U.S. Department of State Daily Press Briefing #92, 98-07-28
From: The Department of State Foreign Affairs Network (DOSFAN) at <http://www.state.gov>
633
U.S. Department of State
Daily Press Briefing
I N D E X
Tuesday, July 28, 1998
Briefer: James P. Rubin
SIERRA LEONE
1 US Delegation to UN Special Conference on Sierra Leone 7/31
CAMBODIA
1 Results of Elections/Claims of Victory by Parties
BURMA
1-2 Reported Statement by Aung San Sui Kyi Concerning
Harassment and Detention of Supporters
CUBA
2 Reports Cuban Cyclist Missing from his Team at Goodwill
Games
2-3 Castro's Call for Investigation into Alleged Terrorist
Attacks from US Territory
CHINA
3 Detention of Dissidents
3 US Policy re Taiwan
8 Chinese Military's Release of National Defense Report
MEXICO
3-4,9 Detention of Two US Embassy Staff in Chiapas
9 US View on Resolution to the Conflict in Chiapas
SERBIA (Kosovo)
4 Update on fighting in Kosovo
4-5 Large Number of Displaced Persons Caused by New Fighting
5-8 Ambassador Hill's Diplomatic Efforts/Discussions with the
Parties
9 Russian Opposition to Military Action in Kosovo/Secretary
Albright's Meeting with Foreign Minister Primakov
BOSNIA
8 Republika Srpska Government Dismissal of Editorial Staff at
16 Local Broadcast Stations
MIDDLE EAST PEACE PROCESS
9-10 Prospects for US Officials to Travel to Region
IRAN/IRAQ
10 Assistant Secretary Indyk's Congressional Testimony
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING
DPB #92
TUESDAY, JULY 28, 1998, 1:00 P.M.
(ON THE RECORD UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED)
MR. RUBIN: Greetings. Welcome to the State Department briefing, today
being Tuesday. We have one statement on the UN Special Conference on Sierra
Leone that we will post after the briefing. Let's go right to your
difficult questions.
QUESTION: Do you have a better handle on the Cambodian election today
than you did yesterday? Since we met yesterday the two Cambodian opposition
leaders are claiming fraud, and Hun Sen is claiming a landslide victory.
MR. RUBIN: It is too early to reach any definitive conclusion with regard
to the results of the elections in Cambodia. International observers were
encouraged by the large turnout and the obvious desire of the Cambodian
people to exercise their right to vote. Election observers have praised the
competence of the polling officials and the way they accomplished their
responsibilities.
Although the official preliminary election results are not scheduled to be
released until August 1, it is correct that two of the opposition figures -
Prince Ranariddh and Sam Rainsy - on the basis of preliminary returns, have
charged that there were significant irregularities and fraud in both
polling and tabulation of the vote.
The charges of fraud and irregularities leveled by Prince Ranariddh and Sam
Rainsy are serious allegations, and we are urging the Cambodian authorities
to investigate them thoroughly to ensure that the results reflect the will
of the Cambodian people.
With respect to Hun Sen's claim of a victory, the same holds true. While we
know that the Cambodian people voted in large numbers and deserve
congratulations for doing so, it's premature in the extreme for anyone to
declare victory because a large percentage of the votes have not been
counted.
QUESTION: We've heard reports from Burma that Aung San Sui Kyi has
smuggled a statement out of the country in which she's talked about a step-
up in the level of harassment and detention of her supporters in the
National League for Democracy. Have you heard anything about that or do you
have anything?
MR. RUBIN: I haven't heard personally about that particular issue of a
statement. I know Secretary Albright had some very strong words for the
Burmese authorities in Manila, and had worked with her colleagues to try to
gain, this year, greater interest on the part of the countries there to
speak out on the subject. But with respect to the specific statement issued
that you referenced, I'm unfamiliar with it.
QUESTION: Cuba: Any information to shed on the disappearing cyclist?
MR. RUBIN: We are aware of press reports that a Mr. Ivan Dominguez is
absent from the Cuban delegation to the Goodwill Games. The INS - the
Immigration and Naturalization Service - handles asylum requests, and we
can't comment on whether an individual has made an asylum request to the
INS.
I can say that if such a request of asylum is made, we would expect the
Immigration and Naturalization Service to hear his claim and give it every
appropriate consideration. It is also fair to say that defections by Cuban
athletes at sporting events around the world are not uncommon. But I would
have to refer the specifics of this case to the Immigration and Naturalization
Service.
QUESTION: Castro was asking for an investigation of the allegations of
terrorism against Cuba being sponsored from US territory. Do you have any
comment on that?
