U.S. Department of State Daily Press Briefing #78, 97-05-20
From: The Department of State Foreign Affairs Network (DOSFAN) at <http://www.state.gov>
1317
U.S. Department of State
Daily Press Briefing
I N D E X
Tuesday, May 20, 1997
Briefer: Nicholas Burns
ANNOUNCEMENTS
1 Welcome to Press Briefing: Journalists from Portugal
1 Secretary Albright's Activities --
1-5 -- Travel to Europe, Portugal, and Bosnia
7-12 -- Meeting with Pakistan FM:
7,11 => Sale of F16s
9-10 => Kashmir
10-11 => Arrest of DEA agent
11 => Donald Hutchings and other hostages
12 => India/Pakistan Summit
BOSNIA, CROATIA, SERBIA
4 Speech in New York
5 Possible Visit to Serbia
5-7 Dayton Accords/Apprehension of War Criminals
BANGLADESH
12-13 Cyclone Disaster
GREECE/TURKEY
13 Aegean Negotiations
14 Civil Disturbance During Concert
15 US Background Paper on Greece
NORTH KOREA
16 Special Envoy
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
16-17,21 Ambassador Simpson's Reports/Talks with Sr. Advisors to Kabila
17 Advice to Americans
17 Acts of Retribution
17-18 Activities of American Troops
18 Whereabouts of Mobutu
18-19 Death of Embassy FSN Employee
SUDAN
19-20 Mtgs of Saddiq Al Mahdi in Washington
ISRAEL
21-22 Status of Settlements
MIDDLE EAST PEACE PROCESS
22 Discussion of Settlements by Dennis Ross
ALBANIA
22-23 Elections
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING
DPB #78
TUESDAY, MAY 20, 1997 1:32 P.M.
(ON THE RECORD UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED)
MR. BURNS: Welcome to the State Department. Barry, welcome to the State
Department.
QUESTION: I've been here. I've been here.
MR. BURNS: You have been here.
QUESTION: You've got a lot of visitors today.
MR. BURNS: Well, yes, and I want to introduce them. We have seven
Portuguese journalists with Luso-American Development Foundation of
Portugal sponsored by the USIA Voluntary Visitors Program. Welcome, glad to
have you here.
I have a couple of announcements. The first is that Secretary of State
Albright will travel to Europe next week for a series of events dealing
with a wide range of issues pertaining to our relations with European
countries. First, the Secretary intends to leave on Sunday - this is this
coming Sunday - for Paris. She will arrive in Paris probably early Monday
morning at 2:00 a.m. or so. She will be meeting on Monday with French
officials, and also, I think, officials from other countries, which will be
represented at the summit in Paris on the 27th of May. So she will
arrive ahead of the President. She will be taking her own aircraft,
probably from Western Massachusetts. She is giving the commencement
address at Mount Holyoke in South Hadley, Massachusetts on Sunday
morning.
Then she will join President Clinton, of course, when he arrives in Paris
for the summit meeting that will conclude the Russia-NATO document, the
Founding Act, which we were successful in negotiating last week. She and
the President will then travel to The Hague for the U.S.-EU Summit and the
ceremonies commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Marshall Plan.
After The Hague, when the President returns to the United States, the
Secretary will go on to Portugal, to Sintra in Portugal, for the NATO
ministerial meetings, the semi-annual NATO ministerial meetings. We will
have the great good fortune of spending Wednesday evening, all day Thursday,
all day Friday and Friday evening in Sintra, which we understand is a
lovely town. This a very important set of meetings.
The NATO ministers in Sintra will be reviewing all aspects of the NATO
enlargement decision and all the decisions that need to be taken by the
Madrid Summit in early July. No formal decisions will taken in Sintra on
who will be invited to join NATO, but there will be many discussions among
the ministers in Sintra about that issue -- that very, very important
issue. So the Secretary considers this meeting in Portugal to be among the
most important that she has had.
The Secretary will also attend in Sintra a meeting of the Policy Implementation
Council on Bosnia. This, you will remember, is the steering committee for
the group of countries that have overseen the implementation of the Bosnian
Accords.
Following her stay in Portugal, the Secretary will then travel to Bosnia
for the weekend. She will have meetings in Sarajevo with President
Izetbegovic and other Bosnian government leaders. Her schedule is not yet
set, not fully nailed down for the weekend, but she is considering a range
of options for travel to possible other places in the Balkans. But she has
not yet made any final decisions. Once she does, I will be glad to review
those, announce those to you.
Now, we would like to take --
QUESTION: Nick, can --
MR. BURNS: Can I just - let me just finish one thing --
QUESTION: You may have skipped London. Or did it drop out?
MR. BURNS: No, she is not going to London.
QUESTION: The President is going to London.
MR. BURNS: Right, the President is going to London after The Hague. But
the Secretary has to go on to Sintra.
QUESTION: Will she be going to The Hague on the evening of the 27th?
MR. BURNS: Whenever the President is. We can get into the review.
Whenever the President is going. I don't know the schedule in detail in my
head, but let's just see. The Hague concludes on - no, Paris concludes on
the 27th, right? I don't know what the President's schedule is. She will be
flying with the President from Paris to The Hague.
QUESTION: That night?
MR. BURNS: Whatever he does, whatever the President does, the Secretary
will be glad to --
QUESTION: There's a slight change here. When does she go?
MR. BURNS: To?
QUESTION: When does she leave Western Europe and head for - not western.
When does she leave the Presidential party and head for Portugal?
MR. BURNS: She leaves the Presidential party in The Hague, then she will
travel to Portugal probably on Wednesday evening.
QUESTION: So she gets in Wednesday evening.
QUESTION: So it's just one day.
