U.S. Department of State Daily Press Briefing #92, 97-06-17
From: The Department of State Foreign Affairs Network (DOSFAN) at <http://www.state.gov>
1143
U.S. Department of State
Daily Press Briefing
I N D E X
Tuesday, June 17, 1997
Briefer: Nicholas Burns
ANNOUNCEMENTS/STATEMENTS
1-2 Republic of Congo - Brazzaville: State Department issues
Travel Warning, suspends embassy operations; Three-day truce
agreed by warring factions
2 El Salvador: Public Announcement issued re incidents of
violence at football matches
Albania: Secretary Albright meeting w/ OSCE - Franz Vranitzsky,
discuss elections
2-3 Unveiling of Press Office corridor display
REPUBLIC OF CONGO
3 Departure of Americans: Numbers
CAMBODIA
4 Reported clashes; Effect on Secretary Albright's scheduled
travel to Cambodia
CYPRUS/TURKEY/GREECE
4-6 US concern over reported Turkish military naval maneuvers in
Cyprus
6 Under Secretary Pickering meeting with Greece Deputy Foreign
Minister
6 Special Envoy Richard Holbrooke activities
15-16 US position on sovereignty of Imia/Kardak
PEACE PROCESS
6-8 US reaction to recent violence in Hebron; Status of peace
negotiations
8 Consul General Abington comments on Israeli settlements; US
discussion w/ Israel
9 Congressional consultations on shifting of aid from Israel and
Egypt
TERRORISM
9 Reported Canada deportation of Al-Khobar bombing suspect
al-Sayegh to US
SWITZERLAND
9-10 Nazi Assets: Lawsuit against Switzerland for holocaust
victims' assets Swiss Government actions to compensate
victims
INDONESIA
10-11 Bishop Belo meetings at White House/NSC, State Department
11 Ramos Horta earlier meetings in Washington, discussion of East
Timor
IRAN
11-12 Tests of Chinese-supplied anti-ship Cruise missiles; Danger to
US troops in Gulf
13 US commitment to security of Persian Gulf; Iran support for
terrorism
TURKEY/ISRAEL
12-13 Syria/Iraq/Iran front in response to Turkey-Israel
cooperation; Joint military exercises
CROATIA
13 Assessment of elections; effect on Dayton Accords
implementation
UNITED KINGDOM: Northern Ireland
13-14 US condemns IRA killing of policemen, terrorism; Sinn Fein role
in talks
DEPARTMENT
14-15 Secretary Albright's schedule: Summit Of The Eight in Denver;
Travel to Asia (Vietnam/Cambodia/Hong Kong)
CUBA
16 Castro visa application to attend United Nations conference
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING
DPB #92
TUESDAY, JUNE 17, 1997 2:00 P.M.
(ON THE RECORD UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED)
MR. BURNS: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the State
Department briefing. I want to welcome Professor Carole Ashkinaze, the
Assistant Professor of Journalism for American University -- here again
with another group of students from her journalism class. I think you are
seated here and here. Thanks very much for coming.
A couple of things to announce, in addition to what the Secretary announced
upstairs on our assistance program to Jordan. The first is that the State
Department is issuing a travel warning for Congo, Brazzaville. We are
warning U.S. citizens to cancel travel to Congo, Brazzaville, due to the
vastly deteriorated security situation there, and due to the fact that the
United States must suspend the operations of our American Embassy in
Brazzaville.
There is considerable shooting, acts of violence, chaos and mayhem in the
streets, active civil war underway both in the capital and throughout the
country. That makes travel to Congo, Brazzaville an irrational act by
anyone seeking to travel there and quite dangerous, as well. I would refer
you to the travel warning we are issuing.
I can tell you that our ambassador, Aubrey Hooks, has just reported to us
that the International Committee for Mediation of the Crisis in the Congo
was able to convince the factional leaders today to agree to a three-day
truce in the fighting. We would like to see this truce implemented. We
would like to see the fighting stopped completely. We hope that is the
case, as a result of the very fine work of Ambassador Hooks, the American
ambassador, of the French Government, of the government of Gabon, and the
government of Mali, as well as the government of Equatorial Guinea.
Now, the State Department is suspending operations in Brazzaville as of
tomorrow morning, Wednesday morning. Our 12 official Americans, our
diplomats there, a single Peace Corps volunteer who has remained in the
country, and a Peace Corps doctor will depart via C-130 from Brazzaville
tomorrow.
