1 There will be a background briefing here on Friday at 3:00 p.m.
concerning the UNSC resolution on the Taliban seeking expulsion of
Usama bin Laden and on our humanitarian efforts for the Afghan
people
1-2 Focus on specific acts of terrorism against American interests
worldwide/ Willingness to pay up to $5 million for information/
Advertising campaign will cost about $100,000
3-4 Whether campaign names particular people we are looking for/
Availability of posters in Urdu/ Data on Rewards For Justice
Program/ Inception of Rewards for Justice Program in 1984/ Purpose
for launching campaign at this time
4-5 Who money is rewarded to/ Procedure for assessing the size of the
reward/ Number of tips that prevented acts of terrorism/ Why Usama
bin Laden has not been brought to justice
6 Threat to impose further restrictions on the UN peacekeeping force
in Cyprus/ Hope for achieving significant and comprehensive
settlement
6-8 Whether there has been contact with Bush transition people
concerning this building/ Number of political appointees in the
building
7-8 Under Secretary Pickering will join the Boeing Company as senior
vice president for international relations/ His role in the
transition
8-9 Release of Edmond Pope/ President Putin's decision to pardon Mr.
Pope/ Mr. Pope is in Frankfurt to get medical attention/
Conversations with Russian leaders after the release/ Providing
information to Americans that describes the perils of Doing
high-technology business in Russia
9-12 Meeting with Arafat in Morocco/ Willingness to continue working on
this right through the end of the Administration/ No announcement
regarding further travel plans/ President Clinton and Secretary
Albright are prepared to do whatever they can to help the parties
restore calm and find a way back to peacemaking/ More than 300
people have been killed/ Preliminary report from Senator Mitchell
and his committee
12-13 Both the Adana and Istanbul consulates remain closed to the
public/ October 12 Worldwide Caution remains in effect/October 18
Public Announcement for Persian Gulf, Arabian Peninsula and Turkey
remains in effect/ US Embassy in Doha will reassess the situation
over their weekend
13 Nawaz Sharif is now a free man in Saudi Arabia/ UK has announced
that doors for him and his family are open
13 American woman in Nicaragua whom the authorities are after/ Order
that she depart the country immediately
13-15 American citizen Michael Sedlak detained in Saudi Arabia/ Another
consular visit is planned for next week/ Privacy Act Waiver
15-16 Rebuke of Chinese authorities for the jailing of Falun Gong member
and for closing of numerous churches in China/Concern that Chinese
authorities have launched accelerate campaign targeting Christians
and Falun Gong members/Whether Chinese government is in violation
of any of the UN covenants that they have signed
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING
DPB # 126
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2000 12:50 P.M.
(ON THE RECORD UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED)
MR. BOUCHER: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Let me first tell you
that we will have a background briefing here from senior State Department
officials on Friday at 3:00 p.m. concerning the UN Security Council
resolution on the Taliban seeking the expulsion of Usama bin Laden and on
our humanitarian efforts for the Afghan people. So a lot more background on
those issues that are currently in the air, and we will have several senior
officials down here to address those with anybody who is interested.
QUESTION: Background or on the record?
MR. BOUCHER: Background.
QUESTION: Can we protest?
MR. BOUCHER: Okay, protest. I'll check into it.
QUESTION: Yes, thank you.
MR. BOUCHER: Okay, protest recorded. I'll see if I can get them on
camera.
Second, today I would like to tell you about the Rewards for Justice
Program. We are starting a new advertising campaign. I think you know we
have done these things in the past. These are the posters that are
involved. Basically, this campaign is devoted to prevention. This is a
program that has been very successful in the past. It has focused on
specific acts of international terrorism against American interests
worldwide. Through the years, we have advertised in posters, matchbooks,
paid advertisements, public service announcements, via the Internet. The
campaigns have resulted in approximately 20 international terrorists that
are now in prison around the world as a result of the program. We have paid
more than $6 million to people who have come forward with information that
has helped us get people.
Perhaps the greatest success was in February of 1995, with the arrest of
Ramzi Yousef, the mastermind of the World Trade Center bombing. Without
question, this reward program is a key component of our anti-terrorism
policy.
So today we are unveiling a new publicity effort. This is centered on a
less well-known but, again, critical aspect of the program: prevention.
