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U.S. Department of State Daily Press Briefing #25, 99-03-03

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>


597

U.S. Department of State
Daily Press Briefing

I N D E X

Wednesday, March 3, 1999

Briefer: James B. Foley

UGANDA
1		Secretary Albright extends condolences to victims and their
		  families.
1-2,3		An FBI team is already assisting Ugandan government:
		  another team to arrive shortly.
2		Ugandan government pursuing the band of killers; Rwandan
		  government also assisting.
3		US government had no prior warning of the attack
3-4		Bwindi national park is difficult to penetrate, not
		  controlled by any government forces.
4		The acts were criminal, wanton, not political.
4		Information suggests tourists in that area were
		  deliberately targeted by perpetrators.

GERMANY 5 Convicted murderer is a German national scheduled for execution in Arizona today. 5 German government has asked for stay of execution. Department takes no position.

NORTH KOREA 6 Bilateral talks in New York continue today; no prediction on when they will conclude. 6-7 Dr. Perry not traveling to DPRK on current swing through Asia.

KOSOVO 7 US diplomatic strategy leading up to resumption of talks elaborated previously. 7 Ex-Sen. Dole going to Pristina on Friday, to meet with a range of Kosovar Albanians.

TURKEY 8 US continuing analysis of bombing in response to targeting of coalition aircraft. 8 Cooperating with Turkish government in this matter.

PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY 9 US would welcome Chairman Arafat's indefinite delay of a unilateral announcement on independence.

CUBA 10 US would support US-Cuba baseball exhibitions.


U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING

DPB #25

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 3, 1999, 1:30 P.M.

(ON THE RECORD UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED)

MR. FOLEY: Welcome to the State Department. Another on-time briefing from your Deputy Spokesman: I apologize. I see you don't play the same games when the cameras are rolling as you do on the other days.

QUESTION: (Inaudible.)

MR. FOLEY: I don't play those games.

(Laughter.)

I also noticed that there are never any female journalists playing those games, either, unless I'm mistaken. It looks like a throwback to another era.

QUESTION: Could you update us on Uganda, particularly suggestions that prior warnings of Hutu attacks were ignored?

MR. FOLEY: I've certainly not seen any reference to prior warnings having been received.

QUESTION: Any update you could give us?

MR. FOLEY: Well, first, I'd like to formally express the condolences of Secretary Albright and the State Department to the two American citizens who lost their lives in this brutal attack, Robert Haubner and Susan Miller of Hillsboro, Oregon. They were innocent victims of a group of mindless criminals.

Our embassy staff in Kampala are currently working with local authorities, who performed autopsies on the bodies today. We secured the presence of a US Government official at the autopsies. In accordance with the wishes of the families of Mr. Haubner and Miss Miller, our embassy is facilitating arrangements for return of the remains. Details, including the exact itinerary and timing have yet to be finalized. The Department continues to be working with the families in this regard.

In terms of other developments, we understand that an FBI team is on the ground already. Two FBI agents arrived in Kampala yesterday to assist the government of Uganda, at their request, with the investigation of the kidnappings and the subsequent brutal murders of eight of the hostages. A second FBI team, comprised of five agents, is scheduled to arrive in Kampala shortly to assist in the investigation.

In addition to continuing to work with the families of the victims and working with the survivors in Kampala, we've remained in active diplomatic contact with governments in the region; most especially with the government of Uganda, which is continuing to pursue the band of attackers and to seek to capture them and bring them to justice. We've also been in touch with the government of Rwanda on an active basis to seek their assistance as well. I understand that the Rwandan authorities are also doing what they can to try to apprehend the killers. We've been in contact with other governments, to include the government in Kinshasa, to urge them to bring to bear any influence they may have in that part of the country where these Hutu rebels are running loose.

QUESTION: Can I just follow up on that? What I saw of what the government said was not quite as civilized as what you said. They did not talk about bringing them to justice so much as going out and just killing them - finding them and killing them. I just wondered if that troubled you at all.

