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U.S. Department of State Daily Press Briefing #50, 98-04-24

U.S. State Department: Daily Press Briefings Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

From: The Department of State Foreign Affairs Network (DOSFAN) at <http://www.state.gov>


739

U.S. Department of State
Daily Press Briefing

I N D E X

Friday, April 24, 1998

Briefer: James P. Rubin

ANNOUNCEMENTS
1		Background Briefing on the Middle East Today
1		Background Briefing on Removal of Highly Enriched Uranium
		  from Georgia

DEPARTMENT 1 Secretary Albright to Receive Ruth Miller Seed of Peace Prize on Sunday 10-11 Secretary Albright's Travel to Asia Next Week

FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA 1-4 Situation in Kosovo/Firefight Along Albanian Border 2-3 Deputy Secretary Talbott's Consultations/Contact Group Meeting

CUBA 4 EU and Helms-Burton/Under Secretary Eizenstat's Travel to Europe

BOSNIA 5-6 Media OverSight/Standards

JAPAN 6 Approval of Economic Stimulus Package

RUSSIA 6-7 Duma Approves Sergey Kireyenko as Prime Minister

IRAQ 7 Reported Russian Efforts at UNSC re Lifting Sanctions Against Iraq

AZERBAIJAN 7-8 Shutdown of Radio Liberty in Azerbaijan

CYPRUS 8 Ambassadors Miller and Holbrooke Travel/Meetings

RWANDA 8-9 Update on War Crimes Tribunal

MIDDLE EAST PEACE PROCESS 10-11 Secretary Albright's Meetings in London 11-12 Reported Congressional Letter to Secretary re Palestinian TV Program


U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING

DPB #50

FRIDAY, APRIL 24, 1998, 12:50 P.M.

(ON THE RECORD UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED)

MR. RUBIN: Greetings. Welcome to the State Department briefing. As you know, we will be having a background briefing on the Middle East following this briefing, as well as another briefing following that, in this busy briefing room here today, on the subject of the highly enriched uranium that has been removed successfully from Georgia in an important achievement that we have made to control nuclear materials that might fall into the wrong hands, and thereby advance the President's highest priority, to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons or nuclear materials. That briefing will occur at about 2:30 p.m. this afternoon.

QUESTION: Jamie, would it do any good to ask if that briefing be open to cameras and sound?

MR. RUBIN: No.

QUESTION: What is your reasoning behind - I mean, the Defense Department is releasing tape that they shot during the transfer of this material?

MR. RUBIN: Right. If those of you who want to get detailed information want to get detailed information, then it requires different sourcing than if it were provided in an on the record form. So perhaps more of your questions can be answered and help you all do your stories better.

Let me just make one more brief announcement. The Secretary will receive the Ruth W. Miller Seeds of Peace Prize on Sunday, April 26, in New York from the Seeds of Peace Organization. That is the organization that works with teenagers on the Middle East peace process. The Secretary will deliver acceptance remarks at an open-press dinner on Sunday, and then fly back to Washington for our round-the-world trip. There is some availability for us to bring people back and forth with us; so those who are interested should contact the press office.

QUESTION: Do you have anything on the possibility of sanctions against Yugoslavia because of Kosovo?

MR. RUBIN: Well let me just say that the situation in Kosovo is quite troubling, extremely dangerous. We believe the Yugoslav National Army has been engaged in a firefight along the Albanian border with myriad deaths involved. We can't confirm the number of people killed, but we have no reason to doubt that a significant number have been killed.

OSCE international border monitors confirm that they heard gunfire near the Albanian border. There are credible press reports of a thousand refugees fleeing across the border into Albania. Let me say that the United States recognizes every country's sovereign right to protect its borders; but the reports of a significant military build-up in the Kosovo region are extremely troubling, given the disproportionate use of force again insurgents and civilians in Kosovo in recent weeks. We have raised our serious concerns about this matter directly with senior officials in Belgrade. It is time for President Milosevic to understand that the border problem that he is dealing with is a direct consequence of his failure to come to terms and his inaction in terms of developing a viable solution to the Kosovo crisis.

The United States strongly believes that the Contact Group and the UN's call for the immediate withdrawal of special police units and the call for Belgrade authorities to meet with Kosovar Albanians in an unconditional dialogue is the only solution to this problem. The status quo will not stand in Kosovo if it continues in this direction. It is not sustainable. The level of mistrust and the gap between the parties is too great. And the only solution is for President Milosevic to get the message and get with the negotiating track and stop thinking he can solve this problem through the use of military force. He cannot.