Through the campaign we promote our determination to prevent acts of
terrorism worldwide and our willingness to pay up to $5 million for
information that helps us prevent acts of terrorism.
We have a 30-second public service announcement -- and we can give tapes to
those who might want them -- that shows the plague of terrorism through
visual images that is the anchor to the prevention campaign. A public
service announcement has been made available to all our posts abroad, who
then can pass it out to TV stations and others around these various
countries.
We have made it available in English, German, French, Chinese, Mandarin,
Arabic, Russian, Spanish and Urdu. It is posted also in all these languages
on the Rewards for Justice Website, which is .
We will be using posters, print media, radio ads to emphasize as prevention
methods. Posters will be printed in the same eight languages and distributed
worldwide. We do think that thousands of lives have been saved as a result
of this program, and the campaign we are launching today is intended to
save thousands more.
So that is what we are launching. This is a program that has been going on
for many years. There are many ways to contact us -- through the Internet,
through the email, again through the Internet, a toll-free number in the
United States and Canada, and by mail. And, also, people overseas can
contact the security officers at our embassies and consulates. So that is
available as well. We will put out a written statement and fact sheet on
the subject to give you all more information.
Now, with that announcement, I would be happy to take your questions on
this or any other topic.
QUESTION: If there are no questions on this, could I ask about the
transition?
MR. BOUCHER: Okay, we have some questions on this.
QUESTION: How much are you spending on this advertising campaign?
MR. BOUCHER: It will cost about $100,000 for the advertising campaign.
QUESTION: And can you tell us what the largest single reward issued was?
I think we had that figure once before but --
MR. BOUCHER: I don't know that we have given out that kind of figure. I
think that is the kind of figure that we might want to keep in order to
keep it from being too specific about the kind of information people are
giving it, and who we're paying to. But I'll see if I can get you
that.
QUESTION: Does the campaign name any particular people that you're
looking for? Or is it just -- it's just a --
MR. BOUCHER: This part of the campaign is prevention. Obviously the
posters of the people we're looking for, in terms of bringing perpetrators
to justice, is well known. That information is out there on the Website and
elsewhere. That names particular people. What we are launching today are a
public service announcement and a campaign aimed at prevention. Tell us
about something that is going to happen, and we will pay you for helping
save lives.
QUESTION: You mentioned this -- I mean, this is the first time that the
posters are being made in Urdu? That's because of Pakistan, because Urdu is
good only for Pakistanis?
MR. BOUCHER: We hope that Pakistanis will be able to read and tell us
what they know. I'm not sure this is the first time it's been done in Urdu.
I would have to check on that.
QUESTION: That's because Usama bin Laden may be or have contact in
Pakistan, or back and forth?
MR. BOUCHER: It is because of our deep concern and care for the people of
Pakistan and our conviction that they want just as much as we do to stop
terrorism.
QUESTION: Did this part of Rewards for Justice come about because you
were getting lots of people that could help in prevention and you felt --
or they were seeking some kind of reward, or was it because you didn't have
these people and you really thought you needed to develop that aspect of
the counter-terrorism program?
MR. BOUCHER: I think I can't really say sort of one or the other. The
aspect that was most heavily publicized, that was most well known, was
seeking perpetrators, trying to get people -- suspects -- who we think had
committed crimes and acts of terrorism. This was always an aspect of the
program, but it wasn't as heavily publicized, so it's like pushing forward
on the second dynamic of this program to make it more publicly available.
You know, we get some numbers. Let me give you some numbers. On the Website
we get 1.2 million hits a year on this Website, . We've got 1,200 emails;
800 of them being tips on terrorism, 200 being tips on other crimes and the
remainder being other information.
QUESTION: A year?
MR. BOUCHER: I think that is to date. That's per year? Okay, sorry.
That's per year. Twelve percent of those tips then become leads, so out of
1,000 tips on terrorism and other crimes, we may get 120 or so leads that
are then investigated.
We get 600 letters a year; 42 percent of those involve terrorism. I can't
tell you how many of those become leads. We get something like 1,100 phone
calls. The 800 number is only for the US and Canada, so that only produces
about 2 percent of those calls that turn into leads.
