to link peace talks with food aid, Burns said. "If food is urgently needed -- and it is -- and they know that, why in the world would we want to link food aid to these slow-as- molasses political talks that have taken 43 years to not even begin," Burns said. "So food is an urgent priority, and we're not willing to link it to anything, and neither should they."

Burns added that the United States will not be lifting sanctions against North Korea until North Korea addresses the U.S. concerns that led to these sanctions being imposed.

DALAI LAMA -- Albright will meet privately with the Dalai Lama, Tibet's religious leader, April 24. The Dalai Lama will also meet with members of the State Department's Advisory Committee on Religious Freedom Abroad, Burns said.

IRAQ -- Burns called Saddam Hussein's violation of no-fly zones by using helicopters to move Moslem pilgrims out of Saudi Arabia "a cynical propaganda ploy."

"Nobody should be taken in to feel sorry for Saddam Hussein; he's a scoundrel. He's engaging in these propaganda stunts to divide the West and to divide those countries that are implementing the sanctions (against Iraq) and that will not work." He added that "propaganda stunts that put innocent Iraqi pilgrims into the air in the no-flight zones will not trigger a military response from the United States because we don't believe in killing innocent people."

ALGERIA -- The United States strongly condemns the massacre of 93 villagers in Algeria by Islamic insurgents April 22. Many of the victims were mutilated by their attackers. "It is hard to remember a more vicious terrorist insurgency than this one, a more cynical group than these Islamic terrorists," Burns said. "They deserve special criticism and condemnation by the world community for these despicable acts. They're not going after government targets or soldiers; they're going after innocent people in villages and hacking them to death...."

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