In fact, all that he has done is increase support for the Albanian extremists in Kosovo. One might even say he's become the de facto membership chairman of the UCK organization, because with every step he takes in this effort, he is increasing the support the population has for the extremist organizations.

So it is our view that he needs to realize that the only solution is to come up with a credible negotiating procedure. That means unconditional dialogue, and that means changing the course that he has taken.

With respect to sanctions, President Milosevic has clearly not complied with the UN resolution's demands or the Contact Group's demands. He is upping the ante with the involvement of the Yugoslav National Army. His delaying tactics in calling for a referendum are also a step in the wrong direction. All that has happened by the deployment of these National Army forces in Kosovo is the heightening of instability in the region.

We are working with our allies to develop a package of additional measures designed to ensure that President Milosevic understands that his current course of action can only lead to further and further isolation for the people of the former Yugoslavia. It is time for him to change course before it's too late so that his people don't receive further isolation.

With respect to specific details, all I can say is that Deputy Secretary Talbott has been consulting with key governments in Europe over the phone and in numerous meetings in recent weeks. We will be discussing this further at the Contact Group meeting next week. But the bottom line is, we are going to be considering and pushing for additional measures to make clear to President Milosevic that his current course of action is the wrong course of action.

QUESTION: Is the freeze on assets still part of that --

MR. RUBIN: Again, I'm going to avoid details. I will get you some details after the briefing on where the current package stands in terms of what has been implemented. There were four measures that were discussed, some of which have been put into place. What I am saying is that we are going to be looking at additional measures to try to bring home the message to President Milosevic that he must change his course of action.

QUESTION: Why do you feel it necessary to elevate these negotiations to the rank of Deputy Secretary Talbott, as opposed to having Gelbard do them?

MR. RUBIN: Well, Secretary Albright has been very concerned about this problem. She wants to be sure that we've done all we can reasonably can do at the beginning of the problem rather than wait until it's too late. Clearly, some governments don't approach this problem with the same sense of urgency that we do. We believe the involvement of Deputy Secretary Talbott only strengthens the hand of Bob Gelbard, who's done outstanding work in trying to bring peace to the former Yugoslavia.

QUESTION: And Kinkel apparently said today something about NATO putting peace keepers in Macedonia to either support or replace the UN troops that are there now.

MR. RUBIN: I'm not going to be in a position to discuss the details, but what I can say is that Deputy Secretary Talbott has been working with European governments and others on a combination of stabilization of the countries around Kosovo, the isolation of President Milosevic and a negotiating forum to help President Milosevic get himself out of the mess he has created.

QUESTION: Will Talbott be the chief US representative at the meeting next week or will Gelbard?

MR. RUBIN: I believe it's a Political Director's meeting, so it would be Ambassador Gelbard.

QUESTION: Can I request a background briefing by a senior administration official before departure?

MR. RUBIN: Before departure?

QUESTION: Before they leave for the meeting.

MR. RUBIN: I will certainly do what I can to make sure that our department provides you the important background information you need to do your job.

QUESTION: The build-up of the Yugoslav military that you mentioned -- that you were concerned about, is that strictly in the border with Albania or --

MR. RUBIN: No, it's in the Kosovar region. The special police are out of their barracks, the Yugoslav National Army is in the region. We can confirm that we believe they are operating in the interior, as well, and this is a matter of grave concern to the United States.

QUESTION: There's a report today that Eizenstat is in Europe and that they seem -- the United States and the European allies seem to be getting closer to an agreement on Helms-Burton?

MR. RUBIN: We have been seeking an acceptance of the principle that expropriated properties will not be traded as an international commitment with specific disciplines to define how that mechanism would work; and Under Secretary Eizenstat has been working on that project extensively.

As you know, the European Union announced that it was not going to go forward with the case before the WTO panel on Helms-Burton. But the next step is to see whether we can come to an understanding that no country should want to see expropriated property benefit the expropriator. This is a worldwide problem, and we are looking to see if we can come to terms on how to define expropriated property and how to define measures to deal with this problem. That is what he's working on. I'm not in a position to announce imminent results of any discussion, other than to say that, obviously, he's talking about that.