Again, as I said, the focus has been very much on looking for people who
committed crimes, but this has always been an aspect of the program and now
it is an aspect of preventing terrorist acts that we want to bring forward
more. And hopefully every time we can do that we save lives.
QUESTION: I'm sure we've gone over this before, but where does the $5
million come from?
MR. BOUCHER: Where does it come from?
QUESTION: Budgeted --
MR. BOUCHER: It comes from the American taxpayer and the American people.
There is also a rewards program that is done -- the Airline Pilots
Association has, and that we operate in conjunction with them. So let me
double-check and make sure the 5 million is pure US Government money. But
there are others that provide similar programs.
QUESTION: When did the program begin? You talked about 20 international
terrorists --
MR. BOUCHER: Since the inception of the Rewards for Justice Program in
1984 --
QUESTION: So 20 since 1984?
MR. BOUCHER: Yes.
QUESTION: That's not such an impressive figure.
MR. BOUCHER: Well, 20 people in jail, 20 terrorists in jail, is thousands
of lives saved. I think that there is no question that putting these guys
in jail who blow up buildings is worth every penny we spend on it.
QUESTION: Any particular reason why you're launching this particular
campaign now?
MR. BOUCHER: Because we don't want terrorist acts to occur. No, the
timing is a result of something that has been in preparation for months. It
is something we've been working on, and we're ready to do it now. There is
no particular association with current events.
QUESTION: Is it the case that you'll give the money to whoever turns in a
terrorist regardless of their own potentially unsavory past? You don't care
who it is as long as they give you information that's worth money?
MR. BOUCHER: I am not sure that's exactly the way we phrase it, but we --
QUESTION: Is that the case, though? I think you can phrase it --
MR. BOUCHER: We go after information. What we need is information to
prevent terrorist acts, yes.
QUESTION: Are there any rules attached to that information that says
certain people with certain things in their own past will not qualify for
the reward money?
MR. BOUCHER: I would have to check on that and see. I don't know that
we've stated it that way, but I'll have to check and see.
QUESTION: Could you tell us the procedure for assessing the size of the
reward, and is there any appeal against the size of it?
(Laughter.)
QUESTION: I mean, could you say, "Sorry, this isn't enough"?
MR. BOUCHER: Our people are obviously in touch with the people who give
the information, who provide the information, and I'm sure that the offers
are more than generous. And if anybody has anything to say about them, they
know whom to call to talk about it.
So, no, I can't. The people who are in touch with them to make the offer --
I don't know that we actually negotiate the size of the awards. But
obviously the more important the information, the better the information,
the more significant the act that was prevented, the more we are able to
give to people, and it can go quite high, up to $5 million.
Are working journalists eligible? I'll have to check on that, too.
(Laughter.)
QUESTION: Richard, do you have any idea, since you said this is an
element of the previous Rewards for Justice program, how many tips may have
prevented acts of terrorism, significant --
MR. BOUCHER: No, I don't think I'm able to do that at this point. Again,
I'll check and see. They weren't -- this is about as good as we could do on
the numbers.
QUESTION: Richard, you're saying really that reward money works, or it is
working, it has worked now. I believe there is $5 million on Usama bin
Laden. Why has it not worked? It has been a long time. This is a lot of
money for that area.
MR. BOUCHER: You know, it's there; there are quite a few people. Why it
doesn't work? Because people manage to hole up in Afghanistan and not get
expelled and not get brought to justice. That is a problem, and that is
something we are working on with UN resolutions and with the cooperation of
the rest of the international community.
We don't think that money alone can bring every terrorist to justice, and
we certainly don't just rely on putting a stack of money on the table and
waiting for terrorists to walk in or people with information to walk in. We
have a very active program: UN sanctions, UN pressures, US law enforcement
activity, cooperation with other governments against terrorism. So this is
not the only way we seek to bring people to justice, but it is a useful and
important element.
QUESTION: Mr. Denktash, in the north of Cyprus, or what he calls Northern
Cyprus, is saying he'll put new restrictions -- he isn't spelling them out -
- on UN peacekeepers. Now that their mission has been extended, does the
State Department have a view of that threat?