MR. FOLEY: I believe that the President of Uganda may have used that term, but also used the term bringing them to justice. It is impossible to foresee what the circumstances might be under which they would be captured, if there were some kind of clash. Obviously, some casualties might ensue. But I believe President Museveni also talked about bringing them to justice.

QUESTION: What is the FBI going to do?

MR. FOLEY: The FBI is helping assist in the investigation.

QUESTION: I don't understand; what is there to investigate?

MR. FOLEY: Well, there's forensic evidence; there's interviews with the survivors, and liaison with the Ugandan authorities who are investigating the murders. They're establishing the facts of the case, and could also help in the elaboration of an eventual indictment, if such were to ensue in US courts. I'm not saying that that would be the case, but the FBI can assist foreign governments at their request.

I know you asked me the question, yesterday, about the definition of terrorism and whether that would be applicable here. In that eventuality, the FBI work would be laying the groundwork for such an indictment, if that were to occur. But also, the FBI can assist, at the request of foreign governments, in their own investigation of such matters.

QUESTION: It's possible these people - the Interhamwe guerrillas - might be indicted in a US court and attempts will be made to extradite them back?

MR. FOLEY: Well, it's 'way premature to speculate on that possibility. The fact is that the matter is being investigated by Ugandan law enforcement, with assistance from the FBI on the ground. Until it's possible, definitively, to identify the perpetrators, and to definitively ascribe a motive for their barbaric acts, it's not possible to apply the textbook definition of terrorism. That may be, indeed, where the evidence leads; but it's getting ahead of the investigators at this point.

QUESTION: Jim, did the Ugandan government invite the FBI, or did the FBI go on its own?

MR. FOLEY: I believe it was the at the request of the Ugandan authorities.

QUESTION: Jim, just going back to what George asked, a little more specifically. Apparently today Britain asked the government of Uganda to investigate reports that warnings of attacks by the rebels had been received and were not communicated. Have you not received this report?

MR. FOLEY: As I mentioned a minute ago, I've not heard that report that there were prior warnings that came to the attention of the Ugandan authorities. We did not have any prior warning.

QUESTION: Let me just follow up, too. Apparently the Ugandan President also said today that some of the park rangers had heard that this could happen, but didn't communicate that to the military. Can you --

MR. FOLEY: Well, we certainly noted, in our Consular Information Sheet, the fact that there were instances of banditry and armed robbery that have occurred in Southwestern Uganda, and also that instability in the neighboring countries of Rwanda and in the Democratic Republic of the Congo could be a factor; and therefore, urged American citizens to stay in touch with the American Embassy before traveling there.

But in terms of your specific question: Did we have any advance warning that these Hutu rebels that, after all, operate normally not in Uganda but in the neighboring countries, might take an incursion into Uganda and threaten the lives of foreign tourists -- no, we had no such information.

QUESTION: Can you give us an idea of how difficult a task this is going to be, to actually find these people and bring them to justice?

MR. FOLEY: Well, I'm told that park - the Bwindi National Park - is not called "the Impenetrable Forest" for no reason. In fact, it is virtually impenetrable; it is a very thick jungle, and it's also mountainous. It's an area, as I indicated yesterday, that's not really controlled by the governments in the region, given the topography and the terrain. Therefore, it's not difficult for a rebel group to insinuate itself into and throughout that area without being detected. I can imagine that it would be difficult to track them down as well. But we can make no predictions as to the eventual success of the regional governments to track down and locate the perpetrators. But we do know that we are getting cooperation from some of those governments that I mentioned that have forces in the area and that are endeavoring -- actively now -- to try to track them down. We are hopeful that will be possible.

Certainly, we're not going to rest until that happens. It may not be easy; it may take some time, but it will have the highest priority of the United States.

QUESTION: Are you aware of any specific information as to who these specific people may be? Do you know of any people who survived, came away with any names or any kind of information that could authorities some indication of exactly who these individuals were?

MR. FOLEY: Well, the word "individual," I think, is tricky. I don't know if the eyewitnesses managed, or the victims who survived managed to get any particular names. It would surprise me if they identified themselves, the perpetrators. But we do have a reasonable idea of who they are collectively, because they identified themselves to the victims as Rwandan Hutus, and they indicated to the victims that they were acting because they opposed the Tutsi ethnic group in Rwanda, they opposed the government in Rwanda, they opposed, I believe, the government of Rwanda's policies in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Therefore, they were acting to send a signal in that regard.

