U.S. Department of State Daily Press Briefing #5, 00-01-20
From: The Department of State Foreign Affairs Network (DOSFAN) at <http://www.state.gov>
694
U.S. Department of State
Daily Press Briefing
I N D E X
Thursday, January 20, 2000
Briefer: James P. Rubin
UNITED NATIONS
1,12 Secretary Albright's Travel to UN Security Council Session on
Democratic Republic of the Congo, Monday, January 24
INDONESIA
2-3 Secretary Albright's Meeting with Indonesian Foreign Minister
MIDDLE EAST PEACE PROCESS
3-9 Secretary Albright's Meeting with Palestinian Authority Chairman
Arafat
9,10 Israeli-Syrian Track/Meetings in Washington
9-10 Multilateral Steering Group Meeting in Moscow/Participants
BOLIVIA
11 Bolivian President Banzer in US/Private Visit
GERMANY
11-12 Resignation of Chancellor Kohl
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING
DPB #5
THURSDAY, JANUARY 20, 2000, 1:00 P.M.
(ON THE RECORD UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED)
MR. RUBIN: First, let me say on the Secretary's schedule, on January 24th,
next Monday, the UN Security Council with the United States as president
will hold an open meeting on the situation in the Democratic Republic of
the Congo. The Secretary plans to travel to New York to chair the session.
Several regional heads of state and foreign ministers are also expected to
be held.
The Security Council will be discussing the issue of strengthening the
Lusaka Accords on the Congo fighting and the Secretary will also have
several bilateral meetings with regional leaders. Secretary Albright has
been very supportive of the initiative Ambassador Holbrooke has taken in
New York this month to make this the Month of Africa, and she wanted very
much to be able to be there to work on this extremely difficult problem and
extraordinarily complex peace agreement. And the extraordinarily complex
components of trying to make that peace agreement work will be the subject
of the discussions on Monday, and Secretary Albright is very much
looking forward to that.
If there are no questions on that issue, let me just give you a brief
readout of the Indonesian foreign minister --
QUESTION: The bilats are related to the Congo or --
MR. RUBIN: They're both related to Congo and to those heads of state who
are in town.
QUESTION: (Inaudible) -- Holbrooke?
MR. RUBIN: Yes. And I'm not sure whether there might be some other
meetings as well, but those would be the principal meetings.
QUESTION: Just for purposes, I mean, is there going to be a briefing or
are you going to go with her?
MR. RUBIN: Yes, and I think she will probably take the opportunity to
meet with the press while she's there. So those of you who like that sort
of thing might want to go.
On the subject of the Indonesia, Secretary Albright met this morning with
the Indonesian Foreign Minister. She was very pleased to tell him about the
strong support the United States has and will continue to have for the
enormous transition and the so-far successful democratic transition in
Indonesia. She indicated, pursuant to the speech that she gave last week
that some of you covered, that she will be able during the Fiscal 2000 -
that is the money that has already been appropriated - to increase by 66
percent the aid we're giving to Indonesia from 75 million to $125
million. That number we hope will be even higher as a result, in Fiscal
2001, of consultations in the Department and hopefully with congressional
support we will be able to increase that even further next year.
But she has been able to increase by two-thirds the aid we've provided to
Indonesia, given their important transition, the important role Indonesia
plays in our national interests and the important symbol that success in
Indonesia's democratic and economic reforms will have for the region and
for the world.
She also discussed the important human rights issue. She said that the
United States will be watching very carefully, as the whole world will be
watching, the developments of Indonesia's own Human Rights Commission and
will be awaiting their work before deciding what additional steps may or
may not be necessary; that we support the strong efforts they have made to
try to come to grips with the human rights problems through their own
channels and we will be watching that very carefully.
They also discussed the Middle East. Secretary Albright gave the foreign
minister of Indonesia a briefing on where things stand on both the Syrian
and Palestinian tracks.
QUESTION: Did he happen to say whether Indonesia will increase its
relationship with Israel, which was sort of a pioneering thing to
do?