MR. RUBIN: It is the policy of the United States to take seriously any
violent activity or act of terrorism anywhere in the world, including in
Cuba; and we have made clear that we will investigate and prosecute
violations of US law if such laws were violated. It is our policy to
support peaceful change in Cuba; we do not condone violence. So we continue
to pursue whatever information we have in this regard.
Fidel Castro would probably be well advised to focus a little bit more on
the needs of his people and the denial of democracy than always trying to
find some outside group to blame the problem on. But we are committed to
investigate credible allegations of terrorist acts against any country,
including Cuba, supported by groups or individuals in the United States.
Federal law enforcement authorities have and will continue to carry out
investigations, but obviously I can't discuss in detail law enforcement
matters.
QUESTION: Has the Cuban Government turned over any information?
MR. RUBIN: We are committed to enforcing our laws. It would be inappropriate
to comment on any possible exchange of information between law enforcement
authorities, but we would act on any credible information if we received
it.
QUESTION: China?
QUESTION: Same subject? There have been reports by the press in Miami
that the Cuban National Foundation has been involved in these terrorist
attacks. My question is, is this organization under investigation by the US
Government?
MR. RUBIN: I'm not aware, of that and I think that what's happening here
is people are trying to cast aspersions on the organization. It's
traditional for Fidel Castro, when going through an explanation of the
failures of his country, to point blame somewhere else instead of taking
responsibility for the difficulties that he's caused on the people of
Cuba.
QUESTION: A short while ago we were having a similar discussion on Cuba
and whether they had turned over information relating to groups from this
country performing terrorist acts on Cuba. You said that Cuba had not
turned over any information about groups operating from here against Cuba.
Now you are saying that it would be inappropriate for you to discuss if any
information had been turned over. I am wondering if there has been any
change in this.
MR. RUBIN: Well, I try to choose my words carefully.
QUESTION: Two issues - the one that was raised by Madeleine Albright
about the --
MR. RUBIN: And it's also possible that I'm not aware of every single
event that goes on in the world.
QUESTION: Let me try the human rights in reverse or retrograde, that Miss
Albright was speaking about, I believe, just recently in Manila. Do you
have anything more to add to this round-up of dissidents that has gone on
since the presidential trip to China?
MR. RUBIN: Well, Secretary Albright spoke very clearly and forthrightly
about the meetings she held with Foreign Minister Tang of China on this
subject - about what she was looking for and how this was not moving in the
right direction. I don't have any words to add to what she said yesterday
in Manila.
QUESTION: Could you address this other issue? Beijing, in the China Post,
I believe, defended its right and said it was a right they have to attack
Taiwan. They want, of course - they say the want to do a peaceful merger
with Taiwan, but they reserve the right to take military action. How does
the US respond to that?
MR. RUBIN: Well, I haven't seen that particular quotation, but I can
certainly tell you what our position is. Our position is very clear, and
that is that we want the people on both sides of the Taiwan Straits to
resolve their issues and problems peacefully. We intend to continue to
comply with the Taiwan Relations Act, and that is our policy. That requires
certain steps to take place if there is a threat to the people of Taiwan.
Nothing has changed from our standpoint.
QUESTION: On Mexico, the military - US attache - in Mexico from the US
Embassy has been detained seven hours by Indians in Chiapas, related to the
ruling party. My question is, do you have any comment on that? And what was
he doing in Chiapas?
MR. RUBIN: You asked the question with a skeptical raise of your eyebrow.
I think it's common practice for American diplomats and those assigned to
the US Embassy to travel around whatever country they're in. What happened
here is that on Sunday, two members of the embassy staff were prevented
from leaving the village of Los Platanos in Chiapas when they refused to
allow inspections of their vehicles. They were an army attache and a
sergeant first class. They weren't detained for seven hours; it's my
understanding they were detained for four and a half hours.
As part of their regular and normal duties, American diplomats visit all
parts of the country. Any suggestion that we have military advisers doing
anything other than their job is incorrect.
QUESTION: They were carrying boxes and the Indians were trying to inspect
the boxes. Apparently, according to the report they refused to give the
boxes to these Indians. The Mexican Government has been telling the US
Government don't intervene in Chiapas. So I suppose they were visiting
Chiapas, but what kind of work was this - to see the situation or --
MR. RUBIN: Let me answer the question very simply. We are interested in
what goes on in Mexico. We've expressed our concern about the situation in
Chiapas. It's normal and appropriate for embassy officials to travel around
a country, especially parts of the country where there are problems,
because that's their job.