MR. BOUCHER: What we have always said is that we believe it is very
important for the UN to be there. We joined in the unanimous UN Security
Council resolution yesterday that renewed the peacekeeping force for six
months. The renewal resolution urges the Turkish side to rescind the
restrictions that it has imposed on peacekeepers since June. It calls for
restoration of the status quo ante in Strovilia, along the Green Line, and
clearly we would strongly oppose any additional measures to restrict the
operations by the UN forces there.
We believe very strongly in the talks. We think the two leaders need to
return to Geneva to resume their talks in late January with the UN
Secretary General. We understood Mr. Denktash is trying to, or may intend
to, set some conditions on his further participation in the UN talks, but
we believe the interests of Turkey and the Turkish Cypriots are best served
by, in fact, continuing the talks. And so I want to reiterate we support
the UN process and the Secretary General's attempts to achieve a significant
and comprehensive settlement in Cyprus.
QUESTION: Is there hope for that? This Administration, I think more than
any other, put a special mark on Cyprus. In fact, I remember Mr. Berger
saying a couple, three years ago, it's one of the high priority items. It
doesn't seem to be moving -- the negotiations. Can you possibly see
something happening before you turn in your hats?
MR. BOUCHER: It is really very much a UN-scheduled effort. Obviously, the
United States works a lot on this -- has since this beginning. When I was
out there in 1993, all the way to date, the United States, this Administration,
has been very, very active. But we work in support of the UN effort, and
the UN Secretary General has asked them to get back together in Geneva in
late January. That is the next opportunity to move towards a settlement,
and we certainly hope that all the parties will show up, and all the
parties will work hard there to try to resolve this issue.
QUESTION: Has there been any contact with Bush transition people
concerning this building?
MR. BOUCHER: The way that this works, at least as far as we know here, is
that we will be contacted by the sort of GSA-approved transition team at
some point, and that at that point we would work with a transition team,
the specific elements that are appointed to help with the transition of the
State Department.
So we are very prepared for their arrival at any time. The Secretary has
made clear to all of us that the Department is to provide the fullest
possible support to the State Department transition team, but we have not
yet been contacted by members of the team, nor do we know who will serve on
it.
QUESTION: Has the Secretary called anyone to offer condolences or
congratulations?
MR. BOUCHER: Not that I know of.
QUESTION: Not even Gore?
MR. BOUCHER: I don't know when the last time was that she talked to Vice
President Gore. I'll have to check on that. But I hadn't heard of any phone
calls in the last day or two. I left the party sort of just after the news
had come out, and I'm afraid I did not talk to the Secretary about whether
she made any --
QUESTION: Is somebody designated the point man or point person to deal
with the Bush people?
MR. BOUCHER: Our Executive Secretary is where the preparations are
concentrated. Kristie Kenney, the Executive Secretary for the Department,
is sort of in charge of the overall process and effort, but of course there
are all of us available and ready to work with them as they come in. The
Secretary has made quite clear she wants this to be smooth; she wants us to
be forthcoming; she wants us to work very well in the interest of the
United States and the broader interests of America.
QUESTION: New subject. Is that all right?
MR. BOUCHER: New subject?
QUESTION: One quick question on that. Do you know how many political
appointees there are in this building?
MR. BOUCHER: No. I'll try to find out. I think that's the way I answered
it last time when I said I'd try to find out. Did I find out? We can get
it.
QUESTION: You're now losing more senior people -- Mr. Pickering?
MR. BOUCHER: Yes.
QUESTION: Would you care to say anything about it? He took on a lot of
quiet, heavy jobs in the last several years.
MR. BOUCHER: First of all, he is joining the Boeing Company as a senior
vice president for international relations. It becomes effective in January,
following his retirement from State Department and approval by the Boeing
board of directors. He is one of our most senior career diplomats. He has
been an eminent ambassador in many places around the world. I don't think I
have the list, but he has been confirmed by the Senate, I think a dozen
times, if I'm correct, maybe more.
He has certainly taken on a lot of serious jobs for the Secretary, and you
have seen him down here talking about subjects all around the world. And so
he is one of our leaders, both for the career Foreign Service and for this
Administration. He has been a very active and important element of our
diplomacy, and I'm sure he'll be missed in that regard, but we all wish him
well in his new job.
QUESTION: Considering his experience, will he play any role in the
transition that you're aware of?