MR. RUBIN: I don't know that there was any statement of increase. I will
have to check that. I wasn't in that part of the meeting; I had to run out
of the room. But I will check that for you.
QUESTION: And you know, in her speech, she circled Indonesia as one of
four countries in transition. Did he give her any other examples to add to
the ones, of course, that are out there and that she cited that Indonesia,
indeed, is making a major turn toward democracy?
MR. RUBIN: Well, I mean, he emphasized the extraordinary work that they
are doing to try to come to grips with the terrible human rights problems
that have existed there and the very courageous steps their own internal
processes have taken, including the Human Rights Commission. And they
obviously discussed the political situation there, but I wouldn't be able
to comment on that much further.
QUESTION: Maybe I can try and get you - last Friday Ambassador Holbrooke
delivered a relatively blunt warning to the Indonesian military about the
importance of not staging a coup. I'm wondering if these kind of political
machinations were all discussed.
MR. RUBIN: Yes, I think they had a discussion about the political
situation in Indonesia. I think it's fairly well understood that the United
States responds with blunt warnings to military coups, wherever they may
occur, and especially in cases where the country's future and transformation
is so important to us, like in Indonesia.
But as I said in the final comment to Barry's questions, I'm not going to
comment on the specifics of their exchanges on the political situation in
Indonesia.
QUESTION: Could you just give us a sense as to what this money is going
to go towards?
MR. RUBIN: Well, it's what we call DA, Developmental Authority and
Economic Support Funds, so it's generally designed to help Indonesia's
transition both in the social safety net area as well as other areas. So
it's designed to signal very strongly our determination to do what we can
to bolster their efforts as they move forward.
QUESTION: Did they talk on the issue of lifting ban of arms sales to
Indonesia as well as joint military operations?
MR. RUBIN: Our bilateral relationship was discussed, and our position on
that has not changed.
QUESTION: Was any time frame put forward in terms of, you know, you said
you're going to be watching carefully the activities of the Human Rights
Commission. Is there any sort of time frame in mind before you would start
to look --
MR. RUBIN: I don't think I could put a time frame on it, other than to
say that Secretary Albright urged that it move quickly - very quickly.
Any other subjects?
QUESTION: Mr. Arafat has been in - and I guess this was a warm-up to the
luncheon meeting, which is still going to be - or being held - in
Georgetown?
MR. RUBIN: It is, despite the --
QUESTION: And is there anything you can -- (inaudible) - off the
ground?
MR. RUBIN: Yes. Secretary Albright met with Chairman Arafat in her office
in front of a roaring fire, and they have now left the building and are
heading for her home in Georgetown for a lunch there.
QUESTION: Will there be a fire there?
MR. RUBIN: I doubt that because the capabilities to keep a roaring fire
going are less at her home than at the office. But I'll check for
you.
On the substantive procedural side, for those of you who might be
interested in that, the Secretary discussed on the bilateral side several
outstanding issues that we have with the Palestinians, including the
question of Orthodox churches, which has become quite a problem; the
question of law enforcement cooperation, trying to get that improved; as
well as praising Chairman Arafat for the signing of an economic reform
decree that will give greater transparency and accountability to economic
developments in the Palestinian Authority.
Of course, signing of a decree is not implementation of it, and we'll be
watching very carefully to see that these kind of steps towards greater
transparency and accountability are indeed implemented. But the Secretary
was quite pleased that this decree has been signed by the Chairman.
I can go over --
QUESTION: And the Orthodox issue has to do --
MR. RUBIN: Well, it's very hard to be more specific about it. There was a
very lengthy and very animated discussion in the meeting about the problems
that exist in this - in the Palestinian Authority between the various
churches and how common this problem is and how seemingly intractable it is
and what strong emotions it generates, and it was quite an animated
discussion about religion in that part of the world. But I really couldn't
be more specific than that.
QUESTION: When you use the word "orthodox," you're talking about the
Russian Orthodox, the Greek Orthodox?
MR. RUBIN: The Russian Orthodox. There are a couple of different cases,
but one of them relates to the Russian Orthodox Church.
QUESTION: This is that monastery in which the Palestinian police ejected
some people?