We do expect that the 12-member military team, along with embassy equipment
will depart at roughly the same time. Our Deputy Chief of Mission Vince
Valle, one of our consular officers Ava Rogers will set up a temporary
observation post across the river in Kinshasa to monitor events from there
-- events in Brazzaville -- to maintain contact with any remaining American
citizens in Brazzaville. We do believe that there will be some American
citizens who have elected to say behind in Brazzaville.
The Peace Corps director will go to Libreville in Gabon to complete the
suspension procedures. Our ambassador, Ambassador Hooks, will be returning
to Washington for consultations. This is a suspension of our embassy
operations. We will keep the embassy open physically. We will have our
local staff, our Congolese staff there to try to maintain the embassy and
at least maintain some contact with the factional leaders, with any
Americans who find themselves at the door of the embassy and in trouble.
We will be evacuating because we simply cannot ensure the safety of the
American diplomats there when the French Government has decided to take the
French troops out of Brazzaville. The French Government had effectively
provided security for our embassy and other embassies in the area. Now
that they are leaving we can no longer, with a good conscience, keep our
diplomats there.
They have served over the last couple of weeks in an exceedingly dangerous
environment. Some of them have literally put their life on the line in
trying to help American citizens -- Ava Rogers being one of those people.
As soon as we can resume the operations of the embassy with American
diplomats, we will do that. So we are not breaking relations. We are not
closing the embassy permanently.
We are suspending operations. I hope that is clear to all.
Let me also tell you, we are issuing a travel public announcement on El
Salvador. This warns the American public about violence and disruptive
behavior which often accompanies football matches in El Salvador, and which
sometimes threatens American citizens who may be in the area. Witness the
recent match between Guatemala and the United States in El Salvador. There
was a quite dangerous situation that resulted as part of the emotion that
accompanied the football match, and we wanted American citizens to be aware
of that.
Now, two more notices before we go to questions. First, I do have a
statement available on Albania. This concerns the meeting that Secretary
Albright and Under Secretary Tom Pickering had yesterday with the former
Austrian Chancellor Franz Vranitzky.
He is the chair of the OSCE office for Albania. They discussed political
developments and they discussed our very strong support for the
parliamentary elections on June 29 and July 6.
The Secretary and Dr. Vranitzky agreed that these elections are a critical
first step in moving Albania along the road to a complete political and
economic and social recovery, including the need to form a government that
is recognized by the people of Albania.
We very much support that process, and we thank Dr. Vranitzky for his
leadership.
Finally, if any of you have walked down this corridor lately you will see
that there are seven large bulletin boards there covered up with newspaper.
Now, the reason for that is that we wanted to surprise all of you when we
invite you to come at 3:30 p.m. this afternoon for an unveiling of these
boards. The unveiling will then reveal the press office at work.
As you know, our press officers get in here at 4:30 a.m., 5:00 a.m. in the
morning, and they stay until late at night. We thought we would do a
pictorial snapshot of "A Day in the Life of the State Department Press
Office." There's going to be champagne and other beverages. You are
invited to come for the unveiling. I want to credit two people for doing
all the work on this - Phyllis Young, our veteran, very capable press
officer; and Stephanie Eicher, equally capable and impressive press
officer.
They are the ones who carried this out.
Now, because I know that you all are interested in your own role in this
process, we are planning a stage two, and that will catalogue the life of
the press corps here at the State Department. We will be coming around to
photograph you. So you will have to be on your best behavior.
(Laughter.)
I'm not sure we are going to give you any advance warning, and we are going
to be on the record. We will be questioning you about how you spend your
time here.
On this side of the corridor, in a couple of months, we hope to unveil
stage two, which will be a pictorial representation of all of you -- George
and Barry and Patrick and Judd and others - photographs and quotes and any
advice you want to give those of us who follow the press.
QUESTION: No advance warning?
MR. BURNS: No advance warning.
QUESTION: Should we wear our Red Sox --
MR. BURNS: You should wear your Red Sox hats everyday.
(Laughter.)
MR. BURNS: At any moment the photographer could show up in the bull pen.
Thank you, George.
QUESTION: Did you say how many Americans are being involved in this
suspension in Brazzaville?
MR. BURNS: I said that we would be withdrawing 12 American diplomats, a
Peace Corps volunteer, a Peace Corps doctor, as well as the American
military assessment team that flew into Brazzaville, oh, about ten days
ago. I think that team is quite small -- roughly ten to 15 people in that
team.