MR. BURNS: Yes, that's right. Now, if you would like to accompany the
Secretary on her trip, you are most welcome. Please sign up in the press
office. We have a sign-up sheet available for you. We will have to close it
by tomorrow because you will need to get certain visas, as the schedule
will develop. I assume that this plane will be leaving Andrews sometime
early on Sunday morning to fly to South Hadley. You can cover the
commencement address and then fly on to Paris from South Hadley, Massachusetts.
Okay, so that's the trip. I'll be glad to discuss any aspect of it with you,
should that be of interest.
QUESTION: When do you expect her back in Washington?
MR. BURNS: We don't know yet.
QUESTION: You don't know yet?
MR. BURNS: No. It could be Sunday, the following Sunday. I believe that
is June 1. It could be Monday. We just don't know. It depends on how the
schedule works out in the Balkans and she is considering a number of
options.
QUESTION: Are you going to go on to another subject?
MR. BURNS: Yeah, Bob. I have to review the Pakistan meeting today. That's
the only other thing I've got before questions.
QUESTION: Well, because going to Bosnia--
MR. BURNS: So why don't we just stay on this, Bob.
QUESTION: Let's sound it a little bit, since you have announced the trip.
Could you basically tell us why she is going to Bosnia?
MR. BURNS: The Secretary believes that it is important now to work with
the parties to the Dayton Accords on implementation. As you know, we have
had a number of concerns, particularly about Croatia and Serbia and the
Bosnian Serbs, about their faithfulness to the Dayton Accords. She believes
it is very important to take this opportunity to review on a broad basis
the level of commitment of all the parties and to push forward on
implementation so that we can make progress on all of the issues of concern
to us -- war criminals, return of refugees, economic reconstruction,
establishment, of course, of durable states -- all the things that are
important.
I will be announcing tomorrow the details of her trip to New York on
Thursday, but she is going to give a speech which will have heavy emphasis
on Bosnia on Thursday in New York. She has had a series of meetings here in
Washington with Bosnian and Croatian government officials just in the last
couple of weeks. She will have the Bosnia meeting in Portugal of the
implementation council and then the trip to the Balkans. So she is laying a
very heavy emphasis on Bosnia these days.
She has also appointed, as you know -- the President and she have appointed
-- Bob Gelbard, Ambassador Bob Gelbard, to be the special coordinator for
all affairs Bosnian. He is a very determined, very aggressive, very capable
individual. He is already deeply into these issues, so she has an excellent
team advising her. She is determined, as someone who was present at the
creation of our successful strategy to turn the Bosnian war around,
she is determined that the United States will put its best foot forward
and urge all these other countries to comply with the Dayton Accords. There
is a lot of concern that countries are falling down on their commitments,
and they need to be reminded of it.
QUESTION: Countries?
MR. BURNS: Yes, countries.
QUESTION: Like?
QUESTION: Serbia.
MR. BURNS: Serbia.
QUESTION: Bosnia and Serbia --
MR. BURNS: Croatia. She had a very tough meeting with Foreign Minister
Granic last week in which she reminded him of our disagreement with many of
the events that have occurred just in the last ten days -- the inability of
minority Serbs to return to their homes in Croatia.. Of course, we also
have a number of problems with the way the Bosnian Serbs have acted.
QUESTION: The problems with Balkans parties.
MR. BURNS: That's what I meant.
QUESTION: Not with U.S. allies and whether they --
MR. BURNS: Not at all. I was referring to the people who signed the
Dayton Accords, the people who were in Dayton negotiating it, yes.
Any more on Bosnia? We can stay on this, if you would like, before we go on
to Pakistan.
QUESTION: Is she considering going to Serbia as part of this?
MR. BURNS: There are a number of options being considered.
QUESTION: Including Serbia?
MR. BURNS: A number of options being considered, yes.
QUESTION: Will she be going to Greece and Turkey as well?
MR. BURNS: She will not be going to Greece and Turkey on this trip. She
has a great interest in the Eastern Mediterranean -- in Turkey, Cyprus and
Greece. She went there as UN ambassador last summer. She obviously takes
that very seriously and wants to work on it very hard. But this is a trip
that has many dimensions - Paris, the Hague, Portugal, the Balkans - and it
will be a trip that lasts probably eight or nine days.
QUESTION: Will she go see the troops in Bosnia?
MR. BURNS: Oh, I'm sure she will. I know she will see troops in Bosnia,
yes. I mean, she is going to be doing a little bit of traveling in Bosnia.
I will have more to say on that once the schedule is nailed down, but she
will definitely see our troops in Bosnia.
Any more on this, on Bosnia? Yes.
QUESTION: Aside from being able to talk to the various parties, does the
United States have any other leverage in order to force the parties to
fulfill the Dayton commitments?
MR. BURNS: I think that the international community has leverage, not
just the United States. Croatia very definitely wants to become part of
European and Western institutions. That is the foundation of modern
Croatian foreign policy. But we have told the Croatians, Secretary Albright
did last week, Ambassador Galbraith did in Zagreb yesterday, that without a
commitment by the Croatian government to fulfill the terms of the Dayton
Accords -- and by that I mean the return of Serb refugees to their
homes in Croatia -- that dream of inclusion into Western institutions
will not be realized.
For the Serbs, the United States has maintained the outer wall of sanctions
because of a variety of problems that we have with the Serbs on Dayton and
on Kosovo. For the Bosnian Serbs, there is no hope of economic development
there if they don't get their act together and comply with the Dayton
Accords.