MR. RUBIN: Right.
QUESTION: And does the United States take a point of view on it?
MR. RUBIN: Well, our point of view certainly is that we want these issues
to be resolved through the legal processes and to avoid, obviously,
unnecessary resort to forcible resolution of them. So we are encouraging
that they be resolved legally but we recognize that they are extraordinarily
complex problems and this isn't the only one.
On the broader, substantive discussion, Secretary Albright reserved most of
the lunch for a discussion of the Palestinian track. The President,
obviously, is going to be meeting with Chairman Arafat shortly after that.
I think, broadly speaking, she did make clear to his whole delegation the
very important way in which we approached the Palestinian track, the clear
recognition that we have that the Palestinian track is at the core of the
conflict in the Middle East, and that the resolution of the Palestinian
track is therefore critical to comprehensive peace in the region. And she
made very clear that the United States does not see the Syria track
taking away from our interest and focus on trying to be helpful in
resolving the issues between Israel and the Palestinians.
On that subject, I think, suffice it to say that she and the Chairman
discussed ways and means to try to get that track in a position to meet the
various goals and deadlines that have been set out. I think we are quite
aware of the formidable challenge to achieving a framework agreement by mid-
February, but they did discuss ways and means to accelerate the pace of the
Palestinian track.
QUESTION: I know that it wasn't extemporaneous, the business of the
Palestinian thing being core - that has long been the Palestinian position,
not necessarily shared by everybody, analysts, other folks.
The Palestinian issue is the core of the problems in the Middle East? In
what respect? I thought the Arabs' refusal to accept Israel was possibly a
competitor with the Palestinian issue being the basic core and crux and
that was sort of a mantra that the US didn't accept until fairly recently.
MR. RUBIN: Well, I think for those of you who were on the Secretary's
trip to the Middle East, the President announced the Syria track. Secretary
Albright met with those journalists who were there in Ramallah at a press
event there and made the very point that I just made to you. So there is
nothing new about this point.
QUESTION: It was new then.
MR. RUBIN: And we do - we're not meeting with the Israelis and talking
about the Israeli side of the comprehensive peace track and talking about
the failure of the countries in the region and the Palestinians to make
peace with Israel. Obviously, if we were meeting with the Israelis, Barry,
we would be talking about from their perspective; the core of the problem
is that they haven't been accepted in the region.
But when we weren't meeting with the Israelis today, although it might seem
that way from this exchange, and we did meet with the Palestinians and we
made the point that from the perspective of the Arab side of the equation
and the Palestinian side of the equation, that we recognized that a
resolution of the Palestinian issue is at the core, including having an
impact on what the Israelis regard as the core issue, it's quite clear that
the closer the Israelis and the Palestinians have come to be making a
permanent peace, the more Arab countries have been willing to engage
with Israel. I think that's demonstrable from the record of the last
nine years.
QUESTION: (Inaudible) - quite a bit, but there is another way to come at
this, if you'll just put up with half a minute. There is a notion, or at
least there's interest, in whether the US, the administration, is giving
priority to the Palestinian track as distinct from the Syrian track. I'm
leaving Israel out of it for now. You know, there are two Arab groups or
states, or whatever, that the US is dealing with in an effort to, in
your phrase, close the circle of peace - God, I said it.
Can you say whether this --
MR. RUBIN: Why don't you say it again just to --
QUESTION: Because it's a cliche. It's Ross-esque. But in any event, are
you trying to suggest, as some people think, that if the Palestinian issue
is settled, other things will fall into line?
MR. RUBIN: Let me try to give you my best take and the Secretary's
general views on this matter. We do not believe there is any need for one
track to negatively affect the other track. We believe that each track can
proceed at its own pace, and the pace will be determined by the willingness
of the leaders to make the decisions necessary to get agreements.
As a practical matter, the Syria track over the next couple of weeks will
proceed along the way I described to you yesterday, meaning the Syrians
will come first at a working level, meet with administration officials
about the text; the Israelis will then come, we hope, and meet about the
text. So those will be the contacts on the Syrian track.