So we are talking about a little bit more than 25 or so, 26, 27 people who
will be coming out tomorrow morning via U.S. military C-130 from
Brazzaville Airport. We simply can't protect them any longer given the
deteriorating security situation in Brazzaville.
George, any further questions on that? You okay? Judd.
QUESTION: New subject?
MR. BURNS: Yeah.
QUESTION: Cambodia.
MR. BURNS: Yes.
QUESTION: There is great - reports of fighting between followers, backers
of the two prime ministers who share power.
Any comment on it? And does this endanger Secretary Albright's trip there
next week?
MR. BURNS: Well, I can tell you that we have heard from Ambassador Ken
Quinn, our very fine ambassador in Phnom Penh.
He does report gunfire and some explosions in the streets of Phnom Penh.
He has tried to keep us updated.
I don't believe at this point that we have had any American embassy
personnel injured in the fighting. But, of course, they are taking
appropriate precautions. I do believe that an Agence France Presse
reporter, an American, Matthew Lee, was apparently shot in the arm, was
taken to the hospital. He is okay. He is going to recover, and we are
very relieved by that. Obviously, we will give him all the support we can.
Ambassador Quinn visited Matthew Lee in the hospital and made sure that he
was okay and that we would give him every assistance to take care of
himself. We will be watching the situation, obviously, very closely. We
have an important embassy there. They are on the spot.
There is no change in the plans of the Secretary of State. She plans to
visit Hanoi and Ho Chi Min City and Phnom Penh next week before she goes
into Hong Kong for reversion. Yes, Dimitris.
QUESTION: Yes, I have a question on Cyprus. A few days ago, the
Administration praised publicly the Cypriot Government and the Turkish
Government for unilaterally deciding the moratorium on over-flights.
Today, just a few days before the start of the upcoming talks between
President Clerides and Mr. Denktash in New York under the auspices of the
UN Secretary General, Turkey broke its promise and had some warships
approaching the Turkish Cypriot ports. Do you consider this as helpful to
the creation of a good environment before the upcoming talks?
MR. BURNS: We are concerned about these reports. We are very concerned
about the reports of the movement of Turkish naval vessels. The United
States, frankly, does not know the reasons behind these reported military
and naval maneuvers. I can't tell you whether or not aircraft have been
deployed to accompany the naval maneuvers.
We are seeking an explanation from the Turkish Government. Turkey is a
friend of the United States, as is Greece, as is Cyprus.
Of course, we want to seek an explanation before we say something in more
detail. But we are concerned by it, because we think it's very important
that all the parties involved in trying to resolve the Cyprus dispute not
take any unilateral measures that would disrupt in any way the United
Nations-sponsored peace talks that are slated to begin outside New York
City I think early in the second week of July.
It is very important that we try to maintain a climate of cooperation, of
stability, of peace so that those peace talks can begin under Secretary
General Kofi Annan's leadership. That is important to us. We would not
want to see any kind of provocative initiatives taken in the area.
Now, we will be very interested to hear from the Turkish Government whether
or not these reports are accurate; and if they are accurate, why these
naval maneuvers have been undertaken. But we are concerned by these
reports.
QUESTION: Excuse me perhaps did you say the Turkish Cypriot ports? Or
Cypriot ports?
MR. BURNS: I did not use that term, as you know. I did not say Turkish
Cypriot. As you know, we recognize the government of Cyprus, as you know
very well.
QUESTION: Otherwise, you are expressing the fear that somehow Turkey is
moving for another advance on Cyprus?
MR. BURNS: Excuse me, Mr. Lambros?
QUESTION: Otherwise, you are expressing a kind of fear that Turkey is
moving for another advance against Cyprus?
MR. BURNS: Mr. Lambros, we don't know that the intentions of the Turkish
Government are. That is why we wish to hear from the Turkish Government a
complete explanation. But I did say that we are very concerned by these
reports of naval maneuvers off the coast of Cyprus.
QUESTION: So far you don't have anything from Turkey since for the last
two weeks Turkey is violating the Cypriot air space, plus the territorial
waters from the Republic of Cyprus. So you didn't find out what is going
on as far as --
MR. BURNS: Mr. Lambros, let's take these one at a time.
This incident was just reported publicly this morning. We first became
aware of it this morning. Therefore, we are reacting to this. We are
trying to do the responsible thing here. We are trying to find out the
facts before we have extensive comment in public. You would expect that of
us. I know you wouldn't want us to do anything differently. That is what
we are doing.