I should say the country with which we have a good, stable relationship is
Bosnia, the government in Sarajevo or President Izetbegovic. I think that
government has done its best to fulfill the Dayton Accords. We have some
disagreements with it, of course, from time to time but there are a variety
of mechanisms - financial, pertaining to the sanctions, but also long-term
political leverage -- that clearly we can exercise and we are exercising,
and these countries are mindful of that.
QUESTION: Nick, you mentioned war criminals first. It almost requires me
to bring up that old subject again. You gave it pride of place by putting
it first. Do you want to say something about the laggardly pursuit of war
criminals?
MR. BURNS: Well, Secretary --
QUESTION: Whether the U.S. maybe can tell its troops, if it sees a war
criminal to sort of ask him for a match, and make it easier for someone to
come up and slap some handcuffs on him and take him to trial for burying
tens of thousands of Muslims alive.
MR. BURNS: The Secretary has been one of the strongest supporters of the
war crimes tribunal, when she was Ambassador to the UN and since she has
been Secretary of State. She has met, as you know, with Louise Arbour, the
chief justice of the tribunal. She will have something to say on that when
she is in The Hague with the President on the issue.
She has also reminded the parties of the Dayton Accords of their obligations
on the issue of war crimes in direct face-to-face meetings. That will be
one of the top issues on her agenda when she visits the Balkans.
QUESTION: Nick, there was some talk a few months back about forming some
sort of special brigade to actually apprehend these people, some sort of
police brigade. Is that something she will be discussing? Is that no
deal?
MR. BURNS: I just have nothing for you on that, Sid.
QUESTION: Nothing to say about that?
MR. BURNS: Nothing. No, I don't have anything to say on that, no.
QUESTION: She won't be discussing it. You all dropped it?
MR. BURNS: She is going to discuss the issue of war criminals. But I have
nothing to say on that particular subject, and you understand why.
QUESTION: Not, necessarily.
MR. BURNS: Well, you should.
(Laughter).
In any case, moving right along, Pakistan. Let me just say a few words
about the very good meeting that the Secretary had with Foreign Minister
Gohar Ayub Kahn. They had a good 45-minute meeting. The Foreign Minister
began the meeting by briefing the Secretary on the recent talks between
Pakistan and India in the Maldives. The Secretary was very encouraged by
the positive report that she heard and that we have also heard from the
Indian Government, the positive tone of the meetings.
The United States hopes that this progress between Delhi and Islamabad will
continue. We very much support it. The United States, of course, will
continue to encourage both countries to make progress. They had a very
detailed conversation on a variety of issues between India and Pakistan.
Now, they also discussed our bilateral relationship. They discussed our
common program and interest in combating narcotics and in combating
terrorism. They discussed our concerns, U.S. concerns, over the situation
in Afghanistan. The Foreign Minister was able to give the Secretary his
analysis of recent events just in the last 24 hours in Afghanistan.
The Secretary urged Pakistan to ratify the Chemical Weapons Convention. She
also urged a full accounting for what happened to Donald Hutchings, the
American citizen who disappeared, was taken captive by unknown assailants
on July 4, 1995, and who remains missing. There was also a brief discussion
at the end of the meeting on the issue of F-16s. I'll be glad to review any
of this with you. Barry.
QUESTION: On the last point, we think we heard a veiled threat to sue.
It's not the first time that the Pakistanis have raised the possibility of
suing the United States. The minister said it's one of four options, but he
volunteered it, and it sounded a little bit like a threat. How does the
U.S. feel about --
MR. BURNS: I didn't hear such a threat.
QUESTION: You didn't think it's a threat?
MR. BURNS: Not publicly, and I didn't hear it in his private meeting, as
well.
QUESTION: Oh, okay, you don't take it as a threat?
MR. BURNS: No.
QUESTION: He said there were four ways to deal with this, and the fourth
way was to go to court. You don't think the Pakistanis are threatening
litigation?
MR. BURNS: No, I don't. I don't think so, and the tone of the discussion
in the private meeting was actually quite good and in a spirit of
cooperation on this. The Secretary explained that we remain committed to
seeking a refund for the F-16s. Then she explained to you publicly we've
already returned $150 million. As you know, we are trying to sell the F-16s
to a third country.
QUESTION: Right.
MR. BURNS: -- and thereby compensate Pakistan with the resulting
revenues. But we have not been successful, at least in consummating a sale
and completing a sale to a third country. We will continue to work on that
very hard. We know it is a big issue for the Pakistanis, as it is for us,
and has been for a long time.
QUESTION: I thought you had a deal cooking with Indonesia for some of
those planes?
MR. BURNS: We remain committed to that deal, but we have not yet notified
the Congress of that possible transfer, and that would be necessary before
we are able to go through with that.
QUESTION: And why have you not notified Congress? Why have you still not
notified them?
MR. BURNS: Because conditions haven't been right, mainly on Capitol Hill,
for it. So we continue to discuss this with the Congress. But our formal
position is we remain committed to the sale of F-16s to Indonesia.
QUESTION: It doesn't have anything to do with human rights concerns in
Indonesia?
MR. BURNS: On our part, we remain committed to this sale. As I said,
there are a number of concerns in Congress. I can't speak for various
members of Congress. But we do want to rectify this long-standing problem
between the United States and Pakistan. We feel committed to do that.
You remember when then-Prime Minister Bhutto came to the White House, the
President said -- President Clinton said very openly that the United States
had to find a way, wanted to find a way to resolve this, and in that spirit,
we are proceeding.
QUESTION: Nick, in your quick description of the subject, you talked
about common interest - yeah, common interest, I guess, in narcotics
control, and I forgot, but there was one other.
MR. BURNS: Terrorism.
QUESTION: Terrorism.
MR. BURNS: Yes.
QUESTION: But you didn't mention nuclear proliferation. Did that come up
at all?