That obviously, as a practical matter, means that it is easier for us - at
least today and tomorrow and the coming days - to spend more of our
energies on the Palestinian track. But that doesn't mean that one's
energies are going to necessarily be determinative of an agreement. We
recognize, and have long recognized, that we as mediators and hosts for
these meetings and those trying to come up with creative solutions can only
take the process so far. The decisions have to be made by Prime Minister
Barak, by President Asad and by Chairman Arafat and, hopefully at some
point, by the leaders in Lebanon.
So those are the decision-makers. As to what extent the tracks move
parallel or one moves ahead of the other, that is my best answer to your
question.
QUESTION: I don't suppose in the last 24 hours you've changed your
analysis of the lagging - that wasn't your word - but how it will require
some hurry-up decisions to meet that deadline, those two deadlines.
MR. RUBIN: I think I just said in response to one of your other questions
that we do regard it as a formidable challenge to meet the mid-February
deadline or goal that has been set forth, and that is why Secretary
Albright and the President will be discussing ways and means to develop a
road map for that purpose.
QUESTION: Jamie, some of the press reports from the region have indicated
that President Arafat is going to be asking the US for, among other things,
$900 million in aid, that he is going to propose the potential expansion of
the city of Jerusalem to include neighboring Abu Dis. Are these the kinds
of suggestions and ideas that the US finds, you know, helpful in trying to
resolve final status issues?
MR. RUBIN: Let me say on the money, the 900 million number, if I have my
records straight, is a number that applies to the assistance we've been
providing to the Palestinians, $100 million a year plus $400 million over
five years for a supplemental, which brings it to $900 million over the
current coming five years.
I'm not aware, and it certainly didn't come up in this meeting, that they
have an additional request. And I think my reaction to new requests on the
Palestinian track would be the same as my reaction to new requests on the
Syrian track from anyone, which is that they strike me as a bit premature,
given that we're still a long way from an agreement.
As far as the question of Jerusalem is concerned, let me navigate this as
best I can. Clearly, Jerusalem is one of the permanent status issues and
clearly we do not believe that in a negotiation it is possible for either
party to get 100 percent of its going-in positions met. The main positions
on - the main issues on permanent status are fairly well known, refugees,
water, the borders, Jerusalem. Am I forgetting something? Someone help
me.
Refugees? I said refugees. And I think I got most of them.
Those issues are the issues that are in play in the permanent status talks
and we do believe it will be a formidable challenge to meet the mid-
February deadline or goal for a framework agreement. And we do believe that
in a discussion like this, it is very important for both sides to look for
flexible, practical ways to solve problems, and that a recognition that one
cannot get 100 percent of one's position is important. What's important
also is that each side gets its true needs met.
Beyond making that general comment about the way we're approaching the
permanent status issues, I think anything I say will redound to my
disadvantage.
Andrea, why don't you follow up?
QUESTION: Just one more question. Another report indicates that President
Arafat will be asking for some kind of public or at least tacit approval
from the US that after all of these issues have been resolved, there will
be a Palestinian state. Is that something reasonable for President Arafat
to ask of the US at this stage?
MR. RUBIN: Our position on that question is fairly well known. I will
want to dig out the words and give them to you very carefully, given the
sensitivity of that issue. And, obviously, that is one of the issues being
discussed. And beyond saying that, I really wouldn't care to comment.
QUESTION: The 100 percent, that's you saying it. Did she say or is she
going to say something like that to him, so we can transfer to Albright
telling Arafat that nobody can expect to get 100 percent?
MR. RUBIN: Well, as I indicated in response to Andrea, the bulk of the
discussion on the Palestinian-Israeli track is going to take place during
the lunch, which I hope they're enjoying in the snow-covered Georgetown
home where it is taking place. And so I can't really answer that question
at this point.
QUESTION: A really easy one and then a little bit more. How long was this
meeting? Was it about 40 minutes? Is that right?
MR. RUBIN: That's about right, yes.