But we don't accept any such pseudo-justification for such barbaric acts. These were not only criminal acts and acts of wanton murder, but they were perpetrated by the very same people who killed more than half a million people in Rwanda itself, some five years ago now. In other words, these are genocidal elements, and to ascribe any kind of legitimate or even quasi- legitimate political motivation to a band of killers is something that is unthinkable.

QUESTION: One more question. Are you aware of any events in that part of Africa that may have driven these people in towards that forest? I mean, any reason at all, any disturbances that may have driven them into that part of Uganda, that they sort of saw an opportunity to do something like that? Or do you think this was a target for that area, where they knew that foreigners could be?

MR. FOLEY: Based on the limited information we have thus far - it would look as though the latter scenario were the case; namely, that these rebels deliberately marched into Southwestern Uganda with the deliberate intent to sow terror among Western tourists -- perhaps, to discourage Western tourists from traveling to that part of Uganda. After all, the rebels have opposed the authorities in Uganda, as well, because of Uganda's support for Rwanda, Uganda's involvement in the internal conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

It looks at this point, Betsy, to have been a deliberate act. I have no information that events inside Congo had pushed them in that direction, no.

QUESTION: Jim, could I switch to another law enforcement matter? Have you seen that the German government has issued an appeal to the International Court of Justice in the case of one of the Lagrand brothers in Arizona. Was the State Department at all involved in that process?

MR. FOLEY: Yes, I've seen that report. The case involves, as you say, Walter Lagrand, who is one of two brothers who committed murder during a 1982 bank robbery in Arizona. Both were convicted and sentenced to death, and Lagrand's brother was executed on February 24. Walter Lagrand's execution is scheduled for today in Arizona.

Germany is involved in this case because the two brothers were born in Germany and are German nationals, although they came to the United States as small boys, and lived here throughout their lives. Germany filed suit in the International Court last night on the grounds that the two brothers should have been advised that German consular officials could be notified of their arrest and detention.

The requirement for giving this advice to foreign nationals is set forth in the Vienna Convention on consular relations. Germany asks, among other things, that Walter Lagrand not be executed, pending the court's final decision in the case.

The Department of State has transmitted a copy of the papers filed with the court to the governor of Arizona. We understand that the governor has decided to proceed with the execution, assuming that it is not stayed by the US Supreme Court.

QUESTION: Does the State Department take a position, other than simply transmitting the documents?

MR. FOLEY: No, we have not. We simply transmitted the documents.

QUESTION: Could I ask one more Uganda question? Can you give us an idea of how serious a threat this is to the economy of Uganda, whether this particular tourist site brought in a lot of money for that government?

MR. FOLEY: Well, I don't have those statistics; perhaps the Ugandan Embassy might have that for you. We have, for our part, issued a Public Announcement, warning American citizens not to travel to that part of the country, pending further clarification of the situation there. When you have an incident - and we've not had one like this in that park - when something like this takes place, then we owe it to American citizens to warn them not to travel there any longer.

How long that warning would remain in effect would depend on events to follow: on the assessment of the threat, the assessment of what measures the authorities are putting in place -- not only to chase down the perpetrators, but to ensure that region becomes more secure and such events cannot happen again. It's difficult to forecast when we'll be able to revise our warning in that regard.

QUESTION: In the recent days the Turkish Government, at the highest level, is militarily threatening Greece with a series of aggressive statements. The lack of condemnation by your government has been perceived by Ankara as a green light for more attacks. I'm wondering, do you condemn those aggressive Turkish statements against Greece?

MR. FOLEY: I'm not aware of such statements.

QUESTION: Two Korea questions: Do you have any update on the New York talks? Also, according to a South Korean report, the United States told South Korea that North Korean leaders, Kim Jung-Il, is due to visit China in September. This would be his first trip abroad. Do you have anything on either one?