The idea of inspecting boxes, I hope all of you have heard me talk about
the embassy in Belarus or the packages that were not allowed to go through
in the Belgrade airport. Understand that we regard it as a violation of
diplomatic immunity to not allow embassy officials to do their job. And to
allow them to inspect their packages, as you call them, or their boxes,
would be in that category.
QUESTION: Any update on Kosovo - reports of new fighting there? And also
reports that the Kosovar Albanians have perhaps reached an agreement on a
delegation to meet with Milosevic.
MR. RUBIN: Right. My understanding is that the fighting continues in
Kosovo; the situation on the ground remains tense. There are reports that
the Serb security forces are now in control of the highway between Pristina
and Pec, where the most intense fighting occurred over the weekend. Also
fighting continues around the towns of Malisevo and Orahovac.
Some of our observers tried to get in these areas, but were unable to do
so. We remain deeply concerned about the large number of displaced persons
this new fighting has caused and that they are currently inaccessible to
humanitarian assistance because of the fighting. It is our view that the
number of internally displaced persons in Kosovo could now be as high as
100,000. We remain very concerned about the almost 75,000 people in
Malisevo who have been trapped by the recent fighting and are unreachable
by humanitarian efforts. In addition to the 20,000 internally displaced
persons in Montenegro, we believe the number of refugees in Albania
remains roughly the same at about 4,000.
It is our view that both sides need to understand that they are not going
to achieve their objective through the battlefield; they can only bring
their objectives into being through discussions.
I spoke to Ambassador Hill this morning and he has been working with the
Albanian side - the Kosovar Albanian side - and there are signs that he
will be able to put together an all-party executive that will have
responsibilities to include negotiations with the Serbs. The three key
points that we insisted on in getting such an all-party executive organized
are on their way, we hope, to being achieved -- and that would be number
one, that Ibrahim Rugova will be in charge; number two, that the all-party
executive will be based in Pristina and run from Pristina so that those who
have to live with the situation are in charge rather than outsiders
who may have wildly unrealistic goals, but who don't have to live in the
place where this is happening; and third, that all viewpoints from across
the political spectrum will be reflected at the negotiating table.
That is what we are hopeful we will be able to put together very shortly.
Chris Hill - Ambassador Hill - met with President Milosevic today and
yesterday, I believe, and made very clear to him that we are demanding
restraint from his forces, and sent a very clear message to him to not let
this situation spin out of control. It is correct, as we understand it,
that the UCK - the Kosovar Liberation Army - has sought to counter-attack
and close roads that were opened in recent days. Nevertheless, Ambassador
Hill emphasized to Milosevic that the Serbs have to understand they
will be held responsible for civilian fatalities in Kosovo.
Finally, let me describe as best I can the path that might unfold, which is
if you could get some negotiating pathway opened through this all-party
executive, what you would be trying to achieve would be a reduction of
violence in the immediate term so that the environment that would make
talks possible could be created. Secondly, you would want to move from that
to the kind of discussion about the principles that we've discussed before -
that is, enhanced status for Kosovo and much, much greater self-government
for the people of Kosovo. So that is the current state of play on
the negotiating front.
QUESTION: Is the all-party executive a panel or a person?
MR. RUBIN: It's essentially who would sit on the - who would be at the
table for the Kosovar Albanians. It would be a group of people that would
reflect all of the viewpoints that exist in Kosovo that would be led by
Rugova and that would be based in Pristina.
QUESTION: So Rugova will head this panel?
MR. RUBIN: The all-party executive. Exactly what happens after that is
created and who may do day-to-day discussions with Ambassador Hill, whether
there's proximity talks or direct discussions - that's all much farther
down the road. The key point was to start by getting a unified Albanian
side so that we could pursue the kind of ideas we've been discussing with
both sides on self-government and other matters.
QUESTION: Do you know anything more today about the involvement of
regular army forces on the Serb side?
MR. RUBIN: I don't have any direct information. I don't think we have any
reason to doubt that in some form or another, V-J forces are involved.
QUESTION: Did Hill raise this with Milosevic?
MR. RUBIN: I think he made very clear that we do not - we are urging
restraint on the part of the Serb forces, including the MUP and the
Yugoslav Army, and that their use of force can risk spinning the situation
out of control in a way that will make it impossible for the objectives of
either side to be met.
QUESTION: Jamie, did you all try re-delivery of the gear that they were
not able to deliver yesterday?
MR. RUBIN: I don't believe that has actually happened. Ambassador Hill
did raise this with President Milosevic, who I understand made clear that
he was going to try to resolve the matter. I think it's clear to us that
there is no excuse for trying to interfere with the US effort to monitor
the situation going on there. But I don't believe an actual attempt was
made.