QUESTION: Right, but I mean, the two sides obviously have been discussing that issue for a long time.

MR. RUBIN: Correct.

QUESTION: And my question - I'm trying to get a sense of whether you feel like you're moving towards a solution now.

MR. RUBIN: Well, certainly the fact that the decision was made not to go forward with a case before the WTO indicates a desire on the Europeans' part to come to a solution. We certainly hope that that desire yields the kind of progress and discussions that would mean a good result. But we're not in a position to say that at this time.

QUESTION: If there is a good result, would that mean an Administration request the Congress to repeal Title III of Helms-Burton; or is that too arcane?

MR. RUBIN: My understanding is that what we are trying to deal with is the result of this expropriated property trading on visas, which is Title IV. So in fact, if we yield success, we would want to see an opportunity to reflect that success in more flexibility in the visa category, because we already have the ability to waive, based on progress in the Title III category, which is the lawsuits.

QUESTION: On Bosnia, is the United States supporting an effort to take over publications and broadcasts outlets in Bosnia?

MR. RUBIN: Well, I was kind of surprised that this issue was covered the way it was covered today. I hope all of you who have been following foreign policy in the modern era will remember the pictures and the words, the vile propaganda, the incendiary rhetoric that was a major cause of the war in Yugoslavia, the exaggerated lies that appeared every day on television in Croatia and Serbia. This concerned all analysts. Everyone who looked at the problem concluded that this was a major problem that contributed to the kind of irrational, excessive, extreme and occasionally genocidal behavior on the part of paramilitary and occasionally military officers in the former Yugoslavia.

This kind of vile propaganda must stop. The way the international community has been trying to deal with that is to bring to bear the kind of responsible oversight of the international media in Bosnia. It was only a few months ago that we had to remove the several transmitters from the control of Rodovan Karadzic, who was using them to undermine the peace agreement by putting lies, falsified pictures, phony descriptions of what occurred at meetings, juxtaposing real events with fictional events - basically spewing out hatred and lies on television that was undermining the Dayton peace agreement. All the newspapers that covered that event pointed to that problem as one of the reasons why it was so hard for Dayton to be implemented.

So when the international community is now trying to bring some reason to bear on the decisions that are made by news outfits in the former Yugoslavia - specifically in Bosnia - to suggest that this is somehow some censorship program is hard to understand. The Peace Implementation Council for Bosnia met in Bonn December 9 and 10, 1997, and agreed to establish international media standards; one standard of which is to not spew lies and vile propaganda on national television stations.

They licensed an international commission to regulate the media in the absence of laws in Bosnia concerning the media. It is our view that we should support the reform efforts in media undertaken by the High Representative. And our concern is to free the airwaves in Bosnia of abuse. We must see an end to the continuous use of hate language and ethnic slurs. We are going to de-politicize media management accordingly. Frankly, if you talk to the journalists who are operating there, as I know some of you do, they consider this involvement a great boon to their ability to be independent. They no longer have to answer to the likes of Radovan Karadzic when deciding what goes on television.

QUESTION: So you're saying, yes, there is a new effort to do something?

MR. RUBIN: Well, we've been doing this for several months. Someone just decided that it was a new effort today.

QUESTION: Oh, okay, this is the effort that was started last December?

MR. RUBIN: Correct. And there's been a process designed to bring some reason to the media output in Bosnia. We were just stunned here in the Department to see people think this was censorship when, in fact, what it's doing is removing lies and vile ethnic slurs from being seen every day by the people of Bosnia.

QUESTION: The problem, though, is we're operating from the context of the United States in which we do have propaganda and we do have vile ethnic slurs and we have hate language, but we also - this is balanced by more responsible media. It all sort of exists in a rather free and open society. So wouldn't you acknowledge, though, that at least the idea of regulation of the media is something that really is at odds with our society?

MR. RUBIN: In the current context that exists in Bosnia, it seems to me that the people who are concerned about this are living in a phony ivory tower; that they haven't been on the ground; haven't seen what has been created by this vile propaganda; and don't understand that the journalists that are operating under these new rules don't regard it as being told what they can say and told what they can do, but regard themselves as being freed from the dictatorship of those who required them to put this propaganda on.