MR. FOLEY: On the second question, no, we have no such information; therefore, I believe it's wrong to report that we've told the Chinese authorities that because --

QUESTION: Told South Korea that Kim Jung-Il would visit China in September.

MR. FOLEY: I see.

QUESTION: Either way?

MR. FOLEY: We have no such information, no.

In terms of the bilateral talks going on in New York about the Kumchang-ni underground site, those talks, which began on Saturday in New York, are continuing today. We can't predict yet when they may conclude. I really don't have more to say on that. As you know, we don't talk about those negotiations while they're occurring. We hope that they wrap up sometime in the next few days, but I can't tell you when they're going to end or how they're going to end, either.

QUESTION: Can you say if you feel like you're making any progress?

MR. FOLEY: I wouldn't want to say that.

QUESTION: I mean, I assume you are.

MR. FOLEY: If we were, I wouldn't say it, because we never talk about the negotiations while they're ongoing.

QUESTION: One thing about Perry's trip. I notice North Korea is not on the itinerary. Is that still a possibility - that at some point before he concludes his work he'll go to North Korea?

MR. FOLEY: I don't know that there are any plans in that regard. Certainly he's not going there on this swing through Asia.

QUESTION: Can you say why?

MR. FOLEY: Well, because he's still in the middle of his comprehensive review of US policy toward North Korea. He deemed it helpful to go out to the region to consult with our treaty allies - South Korea and Japan - and also to consult with the Chinese authorities as he's elaborating his review and thinking about the various options that we face, and the various policy factors he's going to take into consideration. He's been out there previously, so this is a second round of consultations. He's been consulting with policy experts here in Washington, with the academic community, with Congress. It's an ongoing effort, and we felt it was important to talk to friends and interested states in the region at this point.

QUESTION: New subject - on Kosovo, can you tell us if the Administration is planning to send Richard Holbrooke to Belgrade; if he's going, when he's going; why, and why he hasn't been involved until this point?

MR. FOLEY: That's a lot of "whys," can I can answer it with a single no; namely, that we've made no such decision in that regard.

QUESTION: There's a report in The New York Times today that he is planning to go. Are you saying that report is incorrect?

MR. FOLEY: I can't confirm the report. Certainly, we're looking at a - I've been asked this question over several days - namely, what is our diplomatic strategy leading up to the resumption of talks on March 15. I've laid out a few things that we have planned, including the visit of Senator Dole to Kosovo. Secretary Albright spoke to him, as you know, a few days ago and the President has asked him to go to Kosovo. He's going to do so, leaving tomorrow and arriving there on Friday.

We've also talked about the fact that the Kosovar Albanians will send a delegation here to Washington to talk with us in the next number of days. I still don't have a specific date for that yet. I've been asked the question about what we're doing with the Serb side. Ambassador Hill was in to see President Milutinovic the other day, and more diplomatic contact with the Serbs is likely. I wouldn't rule out any particular option; but we've made no decisions, though, in that regard.

QUESTION: So this is one option under consideration?

MR. FOLEY: Well, there are a number of options under consideration.

QUESTION: Do you have Sen. Dole's itinerary Friday?

MR. FOLEY: He's going to be in Pristina. He's going to meet with a range of Albanians. I don't know if I have his particular schedule in front of me. Excuse me one second, as I check. As we've said previously, he's going to Kosovo to advance the search for a political settlement to the crisis in the region. His trip will support the negotiating efforts of Ambassador Hill and his Contact Group colleagues. He's expected to arrive in Kosovo on Friday. He will meet with a broad range of the Kosovo political leadership, including leaders of the KLA. He will encourage them to endorse the decision of the Kosovar Albanian delegation to sign on to the Rambouillet accords for an interim political settlement.

As we reported previously, Ambassador Hill has reported encouraging signs in the last few days that the Kosovar Albanians are moving towards full implementation of the Rambouillet accords. Once the Albanians accept the Rambouillet text formally, pressure on the Serbs to do so will mount. We believe that that message will become increasingly clear to President Milosevic in the days to come.

Certainly an unequivocal "yes," which we expect from the Kosovar Albanians, will allow the international community to focus attention really where it belongs, which is on the Serb failure to agree to the proposals of the Contact Group.