MR. BURNS: Very much so. Yes, that came up.
QUESTION: Technology.
MR. BURNS: The Secretary had a private meeting with the minister after
the plenary session, just a one-on-one meeting, and that issue did come
up.
QUESTION: And missiles, too, as well as nuclear proliferation?
MR. BURNS: A variety. It came up, and she reminded him of our concerns in
these areas. Concerns that we have expressed --
QUESTION: Well, specifically, the possibility --
MR. BURNS: -- we have expressed often on these issues.
QUESTION: Including the - whatever dealings they may have had, Pakistan
may have had with China on missiles?
MR. BURNS: That issue has come up before, yes. I don't want to describe
to you - it was a one-on-one meeting, so I can't describe this in any
detail whatsoever, nor would I. But we have had long-standing concerns. We
have talked to the government of Pakistan and the government of China about
these issues. As you know, we have not determined that there has been a
violation of U.S. law.
QUESTION: Nick, on Kashmir how much did the discussions get into that
Pakistan has wanting the U.S. to get involved in some form as being a
catalyst to move the process forward? Did the U.S. give the usual schpiel
or was it something new initiated, something new coming up? (Inaudible)
some progress happening?
MR. BURNS: There was a brief discussion of Kashmir. It was not an
extensive discussion, but a brief one in terms that would not surprise you.
As you know, the United States has not changed its position. We have a long-
held position that all of the pre-independence state of Jammu and Kashmir
is disputed territory; that we think the dispute must be resolved through
negotiations between India and Pakistan, which should take into account
the wishes of the people of Jammu and Kashmir. That has been our position.
The Secretary reaffirmed our position. The minister explained Pakistan's
position, and we will take it from there. But as the Secretary said in her
press conference, we do want this issue to be resolved. We think that it is
very important that it be resolved. If the United States can help in that
process, I'm sure we will. But there has been no request for us to do
that.
QUESTION: But she did say the time was right.
MR. BURNS: That's right. She certainly did say that, and she said that
she is obviously going to consider a trip to the region at some point. She
would like to do that. She came into office believing that the subcontinent
is a very important area, that India and Pakistan and other countries of
the region are very important countries for the United States. It has been
a long time since we have had a Secretary of State in India and
Pakistan and at some point, when it is appropriate to schedule that trip,
she will. But she very clearly indicated to you that she would like to make
that trip.
QUESTION: Well, but you can't have a 50th anniversary celebration a year
late, can you? She was indicating that at some point --
MR. BURNS: Well, it's not our celebration.
QUESTION: I understand that.
MR. BURNS: It's not our celebration. It's their celebration.
QUESTION: But she indicated that she wanted to mark the 50th commemoration.
MR. BURNS: That's correct.
QUESTION: So some of us assumed that meant before December 31st she might
go out there.
MR. BURNS: She would like to go out when it is appropriate. Obviously,
she will need to talk to both governments. I know the minister, Mr. Khan,
did invite her formally to visit Pakistan and so we will have to consult
with both governments. But she is interested in making a trip at some
point. I can tell you this, it won't be in the next month. Her travel
schedule is complete for the next month.
QUESTION: Nick, on narcotics.
MR. BURNS: Yes.
QUESTION: About narcotics, did they discuss the arrest of this DEA
agent?
MR. BURNS: Yes, they discussed the arrest of Mr. Baluch. They also
discussed the arrest in New York of the Pakistani military officers. We
have agreed that we ought to work together cooperatively to try to resolve
the atmosphere that produced these arrests and also make sure that we are
cooperating fully in the fight against narcotics. That was a very good
thing, a very good point, about the meeting that they did agree on
that.
QUESTION: Did the foreign minister have any information about Mr.
Hutchings or the other hostages? Does the United States still believe they
are living?
MR. BURNS: He did not have any information about Donald Hutchings and the
other hostages. As you know, it has been nearly two years now since they
were abducted. We have not heard any information whatsoever about their
fate in a very long time. We are searching for them. We are relying upon
governments in the region to help in that search, to conduct the search.
As you know, we have a reward out for information by any person in the
region, anywhere in the world, who can help us discover the fate of Donald
Hutchings and the other hostages. They are on our minds. We haven't in any
way, shape or form forgotten about them. It remains an issue that we talk
to both India and Pakistan about.
QUESTION: Nick, on that issue, the State Department's human rights report,
as well as the report on terrorism spoke about the strong reports that the
hostages may have been killed. And there have been other terrorist groups
who have been apprehended who have said the hostages were killed. Why is it
that you all don't want to bring some closure on this for the families?
MR. BURNS: We do want to bring closure to it. There have been reports
that the hostages, tragically, were killed. We have not been able to
confirm those reports. We have not been able to confirm them.
We would like to uncover the fate of the hostages for the sake of the
families. We are making every effort to do so in our conversations with the
Indians and the Pakistanis and others, but we have no evidence. The people
who took these unfortunate men hostage ought to come forward and at least
give us some sense of what may have happened to them. There is a reward out
for people who may have information about the fate of the hostages and we
are determined to bring the kidnappers to justice once they can be
found.
QUESTION: Are you all satisfied with the level of cooperation in both
India and Pakistan?
MR. BURNS: Yes, we are.
QUESTION: On the F-16 issue, do you have any timeframe to take it to the
Congress? What is the general agreement when it might be taken?
MR. BURNS: Well, we would like to resolve this issue as soon as we can,
but we do have to be mindful of the concerns of the Congress and we have to
work with the Congress in a pragmatic way. But we remain committed formally
to the sale of F-16s to Indonesia and, at some point, we would like to be
able to move forward. But now does not appear to be the time, given the
realities on Capitol Hill.