QUESTION: Has Milosevic committed himself to sit down with the all-party
executive, once constituted?
MR. RUBIN: We are in discussions with Slobodan Milosevic and the Kosovar
Albanians about the substance. Ambassador Hill made very clear to me that
there are a lot of procedural issues that will continue to be discussed.
From our standpoint what matters here is results, and there is no
presumption that in this situation, in any way different than Dayton, that
the bulk of the discussions will not be face-to-face discussion; that if
we're going to have success here the way we had them in Dayton, it was
because of separate work done by the United States with each of the parties
and that the face-to-face discussions were not a place where issues were
particularly resolved.
QUESTION: In other words --
MR. RUBIN: In other words, I'm not ruling it out, but I'm saying that the
near-term effort is to get a delegation, an executive that can speak for
the full spectrum of Kosovar Albanian society and then work on the
substance - reduction of the violence, the cease-fire efforts and more
broadly, the self-government that we believe the people of Kosovo
desperately deserve and need.
QUESTION: To use the short-hand, then, once constituted, do they
communicate through an American or a European?
MR. RUBIN: There will be many different ways. We've been working very
closely with the European Union which has officials who are there.
Ambassador Hill is in touch with both sides on an hour-by-hour basis. I
wouldn't rule out meetings; I'm just saying that isn't necessarily the
preferred or necessary precondition for progress. The issue is results, not
process.
QUESTION: Jamie, I'm a little unclear. You say that Chris Hill thinks
he's going to be able to get this panel together.
MR. RUBIN: I think I said there are signs and that he hopes he will be
able to put this together very soon.
QUESTION: Okay, so it's not yet together.
MR. RUBIN: Correct.
QUESTION: And can you tell us what sort of signs he's talking about?
MR. RUBIN: Well, he's been talking to them and working with them and
trying to organize this with them. So signals that he's getting are
positive; he's hopeful that in the next very short period of time, we'll be
able to arrange for that kind of all-party executive. But until such a
thing is done, it is not done.
QUESTION: And these are signals coming from --
MR. RUBIN: Kosovar Albanian leaders.
QUESTION: Okay, Rugova and the UCK?
MR. RUBIN: Well, Ambassador Hill is a very able diplomat, and is working
with those Kosovar Albanians he thinks he needs to work with to put
together the kind of all-party executive that I've described to you. I
can't really get into more detail because he's the one doing that work. I'm
trying to communicate to you the objectives of our discussion; but I can't
give you an hour-by-hour account of everyone he's meeting with.
QUESTION: Well, that wasn't what I was asking. Will this panel - I know
you say it's going to include a cross-section of Kosovar Albanian thought.
Will it include members of the KLA on the panel itself?
MR. RUBIN: We are confident that the all-party executive will reflect the
views of those who have either close ties with or otherwise reflect the
views of the Kosovar Liberation Army.
QUESTION: But not necessarily - a KLA member won't necessarily be sitting
on that panel?
MR. RUBIN: I mean, again, as we've tried to communicate to you on several
occasions, there is no one KLA. What you want to do is try to reflect the
views of those who are fighting on the ground and try to have reflected in
the all-party executive people who have influence over the actual fighters.
But to say you need a guy with a KLA patch because there is a KLA is
missing the true situation on the ground in Kosovo.
QUESTION: Back to China -
QUESTION: I have one -- isn't an executive - an all-party executive -
really a big step towards some sort of independent sovereignty in
Kosovo?
MR. RUBIN: No.
QUESTION: Well isn't that the implication -- that it is an executive
branch and it's going to have executive -
MR. RUBIN: No. In many parts of the world there are many cases in which
an autonomous entity of some kind has some self-government. I don't see why,
just because they're organized, they're independent.
QUESTION: The report that the Chinese military released yesterday that I
believe was mentioned earlier -- called China's National Defense Report -
it outlines, I guess, the basic aims and operations of the Chinese military,
supposedly. Now, I guess in Hong Kong, Chinese military experts state that
this is a breakthrough in policy that they even issued this kind of report.
Would you consider it a breakthrough or is it just a nice gesture, or
what do you think of it?
MR. RUBIN: It's certainly interesting to see the Chinese military report
on itself; that's not common. But as far as what's in there, I don't think
it raised one eyebrow or surprised anybody one bit.
QUESTION: Bosnia -- 16 radio and TV types in the Serb sector have been
fired. They were associated with the hard-liners. Do you have any comment
on that?