Once we have an explanation from the Turkish Government, then I will be
very glad to report that to you.
Now, you referred to a prior incident. We were concerned by the air
maneuvers of the Turkish Government a couple of weeks ago.
But when we were first asked about it, Mr. Lambros, we were in the same
position that we are now; and that is, of course we had to talk to the
Turkish Government first before we could have a detailed comment.
QUESTION: Any read-out for today's meeting between the Greek Deputy for
Foreign Affairs Ioannis Kranidiotis and Under Secretary Tom Pickering?
MR. BURNS: Well, I know that they had a very good meeting today. They
discussed a variety of issues related to U.S.-Greek relations. I know that
he was also over - Deputy Minister Kranidiotis was also over at the
Pentagon to meet Deputy Under Secretary Jan Lodal about some military
issues that are important to the United States.
I think both these meetings were productive meetings. In the Pickering
meeting, they discussed the upcoming UN-sponsored face-to-face talks on
Cyprus, and of course, the very strong support that the United States gives
to those talks. They discussed efforts to reduce tension in the Aegean
area, which, of course, is a common interest of the United States and
Greece, as well as Turkey.
I will leave it to the Pentagon to give a briefing on Deputy Under
Secretary Lodal's meetings. But those were important, of course, in
talking about confidence-building measures and talking about some of the
military initiatives that we have underway with the Greek Government to, of
course, enhance the capabilities of the Greek Government.
I also talked to Dick Holbrooke this morning. He was in Berlin.
He was traveling in Europe, and of course, he has been very active trying
to plan his strategy. He's going to be watching very carefully the
UN-sponsored talks outside of New York. Then I think you'll see, building
on that, efforts by Mr. Holbrooke and his associates to try to strengthen
the efforts of the United Nations.
QUESTION: (Inaudible) - did they discuss the also confidence-building
measures in the Aegean? (Inaudible) -- in today's meeting.
MR. BURNS: They discussed the situation in the Aegean, and of course the
agreement that we all have to try to reduce tensions in the Aegean if that
may be possible. Dimitris, yes.
QUESTION: On another subject, do you have any comment on the problems in
Hebron?
MR. BURNS: In Hebron? Yes, I do. I think you've all seen that there has
been a great deal of violence in Hebron over the last couple of days - 28
people were wounded today - 28 Palestinians were wounded today.
We deplore the violence that has taken place over the last few days in
Hebron and throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip. We particularly regret
the serious wounding of Palestinian children, and we extend our sympathy to
the families of these children.
That is most regrettable.
We call on the Palestinian leadership and the Israeli leadership to
exercise maximum restraint in this period, to do everything possible to
calm the situation, to end the violence.
The Palestinians and the Israelis have got to work together more
effectively. They have got to find a way to break the cycle of violence,
and find a way to take these problems between them back to the negotiating
table. Any time you see children today in Hebron - Palestinian children -
wounded by gunfire, it is extremely regrettable.
We hope very much that both the Palestinian Authority and the Israeli
Government can work out some kind of talks, some series of talks that will
take the initiative away from those who want to resort to violence in the
streets, and place it back upon the politicians who ought to be resolving
these problems on behalf of the citizens of Israel and the Palestinians who
live in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Am I still on this issue?
QUESTION: Well, Jordan aid.
QUESTION: Still on this issue.
QUESTION: Oh, okay.
MR. BURNS: Yes, Crystal.
QUESTION: The Secretary used the metaphor of the bicycle today, and
pedaling forward and backward. She said that sometimes in the Middle East
we have a tendency to peddle backward. Do you think, in light of what
you've just said about the situation in Hebron, are we pedaling backward?
Would that be the climate that's happening?
MR. BURNS: Well, I think, to extend the Secretary's metaphor, we're
certainly not moving forward. If it's possible to have a stationary bike,
we may be in neutral. In some respects, the situation may be receding,
heading backwards, because here you have hundreds of people over the last
four days, wounded in Hebron and other cities - people resorting to
violence when they should be resorting to discussion.
We are not, by the way, attributing any kind of blame to one side more than
the other. We feel that both are responsible to bring the situation away
from violence and towards peace. What we've learned, through bitter
experience in the Middle East, is that when the people who want to resort
to violence hold the upper hand, you see the result - you see bloodshed in
the streets, you see misery among the Israelis and the Palestinians.