QUESTION: Yes, Nick, a severe cyclone.
MR. BURNS: We'll come back.
QUESTION: I have a question.
MR. BURNS: Would you mind if we just stayed on this subject and then we
will go to Bangladesh? Yes.
QUESTION: What is the U.S. assessment on how far the two countries have
moved towards coming closer to finding a solution after this recent summit,
since you had a very detailed briefing from the foreign minister? If you
could give us a better idea.
MR. BURNS: Yes. Well, of course, you will get a better story out of the
Indian and Pakistani governments because they have a lot more information
about this. But essentially, what we understand from the Indians and the
Pakistanis is that there has been a very good start, a very good start by
two new governments in trying to put behind them many of the problems that
have plagued those two countries for 50 years now. These two countries
are among the most important countries in their part of the world,
among the most important countries in all of the world to the United
States. We wish them both well. We wish that they would trade more
extensively with each other, resolve their problems together in a spirit of
cooperation.
I think we have seen Prime Minister Gujral and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif
and their foreign ministers and other ministers really make an excellent
start -- a good tone to the meetings, good public statements, which is very
important in this type of situation. We encourage them to continue their
efforts. We would fully support their efforts in every way.
QUESTION: To follow up, did the U.S. give the minister a message that
move on trade instead of making Kashmir kind of a big hurdle to be crossed,
move on other issues simultaneously, at least if not Kashmir --
MR. BURNS: No, the Secretary was mainly listening to the foreign minister
discuss the Pakistani outlook on the talks. She did not give that type of
specific advice, but she certainly gave him a very clear sense that the
United States was behind this process of reconciliation, of problem-solving,
that we fully supported it. We are a friend to Pakistan. We are a friend to
India. We will use our good offices in whatever way they would like us to,
to help them further this progress. But they seem fully capable of
proceeding on their own at this point.
QUESTION: Yes, Nick. A severe cyclone has lashed the boat city of
Chittogong in Bangladesh, killing over 500 people and thousands maimed and
rendered homeless. It is a very tragic situation that Bangladesh has been
facing over the years since its inception, and before that as well.
Nick, the concern of the United States is always (inaudible) Bangladesh in
its hour of most critical crisis. During the democratic crisis, the United
States had been aptly supporting the cause of democracy in Bangladesh. Now
in this calamitous crisis, natural calamitic crisis, what is the position
of the United States on how the United States should turn around in helping
Bangladesh at this moment of crisis?
MR. BURNS: The United States would like to offer its condolences to the
families of the many hundreds of people who have been killed or are missing,
who have been made homeless; and our condolences for all the destruction
caused by this terrible cyclone. We obviously will do whatever we can to
assist the Bangladeshi Government in trying to recover from this terrible
catastrophe.
The reports that we have from our embassy in Dhaka are that the affected
areas have adequate stocks of food and water. The government of Bangladesh
has not declared a disaster. Our embassy also reports that some of the
preliminary steps put into place by the government seemed to have helped
the citizens of Bangladesh prepare for the cyclone. We are in close contact
with the voluntary relief organizations, with the government of Bangladesh,
with the United Nations to assess the situation. If asked for assistance,
we would very seriously consider that. We remain ready to provide disaster
assistance, once that is requested from the government of Bangladesh.
Mr. Lambros, how are you, sir?
QUESTION: Fine, thank you. On Greece --
MR. BURNS: So nice to see you.
QUESTION: Thank you. The Washington Post has criticized the late Andreas
Papandreou's political past. It said the two deputies of the present Greek
parliament, who disagree today with the Simitis policy of concessions and
compromised territory over the Aegean. How do you comment on the movement
of those -- (inaudible) - two Greek deputies, since you have consistently
defended from this podium Mr. Simitis' policy vis-à-vis Turkey?
MR. BURNS: Well, Mr. Lambros you'll understand why I don't want to
intrude on internal Greek political affairs. That wouldn't be appropriate
for a spokesman from the United States Government. I can assure you,
however, that we have the greatest respect for the Papandreou family, and
we have the greatest respect for Prime Minister Simitis and his government.
We get on very well with Prime Minister Simitis and Foreign Minister
Pangalos. We work well and constructively with them. We look forward to
continuing to work well with them.
The Greek Government, the Turkish Government are now considering initiatives
by the NATO Secretary General to diminish military tensions in the Aegean.
The United States fully supports that process. Also, we hope that this can
be a year where progress is made on Cyprus. It will require, of course, the
good faith cooperation of both Turkey and Greece, working with the
Cypriot Government, with the Turkish community on Cyprus, to make
that kind of progress that the people of Cyprus deserve after 22 years.
So in all respects, I think I can report to you, Mr. Lambros, we have an
excellent relationship with Greece. I'm sure that will continue.
QUESTION: (Inaudible) - there was a Greek-Turkish music concert -
(inaudible) - this was yesterday --
MR. BURNS: Yes.
QUESTION: -- (inaudible) - Cyprus. (Inaudible) - a battle in the streets
of Nicosia between police and demonstrators. Any comments? This concert was
also to support - (inaudible) - a bigger embassy in Cyprus.
MR. BURNS: Well, we have seen the reports of civil disturbances in
downtown Nicosia yesterday - the very substantial disturbances. There's a
report, I think, that the bus carrying the Turkish singer to the concert
site in the UN buffer zone was stoned. We're very grateful that the
authorities intervened and no one was hurt in that particular incident.
These events are very unfortunate, these disturbances. We're pleased that
none of them disrupted the concert itself. This was a concert to bring
together two communities on Cyprus. We view the concert as a very positive
event. I understand 5,000 people attended it. It drew the two communities
together in a social setting. This is the kind of thing that has to happen
if peace is going to occur on Cyprus. Sometimes it takes small steps like
bringing people together for a concert.