QUESTION: Another subject - Turkey as it relates to Iraq. Turkey's President Demirel said today that Ankara could not accept US strikes in Northern Iraq that led to a closure of an oil pipeline that carried crude from Iraq to Turkey. It sounds as if the Turks believe that the US air actions broke that pipeline and cut off their flow and cut off their commerce that they need badly. Does the US have any up-to-date assessment about US bombing and pipeline damage?

MR. FOLEY: Well, we are continuing further analysis to determine what actually had happened. As we've reported previously, on the 20th of February and also on the 1st of March, US forces hit several targets that were associated with Iraqi attempts to engage our aircraft on those days. As you know, we are targeting not only air defense radar and weapons systems, but also other parts of these Iraqi air defense command-and- control early warning and communications network.

We targeted these facilities because we believe that they serve a function in the operation of Iraq's air defense system in that part of the country. As I said, we're conducting further analysis of those strikes, and we're cooperating with the Turkish Government in the investigation of this matter. We can state certainly that we don't intentionally target an infrastructure associated with the Oil-for-Food program, but this matter is being looked into.

QUESTION: Isn't this a potentially sensitive matter since the US uses bases in Turkey, the Incirlik air base, to patrol the northern fly zone in Iraq?

MR. FOLEY: Well, absolutely; we cooperate very closely with the government of Turkey in this important common endeavor. So we're consulting with them and working with them on this issue.

QUESTION: According to Greek Cypriot press report, Ambassador Miller is going to go to the area. Can you confirm this?

MR. FOLEY: I have not heard that report. I'd be happy to look into it for you, though.

QUESTION: Will the Secretary be traveling to Brussels on her way back in the upcoming days?

MR. FOLEY: I don't have any information on her schedule beyond what I know it to be in Asia.

QUESTION: Last weekend, the Simitis Government transferred safely from the Greek Embassy in Nairobi to Athens, the remaining three Kurdish women of PKK. Any comment for the record?

MR. FOLEY: Yes, I commented on that last week. You need to check the transcript.

QUESTION: What did you say? No, Mr. Foley, that's happened last weekend. The transportation of -- it happened last weekend. It was Saturday and Sunday.

MR. FOLEY: I spoke to that on the record last week.

QUESTION: Do you have any comment on the New York Post report on the apparent Mossad wiretapping involving -

MR. FOLEY: I believe the White House has dismissed the report out of hand. I don't have anything to add.

QUESTION: This is a follow-up. Did you cooperate with the Greek Government for this transportation from Nairobi to Athens?

MR. FOLEY: On which transportation?

QUESTION: For the three Kurdish women from Nairobi to Athens. Did you cooperate with the Greek Government?

MR. FOLEY: In the comment that I gave that you are asking me about, I noted that the United States was opposed to this granting of asylum. So we, by any definition, could not possibly have cooperated in such a transfer.

QUESTION: Jim, I was wondering - Palestinian officials saying today they have informed Washington that Arafat will delay his announcement of a Palestinian state indefinitely.

MR. FOLEY: I've not heard that, but certainly we would welcome that if it were the case, since we believe that any such unilateral action in that regard would set back the cause of peace, and of a settlement of the Arab- Israeli conflict, or the issues dividing the Palestinians and the Israelis. Any unilateral acts would, in fact, reverse progress for all sides. So if that is true, we would welcome the development.

QUESTION: Has anybody - Dennis or anyone - been traveling to the Middle East?

MR. FOLEY: Not that I'm aware of. I haven't spoken with him in several days, but I'm not aware that he's traveling. I can check that for you, though.

QUESTION: The Baltimore Sun says this morning that the Orioles and Cuba are closer to agreement because the proceeds over which they have been arguing are too small to make much of a difference, and that the prospects for the game or games taking place have brightened. Do you have anything on that?

MR. FOLEY: Well, we would support the idea that American baseball players could show their stuff in Cuba and vice versa, as you know. We hope that that can be arranged in conformity with US law. I don't have any update, though, on how those talks are going.

Thank you.

(The briefing concluded at 2:00 P.M.)


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