The only way to stop that is for political leaders to come forward with a
will to resume negotiations. That's what Secretary Albright was referring
to when she made her comment in response to the questions this morning.
QUESTION: One more follow-up on this - Time magazine reported, I think
it was last week, that Mr. Abington, the consul general in Jerusalem, has
come out to say that he believes that Israel's expansion of settlements is
just to hold on to land and, in effect, be an obstacle and a wrench in the
peace process. Is that something that has been looked at on the part of
the State Department and the Secretary?
MR. BURNS: We do follow and have followed, actually, for decades,
settlement activity in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
That is one of the responsibilities of our consulate general in Jerusalem,
which Mr. Abington has headed with such great distinction over the last
three years.
We prefer to keep our discussion with the Israelis on settlement issues -
which is a very emotional issue for them and for the Palestinians - we
prefer to keep those discussions private. I'm not going to launch any
broadsides against the Israelis in public.
We're going to have private discussions. I should tell you two things.
One, our policy on settlements has not changed. They're not helpful and
they complicate the peace process. But that has been our consistent policy
for a long time. Second, I cannot speak directly to this story, because I
don't know everything behind it. But I think we're going to maintain a
private, confidential channel to the Israelis on settlements, and avoid any
kind of public discussion because that's not helpful.
I can tell you that we do, of course, have great respect for Ed Abington
and the work that he's done over the last three years.
Yes, Talal.
QUESTION: The Secretary of State Albright has said it upstairs during the
Q and A that to move the peace forward in the Middle East, tough decision
has to be taken by both sides.
Now, the Palestinian leaders have been asserting that they have taken the
tough decision - namely the Madrid and Oslo agreements - and they're
waiting for them to be implemented.
MR. BURNS: We're not going to intervene on one side or the other, and
give one side a better grade than the other, if that's what you're asking
me to do, Talal. I'm not going to do that. An effective mediator does not
do that. Both of them should make movement forward - not just one party,
both of them. The Palestinians are equally responsible with the Israelis
to make progress in these negotiations.
QUESTION: (Inaudible) - and they're waiting for it to be implemented.
MR. BURNS: And the Israelis are also waiting for a clear signal from the
Palestinian Authority - a clear, repeated signal - that political
assassinations of land dealers will not be the order of the day. So I
think there are grievances on both sides.
They need to get together and resolve them. Bill.
QUESTION: Can we move to Saudi?
MR. BURNS: Sure.
QUESTION: Saudi Arabia and the Canadian connection. CBC reports today
that within 36 hours, the detainee - Mr. Sayegh -- will be coming to the
United States. So, Nick, do you have any idea what's the deal that brings
Mr. Sayegh here, rather than to Saudi Arabia?
MR. BURNS: I can tell you this - we have been interested to talk to
Mr. Sayegh for a long time. We are interested in bringing him to the
United States. I cannot confirm his present status.
I'm going to have to leave that to others, to the law enforcement agencies.
I don't have any particular announcement to make today.
You'll have to ask the Canadian Government and our own law enforcement
agencies about his status.
Let me tell you something else. We have not forgotten, and will not
forget, the fact that 19 Americans, military officers, were killed at the
Khobar barracks by ruthless terrorists. We are going to participate in the
effort to hunt them down, to catch them, capture them and bring them to
justice.
QUESTION: You can't say whether Mr. Sayegh made a deal to plea bargain --
MR. BURNS: No, I have no comment to make on that.
QUESTION: Nothing on that?
MR. BURNS: No.
QUESTION: Okay.
MR. BURNS: Yes, Laura, you had something. I'm sorry, Judd.
QUESTION: A point of information --
MR. BURNS: Yes, yes.
QUESTION: Does the Administration need approval from Congress for taking
$50 million each from Israel and Jordan this year?
I know in the future, for new moneys, you obviously do.
MR. BURNS: I know that we've consulted very closely with senior members
of Congress on this initiative. We've taken great care to do so. Whether
or not formal approval is needed, I'd have to check. Yes. Yes, yes, sir.
QUESTION: The Swiss Embassy has made a request through the State
Department to urge the judicial authorities to be helpful or, in fact, to
dismiss the class action suits against the Swiss banks. Is the State
Department taking any steps in this direction?
MR. BURNS: Well, as you know, this is a matter that involves litigation
in American courts. You know that Holocaust victims here in the United
States have initiated this lawsuit. I cannot share with you the diplomatic
correspondence on this issue between the United States and Switzerland. I
don't think it's prudent for me to comment about a matter before
U.S. courts. That's a separate branch of our government.