We're pleased that authorities on both sides took their responsibilities to
maintain civil order. They did not permit a small group of troublemakers
from ruining the concert that we hope initiatives like this can help
promote reconciliation between the communities on Cyprus.
QUESTION: In other words, Mr. Burns, we are trying today, culturally, to
tell many of the Turkish invasion and occupation of Cyprus. Is that what
you are saying?
MR. BURNS: No, what I'm saying, Mr. Lambros, is that I think all
countries in the region, as well as the Cypriot Government, as well as the
Turkish community would agree that if there's to be peace in Cyprus, normal
people - people who are not government officials - need to meet each
other.
Here was an example where Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots could sit
down together. That's a very good thing. That's a very good thing, and a
few demonstrators were not allowed to disrupt that. So we congratulate the
authorities who did so much to try to quell these disturbances and allow
the concert to continue.
QUESTION: The last question, your background paper on Greece - serial
number 8198 - prepared by your Bureau of Public Affairs on page six says,
"the Greek media is usually aggressive, sensationalist and frequently
irresponsible."
(Laughter.)
MR. BURNS: What was the word? Irresponsible?
QUESTION: Irresponsible, right here.
MR. BURNS: I don't remember such a briefing paper, but I can check on
it.
QUESTION: It says the Greek media is "usually aggressive, sensationalist
and frequently irresponsible."
MR. BURNS: I'm going to ask Dimitris to comment on this. Would you like
to comment on this report from the State Department? Do you think the Greek
press is generally aggressive or --
QUESTION: You have a clear picture of it.
(Laughter.)
MR. BURNS: Mr. Lambros, let me tell you --
QUESTION: It says, "objectivity, as known to the U.S. media on the whole,
does not exist." May we have your opinion on this citation?
MR. BURNS: Well, Mr. Lambros, let me give you a three-part answer. Point
number one, I will consult this document of the State Department and I will
get back to you on that document.
Number two, I can assure you - let me assure you, we have the greatest
respect for Greece and for the traditions of press freedoms. Democracy was
founded in Greece, and we're well aware of that here in the United States.
Third, I think we work very well together - you and Dimitris and Tom, who's
not here today - all the Greek journalists who come to the briefing. I have
the greatest respect for you. You may be aggressive, but I think you're
fair, all of you.
(Laughter.)
You're very aggressive.
(Laughter.)
But you're most of the time fair. So that's all I have to say about the
issue you've raised.
QUESTION: Can we change the subject?
MR. BURNS: We're having so much fun on this subject.
QUESTION: I've got work to do here.
MR. BURNS: Yes.
QUESTION: On North Korea.
MR. BURNS: Yes.
QUESTION: There's a report today that the United States is considering
appointing some sort of special envoy for the North Korean peace - to
handle North Korean issues. Is there any truth to that? If so, can you
discuss it a little bit?
MR. BURNS: Oh, I cannot confirm that report. If we are - appointments
like that are usually made in public. They're not done in response to a
question. I just have nothing to announce. Frankly, I'm not familiar with
any plan to appoint a special negotiator. I do know that we have excellent
foreign service officers working on this. Chuck Kartman is a career
specialist. He's heading our Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs. He
has spent many years on Korea, understands the Korean problem very well.
He's been our point person. I know the Secretary is very pleased by
the job that he's done.
Now, should it be necessary to appoint new people to work on North Korea in
the future, I'm sure we'll announce it. But I have nothing to announce, and
I'm not aware of any plans to do so.
QUESTION: Have you had any contact with representatives of the Democratic
Republic of Congo today?
MR. BURNS: I thought you were going to say Democratic Republic of
Korea.
QUESTION: No.
MR. BURNS: Well, let me tell you this. I talked to Dan Simpson --
Ambassador Simpson -- in Kinshasa just before coming out here. He reports
the following to me. First of all, Ambassador Simpson reports that the
situation in Kinshasa is returning to normal. There is civilian traffic on
the streets resuming; and that was not the case over the past couple of
days.
The airport is closed, except to the alliance. The Brazzaville ferry
remains closed. There are some reports of sporadic gunfire in the streets,
although the alliance has established effective control of the city.
The United States continues to advise American citizens - there are more
than 300 of them - to keep your heads down, stay in your homes until the
government is formally established. Ambassador Simpson said that at least
as of an hour and a half ago, Mr. Kabila had not yet arrived in Kinshasa,
but he was expected momentarily - perhaps this evening, perhaps tomorrow.
Once that happens and as the government brings more troops into the capital,
then it may be safe for American citizens at some point tomorrow or
the next day to move around. The embassy will advise them of the appropriate
actions.
Now, in terms of politics and our relationship with the Congo, Ambassador
Simpson has been on the phone this morning with a number of advisors to Mr.
Kabila. He was able to put them in touch with Mr. Tshisekedi yesterday,
which was a very good thing because we're encouraging a broad-based
government to be formed in Kinshasa. Ambassador Simpson looks forward to
meeting with Mr. Kabila once Mr. Kabila arrives in Kinshasa. They know each
other. They've spoken on the phone many, many times. Our ambassador will be
our point person in establishing personal relations with Mr. Kabila
as he comes in.
As for other questions, we are just hoping that this government will
continue to be able to maintain calm in the streets, stability throughout
the country; and to get on to the business of economic reconstruction,
political reform and hopefully, at some point, elections in the future.
Any others on Zaire? Sid, yes.
QUESTION: There's been some fairly horrific images coming out of Zaire -
street retribution. It may be isolated, but do you have anything to say
about it? Do you see it as widespread? Are you concerned that Kabila's
forces may be exacting too much revenge?