So if you want to take an ivory-tower analysis of every problem in the world, you can surely find some grand principle that's being violated. But if you want to live in the real world, the real world is one in which the media has been abused in this part of the world. The effort we're making is to bring open, free, critical, supportive, non-critical, non-supportive, whatever is not driven by ideology and evil design on television or in the radio. And so this strikes me as one of those moments when self- righteous people are imposing values that have no relationship to what's going on in another country. But I have no other views on that.

(Laughter.)

QUESTION: The Japanese Government approved the 16 trillion yen economic stimulus package today. Do you have any comment on that?

MR. RUBIN: We welcome this package. I believe Secretary Rubin has referred to that. But let me say that we welcome the substantial and serious policy measures that are involved in that package, and we hope the measures that are discussed will be put into place quickly.

QUESTION: Jamie, were champagne corks popping in this building after the vote in the Duma this morning?

MR. RUBIN: As far as I can tell, everything that happens in foreign policy was either expected or is not something that - let me put it this way; we rarely pop champagne corks, much to my dismay.

But we do congratulate Mr. Kiriyenko and look forward to working with him in his new capacity. There's a lot of work for the United States and Russia to do. We appreciate Mr. Kiriyenko's -- I guess we can call him now Prime Minister Kiriyenko's strong commitment and that of President Yeltsin to continuing the activities of the Gore-Chernomyrdin Commission that was so important in our relationship.

As I understand it, he has a week to propose new candidates for the new government, including ministers and a Deputy Prime Minister.

Prime Minister Kiriyenko was Fuel and Energy Minister from 1997 until last month. Before joining the government, he founded a commercial bank, he also headed an oil refinery. As Energy Minister, he was an active participant in our Joint Commission On Economic And Technical Cooperation. He's well and favorably known in Washington. Deputy Secretary Talbott had a meeting with him in which he found him to be a credible interlocutor who is on the path of reform that we believe is so important for the future of Russia. I think he clearly signals the kind of generational change that is necessary around the world if we are going to be able to shed the barnacles of old communist thinking.

QUESTION: Also on Russia, there are reports in New York that the Russians are seeking a lifting of the sanctions against Iraq. Have you heard anything along those lines?

MR. RUBIN: With regard to the sanctions in New York, let me say the following. There is no prospect for sanctions being lifted by the UN Security Council so long as Iraq continues to refuse to provide disclosure on all the weapons of mass destruction programs in the area of poison gas and germ warfare that they have refused to do consistently for years now. They're smoking something if they think that merely by letting international inspectors visit palaces they're going to answer the hard questions that there are about how much VX gas was produced, how much material is available for biological warfare, how many missile warheads were destroyed. These are a whole series of extremely important questions Iraq has refused to answer satisfactorily.

With respect to the nuclear question of what's being discussed in New York, we would be the first ones to want to emphasize progress where we see it, and clearly there has been progress in the area of understanding what Iraq did and what it is now unable to do in the nuclear area. But in order for us to really transition to a new type of process with the nuclear question, Iraq has to answer questions that it's refused to answer about this area as well - namely in the area of concealment.

So if Iraq stops the disruption pattern and starts the disclosure pattern, the progress that we believe has occurred could yield an adjustment in how the monitoring is done.

QUESTION: Again about Radio Free Europe's Radio Liberty program in Azerbaijan. In your initial statement assessment, closure of radio in Azerbaijan - (inaudible) - you say the problem was a technical one or a misunderstanding. Now we have a report that five young people who organized the protest against the shutdown were arrested in Baku and were put in prison. What's your position right now?

MR. RUBIN: What we thought was a simple contractual problem has now become much more significant. President Aliyev needs to understand that we remain gravely concerned about the shutdown of this Radio Free Europe operation. On April 20, with only a few days' warning, the government halted Radio Liberty re-broadcast on grounds that it had no license. We are deeply concerned over the government's decision. Our ambassador met with government official, including the President and Minister of communication to express our deep concerns.

We urge the government of Azerbaijan to protect the freedom of the media through press, radio and television, and to conduct its relationships with the media in a transparent matter. We do not have information concerning arrests, but are looking into that question.

QUESTION: Apparently Mobil has applied to swap oil from the Caspian with Iran. And while I understand that this is primarily a Treasury issue, I understand the State Department also has a role to play. I'm wondering what you're thinking about that.

MR. RUBIN: I'd have to get you an answer for the record; I have nothing on that.