It's never useful when the Executive Branch makes comments that could or
possibly affect a trial or litigation. Yes, sir.
QUESTION: And a follow-up -- does it mean that the State Department never
or, as a rule, doesn't intervene in such cases?
MR. BURNS: The State Department very, very rarely intervenes in
litigation in American courts probably - and I'm not a lawyer, thank
goodness - but probably only when the State Department is one of the
subjects in the litigation do, of course, we defend ourselves. That is not
the case here. We are talking about Swiss banks and American citizens who
are Holocaust victims.
Now, you should know that in this country I think there is pretty much a
consensus in this country. My remarks are completely separate from the
litigation, completely separate from your first two questions.
In this country we have enormous sympathy for the families of those people
who perished in the Holocaust and enormous sympathy for Holocaust victims
who survived the Holocaust.
I think if you look very closely at the study that Under Secretary
Eizenstat authored along with our chief historian, Bill Slany, the United
States has very clear views about what should have happened during the
Second World War and after the Second World War on the issue of Nazi gold,
and what didn't happen. That is most disappointing to all of us. I mean,
clearly, justice has got to be done for those people, many of them elderly,
in their 70s and 80s, who are at the end of their lives want to see some of
their families' financial assets restored to them properly, after having
been stolen by the Nazis. That is completely separate from the trial,
completely separate from the litigation.
We also, I should say, have a lot of respect for the fact that Switzerland
is taking some concrete steps as a country and as a nation to deal with the
problem, the compensation fund. Some of the positive statements made by
the Swiss leadership have been most welcome. We want to work cooperatively
with the Swiss Government and the Swiss people to see this problem through
to the end. Yes?
QUESTION: Nick, today Bishop Belo East Timor met with President Clinton.
Can you tell us -- what did they discuss?
MR. BURNS: Well, I think you would have to ask Mike McCurry to give you a
readout on the President's meeting. I understand that National Security
Advisor Sandy Berger had a meeting with Bishop Belo and that President
Clinton dropped in on that meeting.
I can also tell you that Bishop Belo will be meeting with our Under
Secretary of State Tom Pickering today as well.
He is a widely respected and esteemed leader in East Timor. He has long
sought peace and reconciliation through peaceful means.
The meetings today with the President, with Sandy Berger, with Tom
Pickering illustrate the very great importance that the United States gives
to dialogue between Indonesia and Portugal, between the parties, between
different communities and different groups within East Timor itself. The
United Nations has sponsored a dialogue between various groups in East
Timor which we very much support.
We support the Portuguese-Indonesian talks and we are very glad that he is
here. As you know, Mr. Ramos-Horta, the fellow Nobel laureate of Bishop
Belo, was also in Washington a couple of weeks ago when Secretary Albright
was overseas and Under Secretary Tim Wirth and Assistant Secretary John
Shattuck had good discussions with him. So we very much want to continue
to be part of the solution to the problems of East Timor and today's
meetings illustrate that. Any follow-up or are you okay? Okay, George.
QUESTION: The Secretary chose not to say much about the Iran decision to
test their cruise missiles, which apparently adds a new dimension to Iran's
military capability. There is another component to the question. That is
the fact that the Chinese were the apparent suppliers of this equipment,
and I thought you might want to say something about that.
MR. BURNS: You know, George, I usually don't need this book very much.
Today I need it on this question. I can't find it. I have no idea where
this has been put. It's been hidden someplace. Let me tell you, this
report this morning in The Washington Times is another report based on
alleged intelligence sources.
I never comment on intelligence sources, number one.
QUESTION: What about Secretary Cohen?
MR. BURNS: Pardon?
QUESTION: Secretary Cohen announced it in the Gulf.
MR. BURNS: Are you talking about the article by Bill Gertz?
QUESTION: No, no.
MR. BURNS: That's the question you asked the Secretary.
QUESTION: No, no, no.
MR. BURNS: What is your question?
QUESTION: Secretary Cohen, in Bahrain, I believe --
MR. BURNS: I don't think then - I'm not sure. Well, anyway,
I think she thought you were talking about the other article.
QUESTION: Well, Secretary Cohen said the Chinese have begun testing an
anti-ship cruise missile, and the implication is -
QUESTION: You said China.