MR. BOUCHER: I'm sure he will make himself fully available to the
transition people and will obviously have a role. Again, you know, until we
know who the people are and who they want to talk to, all we can say is
we're here, we're ready, we're willing to help and we want to help, we want
to make this work best.
We are all quite aware of this whole process from when the Administration
started, when we sort of had a number of issues that were passed on to us
and with advice and good wishes. This Administration has taken care of a
number of things, but every time an administration changes over there are
issues and policies and programs that we pass on to our successors. And we
all want to do that and make sure the babies get taken care of in the
future.
QUESTION: And the babies passed on to you were passed on by basically
like-minded people and passed on to you sort of as chapter two of the
Clinton Administration and without the time constraints --
MR. BOUCHER: Well, I go back also to 1992-93. Secretary Christopher came.
That was a very smooth transition. And I think that the commitment around
here, and certainly the commitment from the Secretary, is to make this a
smooth a transition that works in the interest of the people of the United
States.
QUESTION: Do you have anything on Pope?
MR. BOUCHER: Okay. What do you want to talk about?
QUESTION: Tell us if you know anything beyond his release, welcome his
release -- whatever you want.
MR. BOUCHER: We are, first of all, I think clearly relieved for Mr. Pope,
for his family. We are happy to see that the ordeal is finally over. As you
all know, President Clinton and Secretary Albright, Ambassador Collins,
State Department officials in Washington, State Department officials at our
Embassy in Moscow, together with people like Congressman John Peterson and
obviously Mr. Pope's family, have been intensively engaged in this effort
over the last nine months in order to protect his welfare, first and
foremost, and, second of all, to press for his release. We are very
relieved that he has been released. The President issued a statement that
said he appreciated President Putin's decision to pardon Mr. Pope, but once
again says we believe the ordeal was not justified and we are glad the
humanitarian considerations have finally prevailed.
He is making an initial -- Mr. Pope is in Frankfurt making an initial stop
to get medical attention, and medical specialists will help him assess his
condition before he returns home.
QUESTION: Yeah, a follow-up. There were some indications out of Moscow
that President Putin wanted to wait until the transition of the US
presidency to make his decision. Do you have any indication that this was
based on what happened here yesterday?
MR. BOUCHER: No, no. I mean, quite to the contrary, last week when the
Russians started talking about the 14th, talking about the possibility of
pardon last week when the clemency board recommended a pardon, I think
neither the Russians nor we knew exactly what day our election matters
would be settled. So I would tend to think that that's not a very logical
supposition based on the events.
QUESTION: Now that this is over, Richard, can you tell us whether there
were any signals given in any of these many phone calls we've been told
about over the past few weeks that this is the way it would probably work
out, only they had to wait for -- I mean, did the Russians -- did Putin to
the President -- did Ivanov to the Secretary -- did anyone kind of say that
we had to wait for this legal matter to work its will?
MR. BOUCHER: The question is: Can I tell you? The answer is: No.
QUESTION: Were there any conversations with the President -- President
Clinton or Secretary Albright with any Russian leaders after the release?
And does the State Department plan to reissue its consular advisory on
Russia to take out some of the precautions that American business
professionals should take there?
MR. BOUCHER: Conversations since the release? I don't know. I'll have to
check on that.
I think the Consular Information Sheets are intended to provide background
for travelers, things that we believe American travelers need to know.
After examining the situation with regard to Mr. Pope, we did put in
information that described the perils of doing high-technology business in
Russia. I think the experience would teach us all that maybe that
information is valid and should stay, but obviously we will review these
sheets on a regular basis. But for the moment it remains part of our advice
to Americans, part of our information for Americans until we decide it
needs to be changed, that that's not valid information.
QUESTION: What can you tell us about the meeting with Arafat in
Morocco?
MR. BOUCHER: It occurred on Tuesday. Dennis Ross met in Morocco with
Chairman Arafat, with Palestinian negotiators. They discussed the current
situation in the region. The focus was to talk about the current situation,
talk about how to stabilize the situation, talk about how to create a
bridge back to peacemaking.
We wanted to make clear that our commitment to the peace process, ending
the violence and resuming the negotiations, have been constant throughout
this situation. And we continue to urge both sides to do whatever they can
to end the violence, restore calm, and find a way back to the negotiating
table.