QUESTION: According to Greek press, Mr. Tom Miller, he brought some new ideas and plans for the Cyprus problem, which is Mr. Holbrooke will be there this weekend. Do you have any new ideas to the new plans for the solving of this problem?

MR. RUBIN: Ambassador Holbrooke will be bringing to bear his extraordinary diplomatic expertise on this problem in a visit to Cyprus sometime next week, I believe towards the end of the week. He will be staying there for several days. He will be discussing with the relevant officials ways to bring peace to this troubled region. We do not believe that it is helpful for Ambassador Holbrooke's work to describe in detail any of the discussions he needs to have with the relevant officials.

What we can say is we hope that both sides see this as an important opportunity to meet with what we all know to be a very able diplomat who's going to constructively look at ways to resolve the problems, and not miss this opportunity.

QUESTION: Jamie, do you have anything more on the War Crimes Tribunal in Rwanda? Rwandan officials said that they executed the people they did today because of the slow pace of the War Crimes Commission.

MR. RUBIN: Somehow I think the fact that the War Crimes Tribunal always goes a little slower than people think has had little to do with the decision about what punishment ought to be brought to bear on officials who were involved in one of the most heinous acts in modern times. I doubt that that was the reason why they were executed.

We've said we had our doubts about whether they received the kind of fair judicial process we would expect people to receive in the United States. That doesn't mean we doubted their guilt, and it doesn't mean we, in any way, wish to diminish the fact that these were some of the worst war criminals in modern times who were involved in orchestrating or taking part in the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of innocent people. And so the fact that we have questions about the procedure by which they were executed and the public nature of it doesn't change the horror of their crimes. Nor does it change the fact that the Rwandan Government I doubt took its decisions based on the War Crimes Tribunal's inability to move as fast as some would like. And if so, that sounds like an unfortunate excuse for what we believed were unnecessarily sensationalized public executions.

Again, let me emphasize, none of that changes the fact that these people were responsible for some of the most horrible war crimes of the modern era and did deserve to face the bar of justice.

With respect to the International Criminal Tribunal's activities, the tribunal for Rwanda has publicly indicted 32 people, most of them for genocide. A year ago the tribunal had 11 people in custody; today the number in custody is 23. This includes many of the top organizers of the Rwandan genocide. The first trial has just taken place; a verdict is awaited. Two trials are well underway. The tribunal has recently added a second courtroom to bring accused to trial more quickly.

Obviously, we're concerned about the slow pace of trials. That's why we've welcomed the prosecutor's efforts to hold Nuremberg-style trials that would show how the 1994 genocide was planned and carried out. There have been administrative problems that we've been working on, but at the end of the day, the legal process may be slow but it is the only fair process by which all concerned can see that justice is done.

QUESTION: Who would carry out the sentences on any findings by this court? Would they be carried out by the government of Rwanda? I mean, could these people who are tried in the War Crimes Tribunals end up with the same kind of -- --

MR. RUBIN: Well, let me check this for the record, but my understanding is the procedures would be similar to that which apply for The Hague, which is that the International Tribunal issues judgments, issues sentences and then the Tribunal as process finds a way to carry out those sentences. The death sentence is not a sentence that we would expect an international tribunal to carry out.

QUESTION: It's not clear to me whether you think the judicial process affecting the 22 was flawed.

MR. RUBIN: I think that they wouldn't have met the standards that we have come to expect. But in the local context, we think where we had problems was in the sensationalized public executions, which we do not think is a way to promote reconciliation. What we think is a way to promote reconciliation is trials, bringing people to justice, making sure that whole groups of people aren't falsely accused, that whole groups aren't falsely assumed to be involved, that collective guilt is expunged and individual guilt is assigned in a fair process. We do not think sensationalized public executions contributes to a climate of reconciliation in Rwanda.

QUESTION: Would you say you express concern about the appeals process?

MR. RUBIN: Again, I'm not saying that we think it was a process that would meet our standards, but the area where our concern was greatest was the sensationalized public executions.

QUESTION: A question of a very general nature. The Secretary takes off for Asia next week. There's been a background briefing here that's already discussed the trip in some detail. Of a general nature on the record, what are you able to say about what she hopes to accomplish? Is she planning to walk away -- hoping to walk away with something concrete from this trip, or are these primarily discussions?

MR. RUBIN: The travel of the Secretary of State to countries of this kind is not designed to achieve a particular negotiating outcome the way, say a meeting of the Contact Group or some pre-prepared negotiation would.