QUESTION: What did I say? China. No, no, that the Iranians are testing
these missiles. And the implication is that this could pose increased
dangers for American troops in the Gulf.
And the suppliers, as I understand it, are the Chinese. It's been on the
wires since 5:00 a.m. this morning.
MR. BURNS: And Secretary Cohen made these remarks?
QUESTION: That's right.
MR. BURNS: Haven't seen the remarks.
QUESTION: Okay.
MR. BURNS: I have to check with the Pentagon and see what Secretary Cohen
said.
QUESTION: I suppose some of our countries which leading Syria, Iran, Iraq
try to establish some kind of military pact as a counter for
Turkish-Israeli military cooperation agreement.
And, also, we heard that Libya showed a desire to join this counter -
MR. BURNS: Could you name the countries again?
QUESTION: Syria, Iraq, Iran and might be Libya.
MR. BURNS: That's a motley crew.
QUESTION: Yeah, it is.
MR. BURNS: Isn't it? You think so?
QUESTION: It is.
MR. BURNS: You know, I can't see anything good coming from an alliance of
those countries. I can't see anyone who would want to join it. It's a
bunch of dictators. We do talk to the Syrians. We don't talk to the
Libyans or the Iranians or the Iraqis. It's a motley group. I don't think
it's a very distinguished group of countries.
QUESTION: And also the Turkish navy is visiting the Israeli ports and
most probably they are planning to prepare some kind of military exercise,
navy exercise, in the eastern part of the Mediterranean. Do you have any
reaction on this?
MR. BURNS: I don't know the particulars of these reported military
exercises with the government of Israel, but we have encouraged Turkey and
Israel to conduct military exercises and training together -- of course
making sure this is outside any area of controversy in the eastern
Mediterranean. That is always helpful in these cases. But we very much
encourage the rapprochement between Turkey and Israel. It is significant.
It is helpful to both countries and to the United States. Yes, Laura.
QUESTION: Generally speaking, do you think that Iran poses a threat to
U.S. troops stationed in the Gulf region, regardless of the fact that you
are unaware of Secretary Cohen's comment?
MR. BURNS: I did see that Secretary Cohen said this morning that the
United States seeks peace in the Gulf. We also seek, and have sought for
nearly 50 years now, freedom of navigation in the Gulf and of shipping, and
we will keep the Gulf open for shipping. We will defend our troops and our
assets and our allies, if necessary. The Iranians know that and they won't
fool around with us because we are stronger than they are. I think that
was the import of what I saw Secretary Cohen say on that particular issue.
QUESTION: Do you think that Iran supports terrorism?
MR. BURNS: Iran definitely supports terrorism. It is a chief funder and
manipulator of some of the major terrorist groups in the Middle East --
Hezbollah and Hamas, to name two.
That is one of the three reasons that President Clinton and Secretary
Albright have cited why the United States has such a lousy relationship
with Iran. It's support of terrorism is a big concern of ours and we are
not going to let Iran get away with it without public comment and private
action to counteract it. Yes, ma'am, yes.
QUESTION: Now that the Croatian elections have been touted as being
unfair, is that going to have any effect on the Dayton peace process or
accords?
MR. BURNS: We hope it doesn't but, as Secretary Albright say yesterday,
we are very disappointed in the way that those elections were carried out.
They may have been free; they were not fair. We have made these concerns
known directly to the Croatian Government, as has the OSCE and other
countries.
We expect that Croatia will meet its Dayton commitments. That is its
obligation and self-interest, and that message could not be more clear, as
transmitted by us to Zagreb. Yes, Bill.
QUESTION: Speaking - yes, Nick, thank you -- of another peace process.
It seems that the bicycle has gone down and perhaps been run over by a
lorry in Northern Ireland. Basically, I wanted to ask if this country is
going to sanction Sinn Fein now that Tony Blair and the Irish Republic
Government have condemned this terrible act, this terrible atrocity
yesterday?
MR. BURNS: I would encourage you to read President Clinton's statement
that he issued yesterday condemning the murder of the two policemen. The
IRA has proven again it is a vicious terrorist organization, and we have no
business to do with the IRA.
As for Sinn Fein, sooner or later Sinn Fein has to make a basic choice --
they want peace or they want to support terrorism, or be associated,
implicated with terrorism. Sinn Fein will have no place at the multiparty
talks, no place -- according to the United Kingdom and the government of
Ireland -- as along as there is not a cease-fire and an end, a cessation of
all terrorist activities, which is currently not the case.