MR. BURNS: We have seen, and I know the press has reported - sometimes in
graphic detail - acts of retribution against members of former president
Mobutu's government, some members of his security detail. The United States
condemns these acts of retribution. There is no place for them. There
should be no place for them in a city that now needs to rebuild itself. Mr.
Kabila himself warned on Friday against acts of retribution. We think it's
very important that people lay down their arms, lay aside their differences
and rebuild the country.
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to say that, because we feel very
strongly about that.
The only other bit of news I can tell you about is that American troops
will begin to re-deploy from Congo, Brazzaville and Gabon. Ambassador
Simpson has made the determination that the situation is sufficiently
tranquil, in a relative sense, to do that. I think I would just urge you to
check with the Pentagon on the details of that. But that is also underway
this morning.
Still on Zaire?
QUESTION: Troops moving out this morning?
MR. BURNS: Well, they're beginning to re-deploy, yes, from where they
were stationed in Brazzaville and in Libreville.
QUESTION: Are they staying in the region?
MR. BURNS: Check with the Pentagon on their eventual location. I think
they're all going to be heading back to the ship, U.S. naval ships.
QUESTION: Okay, but the general assessment --
MR. BURNS: -- off the West Coast of Africa.
QUESTION: The general assessment is, then, that it's not as dangerous as
you thought it might be, and it's not dangerous enough to have American
troops there to rescue any of the 300 --
MR. BURNS: We do not believe it will be necessary to carry out an
evacuation of the private American citizens. We were prepared for that for
many, many weeks, as you know. We feared and planned for the worst, as you
must in these occasions. Fortunately, and relatively speaking, the
situation was much quieter, the transition was much quieter than we had
expected over the weekend. Thank goodness for that.
Although many people did lose their lives in looting, in shootings and in
acts of retribution. We regret that very much.
QUESTION: What about other minorities like Lubanese people? Do you have
any information concerning the safety of other minorities?
MR. BURNS: I do not have specific information. I think their embassies
would. We are primarily concerned, obviously first and foremost concerned
with our own citizens. But, of course, we would be glad to advise anyone
about security precautions. Our own view is that while the situation is
relatively stable, people ought to stay where they are and not try to leave
and not try to go about a normal life.
QUESTION: Nick, on Zaire.
MR. BURNS: Yes, we're on Zaire. Yes.
QUESTION: Do you have any idea where Mobutu is? You said yesterday that
you believed he is in Morocco. There now seems to be some question.
MR. BURNS: There have been conflicting reports about his travel to both
Togo and to Morocco, and I cannot confirm where he is. We are not in
contact with him. There is one more thing I should say. There were press
reports, rumors in Kinshasa this morning that the Ambassador told me about
that two American diplomats had been killed. That is not true.
All the American diplomats are fully accounted for, all 25, including the
Ambassador to whom I spoke. Tragically, it is true - and I must confirm -
that one of our foreign service national employees, a Zairian, Mr. Kabinda
Tshanyina, was killed during a car-jacking on May 19th. His driver, who was
not a employee of the United States - Mr. Tshanyina was -- his driver was
also killed.
This appears to have been a random act of violence. It does not appear to
be an act directed against the United States or one of our employees, in
this case a former Zairian employee. We wish to express our deep regret to
his family, our condolences to his family, and for the services that he
gave to the United States.
QUESTION: Who's - (inaudible) -- for violence? Is that the embassy?
MR. BURNS: The embassy has, yes. It was a car-jacking.
QUESTION: It was based on - do you know based on what?
MR. BURNS: Based on eye witnesses, it appears to have been a car-jacking,
a violent car-jacking. Unfortunately they killed him and his driver and
they took the car.
QUESTION: Was he in a car with American plates?
MR. BURNS: I don't know the answer to the question. He was an embassy
expediter, and he was with, as I said, his own private driver, not employed
by us. I just don't know the circumstances well enough to answer that
question. We can look into that for you. Yes, sir.
QUESTION: While you are on Kinshasa and the new Congo, can I ask about
Sudan, please? There is a press report today --
MR. BURNS: Certainly.
QUESTION: -- an American official quoted by the press that the Administration
does not prefer the Lebanese opposition leader Saddiq Al Mahdi to be back
in power in Khartoum. And he is not the favorite leader for the United
States. Is it true?
MR. BURNS: Well, all I can tell you is that Saddiq Al Mahdi is in
Washington today on a private visit.
QUESTION: He is here.
MR. BURNS: He will be meeting with U.S. government officials. In fact, he
will be meeting with our Assistant Secretary of State George Moose on
Friday. We understand that he will meet with other members of our
Administration, with members of Congress and with a number - he will also
make some public speeches while he is here in Washington.
He was the democratically elected Prime Minister of the Sudan. He was
deposed, as you know, by a military coup in 1989. He is one of the top
spiritual and political figures in Sudan. He leads an important party, and
we obviously are interested in talking to him. So I cannot confirm your
question. I can just tell you that we respect him enough to meet him and to
listen to him and to hope one day that Sudan may become a democratic
country. It clearly is not right now.
QUESTION: He is not the favorite leader. Who is the favorite leader for
the Administration?
MR. BURNS: We have not ranked - I can't remember a ranking or a dance
card that we put together for our top ten. All I can tell you is that we do
support people who wish to see Sudan return to a normal democratic life
with tolerance for minority views, both politically and religiously. That
is very important. The current government fails on all of those accounts.
QUESTION: He will be meeting with Albright?
MR. BURNS: No, he will be meeting with Assistant Secretary of State
George Moose, our Assistant Secretary for African Affairs.
QUESTION: What is the aim of his visit and meetings?