What is important, however, is laying the groundwork for the President's trip to China, trying to advance our agenda in terms of getting concrete progress in human rights, in stopping the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, as well as seeing whether there is an opportunity to move China forward on its application or attempt to join the WTO, the World Trade Organization. Those are three specific areas of concern that we've had, that we will try to make progress on. But in general, it is an opportunity for her to meet with some of the new leaders that are now in place, to prepare the way and arrange for many of the details of the President's summit that will follow shortly after her trip; and then in the region, to have an opportunity to meet face to face with the new President of South Korea, Kim Dae-Jung, whom she knows in a former capacity, and who will extremely important to the success of American and Korean relations in the coming years. In addition, she will be meeting in a very important stop, her first stop, with the Japanese Government. We have a very strong bond with the Japanese people and the Japanese Government, and that will be re-emphasized and specific problems will be dealt with.

The trip, as you know, ends in London after visiting Mongolia, at which time the Secretary will have an opportunity to meet with Prime Minister Netanyahu and Chairman Arafat. There the prospects are unclear. We have been working very hard in trying to find a path to put the peace process back on track. We've been unable to do so. We've been working at this problem for some nine months now - since the Secretary's visit to the Middle East last summer. Therefore, we are going to continue to work to see whether we can revitalize the increasingly moribund peace process.

But the obstacles are serious. We have no reason, at this point, to know that this meeting will yield anything but the kind of refusal to make hard decisions that we've seen in the past. We hope that the leaders approach the meetings with an open mind, and don't miss the opportunity that London's meetings will create to finally and irrevocably put the peace process back on track before it's too late.

QUESTION: You don't sound particularly hopeful about this set of London meetings at all.

MR. RUBIN: Well, I think it's very hard to be optimistic and hopeful about the Middle East peace process after a series of meetings in which Secretary Albright and Ambassador Ross have used all the ingenuity they can muster to try to find creative solutions to these problems, and the leaders have been as yet unwilling to make the decisions that will allow it to happen.

QUESTION: This podium has always been curious to tell us that if there is no result expected out of any meeting, the Secretary wouldn't go. Now there is a kind of change. Is this a function of a sense of urgency, a sense of dangerous results that could come out of the situation?

MR. RUBIN: I don't think it's correct that I'm saying there is no chance of progress. That is not what I said. I'm simply pointing out that it's hard to be optimistic, given what's come before us. The Secretary is willing to go the extra mile to try to see what she can do, to try to catalyze the Middle East peace process. But there is a limit to what the United States can do when the two parties have to make the hard decisions, and those decisions have yet to be made.

Certainly, a failure to bring the peace process back into a condition where it is moving forward will be something that will harm the security of the region in our view. It will harm the ability of people to have a future in which economic and political goals can be advanced; and instead, will relegate them to the kind of violence and hardship that has, unfortunately, marked the Middle East for so many recent years.

QUESTION: How do you see the Vice President's role fitting in with Dennis Ross, Martin Indyk and the Secretary in the talks of the next couple of days?

MR. RUBIN: Well, it's a pretty straightforward answer, and others will be in a position to answer it more specifically in a few minutes. But let me say this - he will be visiting as a demonstration of the commitment of the United States to the security of Israel that's been so unshakable for so many years, and that has not changed. That celebration of Israel's anniversary will give him an opportunity to make that point. Obviously, the issue of peace will be on people's minds, so it would be hard not to be discussed. But the purpose of his mission is to demonstrate the commitment the United States has to the State of Israel.

QUESTION: So, you don't see a role, then, of him trying to convince the parties to make the tough decisions that the rest of the --

MR. RUBIN: I did say that it would be hard to imagine, in the current environment, that those issues wouldn't be discussed.

QUESTION: Just one other thing - I was going to wait to ask this, but --

MR. RUBIN: So why - maybe you could.

QUESTION: Because in light of your comments on the Bosnian TV, I'd like to pose it quickly. Related to the Palestinian TV, there's a letter on the Hill, gathering signatures now, to the Secretary in light of a show on Palestinian TV where little children talked about turning into suicide bombers in Jerusalem. I wonder if you have any views on it.

MR. RUBIN: I am not familiar with the letter or the particular program.

QUESTION: Thank you.

QUESTION: Thank you. Time for the next briefing.

(The briefing concluded at 1:30 P.M.)


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