The United States fully shares the outrage of the Irish Government and the
government of the United Kingdom over this incident. We are very disturbed
by it, and we are not going to have much at all to do with Sinn Fein as
long as Sinn Fein carries on these activities.
QUESTION: So is this government --
MR. BURNS: As long as the IRA carries on these activities, excuse me.
QUESTION: Nick, does this government believe what Mr. Blair said about
the cynicism and hypocrisy of Sinn Fein and the IRA being sickening?
MR. BURNS: We fully agree with the outrage of the British Government.
Two policemen in Northern Ireland were gunned down brutally and that
frustration and outrage is shared by the Irish people and the Irish
Government. The IRA is - they are a bunch of sick, isolated, brutal
terrorists. They ought to be condemned by everyone around the world. Yes,
Carol.
QUESTION: Nick, would you happen to have any details on the Secretary's
schedule in Denver, if she has any meetings planned?
MR. BURNS: The Secretary will be accompanying the President to Denver.
They leave on Thursday morning. She will be traveling with him on Air
Force One. In presidential visits of this nature, the Secretary is there
to support the President, and she will be with him in all of his meetings.
She may or may not have a few meetings of her own with her ministerial
colleagues, but that remains to be seen.
She will be pretty much there to help the President make Denver a success
and make the United States proud of the fact that we have hosted the Group
of Eight.
QUESTION: She returns with him, as well?
MR. BURNS: Yes, she does. She returns on Sunday from Denver. She is
back in the office next Monday, the 23rd.
Early on the 24th, she will be off to San Francisco for the day. She is
giving a speech in San Francisco, and then to --
QUESTION: Do you know how early?
MR. BURNS: Yes, 8:30 a.m. takeoff from Andrews. That means all of us
need to get there at 7:30 a.m. to check in. Sorry.
San Francisco for the day and evening, a speech in San Francisco.
Travel across the dateline to Hanoi, then to Ho Chi Min City, then to Phnom
Penh and then to Hong Kong. I expect her to return here the evening of
July 1.
QUESTION: Does she leave on the 24th or the 25th?
MR. BURNS: From?
QUESTION: From San Francisco.
MR. BURNS: The morning of the 25th from San Francisco. We will be
spending the night in San Francisco.
QUESTION: Do you know what time?
MR. BURNS: I can get the schedule for you. I don't have it all at the
top of my head. Alison - the honorable Alison Shorter has the schedule and
will be glad to answer any and all questions on the schedule. Is Alison
here? Alison is not here.
QUESTION: She gets to Hanoi Thursday evening.
MR. BURNS: I believe we get into Hanoi late in the afternoon on Thursday,
meetings on Friday, and then to Ho Chi Min City Friday afternoon, and then
into Phnom Penh Friday night, all day Saturday, Saturday night, and then
Sunday to Hong Kong. Mr. Lambros.
QUESTION: The mapping agency of the Pentagon, with initial NIMA, N-I-M-A,
stated for the public record that the State Department recently is
insisting over and over that Imia should be included in the U.S. maps as a
Greek - under Greek sovereignty and not as Imia-Kardack. I am wondering
why the State Department is saying that only privately and not publicly.
Are you afraid of Turkey?
This is my question.
MR. BURNS: No, we're friends with Turkey. We're not afraid of Turkey.
There is nothing to be afraid of with the Turks. They are friends of ours.
By the way, Mr. Lambros, we are also friends with the Greeks. We have a
policy of friendship and alliance with Greece and Turkey and, while I'm at
it, I should say we are friends with the Cypriot Government as well.
Now, we have no fear of anyone. We are the greatest power in the world.
Now, Mr. Lambros, our position has not changed on that issue.
QUESTION: Allow me to proceed. That statement was published by the -
prepared by Western Policy Center of California and a copy of which has
been already submitted to the State Department.
So I would like you to comment. It's a statement by you; it's not my
statement.
MR. BURNS: I'll tell you my comment. Our position has not changed.
Well-known and unchanged on that issue. Betsy.
QUESTION: That's the answer?
MR. BURNS: That's the answer. Yes, with all due respect.
Yes.
QUESTION: Has Castro applied for a visa to come here for the UN
conference next week?
MR. BURNS: I don't know if Castro has applied for a visa, but I'll look
into that for you and I'll take the question and try to get you an answer.
Thank you, everyone. I'll see you at 3:30 p.m.
(The briefing concluded at 2:36 P.M.)
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