QUESTION: And then when Arafat left Cairo, he was talking about asking
the Secretary and the President for some kind of urgent intervention to
prod the Israelis along. I'm just wondering if the Secretary was able to
offer any ideas on if he did indeed ask about that or if she was able to
offer any ideas or if this is something that is going to come up at lunch
and with the President?
MR. RUBIN: It didn't come up in the first part of the meeting. Let me say
that there are two areas here. Obviously, one is the permanent status we
were talking about. The other is the remaining implementation of Sharm el
Sheik. On Sharm el Sheik, our general review has been that they have
successfully worked out implementation problems. There has been a number of
steps in terms of the safe passage, in terms of the further redeployments
and in terms of other aspects of the Sharm el Sheik Agreement.
There are some issues that do remain and we think that the two parties have
shown a capability to resolve it themselves without real intervention from
the United States or direct involvement of any high-ranking sort. That
remains our view as the best way to have the implementation of Sharm el
Sheik go forward.
That is our policy, both public and private, with respect to the Sharm el
Sheik Agreement. With respect to the permanent status, I've really said as
much as I possibly can.
QUESTION: So he asked and she said no, or it didn't come up?
MR. RUBIN: No, I don't think it came up in the way you asked.
Let's go over here, and then Jim and then back.
QUESTION: You used the phrase "ways and means." They used ways and means
to move the track along. Can you respond at all on that?
MR. RUBIN: Well, it's a procedural term about how we can develop a road
map between January 20 and mid-February and then obviously September, what
kind of meetings could take place, what kind of schedule could be created,
what ways could the issues be grouped for discussion and hopefully bridging
of the gaps. So that's what I mean by that.
QUESTION: You mentioned the Syrians' working group is coming first. Which
of the committees is that going to be?
MR. RUBIN: I wouldn't assume that it is committees. Remember, "committees"
is a procedure, but not the only procedure. What this is is a working level
meeting where Syrian officials, as authorized by their government to
respond to questions that they may have or we may have asked about the
text. We will be responding. And that is what it is: it is a response and a
discussion and a clarification of the text. I wouldn't assume that
there are a bunch of separate committee meetings.
QUESTION: Back to the US handling different tracks simultaneously and
with independent merit, the Egyptian Foreign Minister has said, in relation
to the talks that are coming up in Moscow, that if these peace talks are
stalled on this track - and I presume he means tracks which aren't even
moving quickly, like Lebanese perhaps - the regional talks won't be as
effective, and they seem rather reluctant to go forward with this
multilateral meeting when there are some broken links in the circle of
peace?
MR. RUBIN: Good one.
QUESTION: There you go. Thank you.
MR. RUBIN: Let me say the following: Secretary Albright spoke to Foreign
Minister Moussa this morning about the peace process and the meeting in
Moscow. I think all of us believe that the more progress that has been made
in the various tracks of the peace process, the more successful multilateral
dialogue can be. Nevertheless, we believe it is important to have this
Multilateral Steering Group meeting in Moscow. And she made clear to the
Egyptian Foreign Minister the importance that we attach to it and our
view that everybody's got a role to play.
And if people are not all contributing and trying to move the process
forward, it's less likely that it's going to move forward. But I think it's
fair to say we all recognize that, as a practical matter, the more progress
that's made in the various tracks - the Syrian track, the Palestinian track,
and hopefully the Lebanese track - the more successful multilateral
discussions will be about their various issues.
QUESTION: Have you heard whether Syria is coming or not? I don't remember
you --
MR. RUBIN: I think I indicated last week - or I can't remember precisely
when - that we did not expect Syria or Lebanon to attend. They've never
attended before.
QUESTION: The Foreign Minister said that he was still going to go though,
right?
MR. RUBIN: I'm not aware that he's not going. Right.
QUESTION: I just want to follow on your comments about the relative level
of satisfaction that the US has with the non-permanent status aspects of
the Sharm Agreement. Wasn't it supposed to be today that the further
redeployment of 6.1 percent of land was supposed to - redeployment of
troops was supposed to take place? I'm just wondering what the reaction is
from the State Department to the fact that this didn't go forward as it was
supposed to.