MR. BURNS: He is here on a private visit. He has elected to come and
since he was here, we felt it was important for us to talk to him because
he is a major political and spiritual leader for many people in Sudan. We
wanted to show our respect and our interest in a democratic Sudan by
meeting with him.
QUESTION: Nick --
MR. BURNS: Still on this?
QUESTION: Yes.
MR. BURNS: Still on Sudan, yes.
QUESTION: Nick, you didn't comment on my colleague's question regarding
one administration official was quoted in one of the newspapers saying that
--
QUESTION: We did prefer him to be back in power in Khartoum.
MR. BURNS: I --
QUESTION: Because he (inaudible)
MR. BURNS: I can't answer - I can't deal with a question like that. I
have no idea who was talking on background. I only trust things that are
said on the record, in terms of answering questions about them.
QUESTION: Point of clarification, in terms of Congo, what is the State
Department's understanding of the new name of that country?
MR. BURNS: The Democratic Republic of Congo.
QUESTION: I have also seen the New Republic of Congo.
MR. BURNS: Well, I know that Ambassador Simpson has talked to Mr.
Kabila's primary advisors. That is how we understand it. That is what we
understand the name to be. We will no longer use the term Zaire and or
Zairian, as much as we can expunge that from our lexicons. We respect the
right of this new government to name itself and to have a new flag and a
new leader. We will work with them very responsibly.
QUESTION: Nick, are you working at all with the ambassador, the Zairian
ambassador here in Washington?
MR. BURNS: Well, I don't know. I don't know what relationship he has to
Mr. Kabila. I just don't know his situation at all. I can check into that
for you. That's a good question. That's a very good question. I don't know
if Mr. Kabila has sent new people to represent him or whether the current
embassy staff will do that. I'll check into that for you. That's a good
question.
QUESTION: Lately, the Palestinians have been pleading with the United
States to state a position on the annexation of the occupied territories,
and the Israelis contending that they need more land for settlements.
However, there was a report in one of the newspapers that the satellite
pictures shows that a quarter of the occupied - of the settlements are
empty. Forgive the play on the words. Mr. Netanyahu described the
settlement report as groundless. How do you comment on that?
MR. BURNS: All I can say is that the loan guarantee legislation that made
possible United States loan guarantees to Israel imposes responsibilities
on the Administration which require us to monitor settlement activity,
settlement construction and occupancy and so forth. In light of this, from
time to time, we do make judgments, which we pass on to the Congress.
In this case, I can't speak specifically about this report because it has
not been made public, but we have from time to time, and just recently,
tried to establish a basis of information for ourselves and for the
Congress on this issue, and we have done that. I can't respond to the Prime
Minister's comments because I just don't want to respond to the specific
report which we have not made public. It is private.
QUESTION: But, Nick, the loan guarantees -- that arrangement is expired.
It expired months ago. Are you all still --
MR. BURNS: No, we have continuing requirements to report on settlement
activity as a result of that legislation.
QUESTION: So it lives beyond the loan itself, the loan guarantee
itself?
MR. BURNS: Therefore, we do that. We do it from time to time. We do it in
a variety of ways and, obviously, we want to inform ourselves through our
consul general in Jerusalem about the status of the settlements in the West
Bank and on the Gaza Strip.
QUESTION: Do you think the leak of this report has anything to do with
the failure of the talks and the demand of the Arabs, the Palestinians, of
the United States stated position on annexation?
MR. BURNS: I have no idea why people leak things, but sometimes, or every
day, people do. I can't account for it. All I can do is say that we will
maintain a very vigorous political dialog with the Israelis and Palestinians,
as the Secretary of State said this morning, in order to make progress.
QUESTION: Broadly speaking, is it your finding that quite a lot of these
housing units in these settlements are unoccupied?
MR. BURNS: Well, I don't wish to get into our analysis because we have
decided to keep that private. We do talk to the Congress about it, but we
have not made this public. So I just can't get into that in any way.
QUESTION: Without making the information public, is it something that
Ambassador Ross has been discussing on his recent trip to the Middle
East?
MR. BURNS: Actually, I don't believe it came up in Dennis' discussions
with the Israelis last week. I talked to Dennis this morning and he didn't
mention that it had, and I didn't get the impression that it had. Mr.
Lambros, yes.
QUESTION: (Inaudible)-to the Albanian prime minister a new plea to
Western governments on the elections issue, since there is a deadlock again
and move Albanian political parties?
MR. BURNS: Yes, I do. As you know, Prime Minister Fino was here last week
to speak to the Secretary about the situation in Albania, and we are very
much supporting the efforts of Franz Vranitzky to try to bring peace to
Albania. Mr. Vranitzky has informed the Albanian political parties today
that a solution to the electoral procedures question must be reached by
midnight this evening if OSCE efforts are to continue.
A solution to this problem is long overdue. We urge all political parties
in Albania to reach a solution today. Given the time difference, that means
in the next several hours. No solution to the current crisis in Albania
will be possible without free and fair elections. That has got to be the
standard that these parties meet. The United States supports Chancellor
Vranitzky on this and because of that, our Assistant Secretary of State
John Kornblum called Prime Minister Fino this morning to convey the message
that I have just given you publicly.
The international community has invested considerable energy and resources
in assisting Albania. However, our engagement cannot be sustained for any
considerable period of time without the full cooperation of all political
parties in Albania. We are concerned about this. We are concerned enough to
call Prime Minister Fino to urge him to compromise on this issue, along
with the other political parties in Albania and to reach a settlement so
that the people of Albania can vote in free and fair elections. That
is the standard.
Thank you.
(The briefing concluded at 2:20 P.M.)
(###)
|