MR. RUBIN: The government of the Republika Srpska has dismissed the
editorial staff at 16 local broadcast stations -- 11 radio and five
television stations. Some of these stations are reportedly off the air in
protest, while others continue to operate under their previous editorial
staff. We remain - it is our view that the media throughout Bosnia-
Herzegovina, including in the Republika Srpska, must be pluralistic and
adhere to democratic standards. This is especially important as national
elections approach that will be held September 12 and 13.
We are checking into some of the details of this report. We understand that
some members of the RS Assembly have declared these measures unconstitutional.
But challenges to actions taken by the Dodik Government should be within
the courts and the legislature. The Office of High Representative is
working this matter in greater detail, but that's what I have for
now.
QUESTION: There are some reports in Russian press that Russia strongly
opposes any military action in Kosovo. Did Secretary Albright raise the
issue with Mr. Primakov the other day; were they talking about it?
MR. RUBIN: I am sure that in the lengthy dinner that Secretary Albright
had with Foreign Minister Primakov the issue of Kosovo came up; I would be
very surprised if it didn't. We are working with our Contact Group partners
on the objectives laid out in the various Contact Group documents. We
continue to pursue military planning through NATO on what might be
necessary if further action took place or further decisions were made, and
we are aware of the Russian views on this subject. Nevertheless, we
continue to pursue planning in the event that we think that is necessary.
QUESTION: Back to Chiapas - does the US Government agree on how the
Mexican Government is trying to resolve the conflict?
MR. RUBIN: Chiapas is a very complex issue, as you know. It has been our
view for some time, as Secretary Albright made clear on several occasions
and as I have made clear on several occasions, we support a peaceful
negotiated settlement that is acceptable to all parties to the dispute and
we are opposed to any use of violence. We follow developments in Chiapas
very closely as one of many issues that have an important implication for
our bilateral relations.
We believe, however, that the complex set of conflicts in Chiapas is
fundamentally an internal Mexican affair, the solution for which will have
to be arrived at by the Mexicans themselves.
QUESTION: So in this very close follow-on to the arguments of the Chiapas,
is the strategy sending these diplomats to the area?
MR. RUBIN: You keep wanting to impute to the presence of American
diplomats in Chiapas a strategy or a strange or some other kind of act.
What I recommend you do is take a look at how we pursue our information
gathering around the world. It is perfectly normal for embassy officials or
military liaison officials, as part of the embassy, to travel around the
country that they're reporting on to their superiors in Washington. There's
nothing strategic about it; it's simply the run-of-the-mill work of
military liaison officers.
QUESTION: Just for the record, any update on travel plans for the Middle
East Special Coordinator?
MR. RUBIN: I spoke to our Middle East special envoy today -- Ambassador
Ross - I spoke to the Secretary; I am not aware of any current plans to
travel.
QUESTION: Is she staying in touch by telephone?
MR. RUBIN: She's in regular touch. I'm not aware of any calls with the
parties, but I think she's been getting regular updates. We believe that
the current phase, where the parties are continuing to meet with each other,
is appropriate at this time. We are continuing to urge them to engage with
each other, and we are staying very closely abreast of the details of
what's discussed; and we think it's best for those discussions to
continue. That is our view of the best - that poses the best chance
for us to make a breakthrough.
QUESTION: Jamie, Martin Indyk tomorrow is scheduled to testify before
Congress on changes in the dual containment policy; that's what your
schedule says. Can you --
MR. RUBIN: That may be the Hill's title; that's normally the title put
forward by the Senate or the House when they hold a hearing. I know
something about this - we used to write a title for the hearing. So if
that's their title, then they put that title together.
QUESTION: Okay, so today --
MR. RUBIN: I doubt we would put a title together like that.
QUESTION: Well, that's what sort of caught my eye.
MR. RUBIN: Yes, I would think if you called around on the Hill you could
find the author; I doubt it was us. I don't know for sure, but I doubt
it.
QUESTION: That aside, are there changes now in the dual containment
policy?
MR. RUBIN: Well, to the extent that that moniker applies - and Jim and I
can go back at it, as we have in the past - to our policies towards Iran
and Iraq, we've talked about our policies towards Iran and Iraq. Like any
good policy, it is reflective of current events. In the early '90s there
were certain current events that applied at the time, including Iraq's
behavior and Iran's make-up. Since that time, Iraq has only found itself
in greater isolation from the international community, while Iran
has seen an election that reflected a large support amongst a huge number
of voters for changes that are based on the rule of law and a desire to
open Iran up to the outside world.
So any policy with respect to Iran and Iraq - any good policy - if we're
earning our keep here in the State Department, is going to be reflective of
current events.
QUESTION: Thank you.
(The briefing concluded at 1:30 P.M.)
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