MR. RUBIN: Right. My understanding is that there are grace periods built
into the Agreement that permit these things not to occur necessarily on
each of the days, so I think that's also an element of the agreement that
anyone examining it ought to bear in mind.
It's our view that we want the Sharm el Sheik Agreement implemented, that
we have every reason to believe it will be implemented. And we believe that
the Israelis and the Palestinians together can resolve these problems, and
we certainly hope they do.
QUESTION: Do you have a date for the first Syrian - well, when the Syrian
groups --
MR. RUBIN: I don't have a date. The time frame I gave you yesterday is
still - I doubt it's this week, meaning today is Thursday, this calendar
week, not tomorrow or Saturday or Sunday - that way of describing a
week.
QUESTION: Sorry to bring this up yet again, but on the question of the
participation in Moscow, you said you're not aware that the Egyptian
Foreign Minister is not going, but is there any doubt about the attendance
of the expected participants?
MR. RUBIN: Well, I think in these kind of cases, until everybody shows up,
you're always going to be cautious about it. But I don't recall her
reacting to that phone call as if she wasn't going to see Foreign Minister
Moussa in Moscow. I think they agreed to speak next week so that they could
discuss that.
QUESTION: (Inaudible) - who -- (inaudible)?
MR. RUBIN: What they would do in Moscow.
QUESTION: Who represents the Palestinians at that?
MR. RUBIN: I'll have to check that for you.
QUESTION: Another subject?
MR. RUBIN: Sure.
QUESTION: This is kind of old but --
MR. RUBIN: And oldie but goodie?
QUESTION: Yes. It's about Tibet. Does the US have any reaction to the
Chinese appointment of this Reting Lama - I know it's old.
MR. RUBIN: I'll get something for you on that.
QUESTION: And the other thing was the question I asked yesterday about
the President of Bolivia being here.
MR. RUBIN: Right. On that, I do have an answer on that. With respect to
the President of Bolivia, President Banzer arrived in the United States
yesterday on a private visit. He will undergo a routine medical examination
at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
Bolivia has been a democracy since 1981 with five successive presidential
elections. President Banzer was elected in 1997 and his term of office ends
in 2002. We are particularly appreciative of his administration's
determination and success in reducing the illegal production of coca. The
Bolivian Government is stable and functioning normally. While President
Banzer is outside of Bolivia, the Vice President is fulfilling his
constitutional role of Acting President.
QUESTION: But you don't have any concerns then? There was a big squabble
last week and kind of a power struggle in which this much younger Vice
President was apparently making a
bid --
MR. RUBIN: I think I've indicated that we believe the Bolivian Government
is stable and functioning normally.
QUESTION: Back to the peace agreement. You said that there are some grace
periods that are built into it. Can you give us any more on that?
MR. RUBIN: Well, I think you all should just pull out your Sharm el Sheik
Agreement and you can probably --
QUESTION: For those of us who might not have a Sharm el Sheik Agreement --
MR. RUBIN: Well, I don't have it in my head either.
QUESTION: No? Okay.
MR. RUBIN: Okay. I hate to admit that, but I don't.
QUESTION: Do you have - does the Secretary have any observations about
the current turmoil in Germany, the resignation of former Chancellor Kohl
from CDU and the other aspects of that?
MR. RUBIN: I was asked that question yesterday and my general reaction is
when Helmut Kohl was Chancellor Kohl we had a very, very effective working
relationship with Chancellor Kohl. The United States and Germany worked
together in achieving historic goals and objectives. As far as what is
going on now, that is really a domestic matter for the German domestic
political and legal scene to determine, and not for us to comment
on.
QUESTION: Do you have any guidance on the Transparency International
Report released today about the alleged propensity of the US Government to
cajole --
MR. RUBIN: I'm aware of that report and we're trying to get something on
that, and I think we should be able to get it for you during the course of
the afternoon.
QUESTION: (Inaudible.) It's a one-day trip? She's going up in the morning
and coming back the night?
MR. RUBIN: Yes.
Excellent. New record was set.
(The briefing was concluded at 1:30 P.M.)
|