QUESTION: Would you say that Mr. Ross and others were encouraged by what
they heard from Mr. Arafat? Or did they feel that they were hearing the
same old message?
MR. BOUCHER: No, I don't think we want to try to characterize this that
way after every single meeting. We haven't done that in the past; we
wouldn't do it now.
QUESTION: This is a very important meeting.
MR. BOUCHER: I think what this meeting shows is what the President and
the Secretary have said: that we will continue to work on this. Ambassador
Ross continues to work on this. We will continue to do whatever we can to
stop the terrible violence in the Middle East, but also to bridge our way
back to the peace process. And the fact of Ambassador Ross and his team
going out there to meet with Chairman Arafat and the Palestinian officials
shows that we are willing and do intend to continue working on this right
through the end of the Administration.
QUESTION: Is there another trip planned, perhaps by Secretary Albright at
some point in the near future?
MR. BOUCHER: At this point we don't have anything like that to announce.
QUESTION: Well, it's just these Israeli reports that Albright is going,
and apparently this building has said that those are just simply Israeli
reports. Is there any basis in fact for these rumors? Is there any
discussion of a trip in the near future for her?
MR. BOUCHER: I think on the Middle East, there are so many rumors that we
have never been in the business of saying whether any rumors had any basis.
All I can tell you at this point is we don't have anything to announce
regarding further travel plans.
QUESTION: Well, and then yesterday, Barak appealing to President Clinton
to really jump in and do more, that it's time for a last-ditch effort. Has
the President been in contact with the Secretary about ways to launch some
kind of last-ditch effort, or is there anything going on?
MR. BOUCHER: I don't know if the President has spoken with the Secretary.
I do know that the Secretary, throughout her trip, has been in touch with
Sandy Berger. Obviously, Ambassador Ross has talked to the Secretary,
reported on his meetings, and that they continue to consider together what
the next steps should be.
I think what this meeting demonstrates is what we have said along, what has
been true along: the President and the Secretary are prepared to do
whatever they can to help the parties restore calm and find a way back to
peacemaking.
QUESTION: In the last four days, I believe, the Israelis have killed four
Palestinian militants, leaders, in what is being dubbed, at least by the
Palestinians, as assassinations. Do we regard these kinds of activities by
the Israelis as helpful to the peace process, in the light of the
fall?
MR. BOUCHER: There is too much violence. We have all been quite clear on
that. We have not tried to characterize particular events. There is a fact-
finding committee, as you know, that goes out there and will look at -- is
out there, has been there, and will help us understand the causes of the
violence and how to prevent the recurrence of it.
What is clear to us is that there is a cycle of violence that perpetuates
itself, that deepens the tragedy for both Palestinians and Israelis. There
are more than 300 people that have been killed in the violence. The vast
majority of those people have been Palestinian. We are deeply saddened by
these losses of life. The violence has destroyed lives, it has devastated
families, ruined economic opportunities, and worsened the level of mistrust
between the two communities.
But, in the end, these two communities have to live side by side, and it is
best -- the only way is to achieve an end to the violence. We have made
quite clear -- the Secretary has made quite clear -- that the cycle needs
to be broken. She has laid out what she thinks the Israelis need to do,
laid out what she thinks the Palestinian Authority needs to do, in quite
specific terms for you, about two weeks ago, right here. Those steps need
to be taken, must be taken, and we need to really get an end to the
cycle.
QUESTION: Can we expect, then, that Dennis Ross will remain in his post
until January 20th?
MR. BOUCHER: I don't think he has indicated anything to the contrary. I
haven't actually asked him that specific question, but I think when he
talked about it originally he talked about leaving his job -- originally he
talked about it in terms of after January 20th.
QUESTION: Has there been any kind of preliminary report from Senator
George Mitchell and his committee after his initial meetings with the
parties? And what is going to be the regular -- is he going to give one
massive report at the end when he is done with his investigation, or is he
going to give small little update reports?
MR. BOUCHER: Good questions. Would you like his phone number? As we have
said before, it is an independent body. They will proceed in their work
according to how they best decide to proceed, and how they decide to
report. I think in Sharm el Sheikh and elsewhere, we have only talked about
the final report that we would expect, but for more information on their
travel and scope of work, you should contact his office at 202-371-
6012.
QUESTION: Could you repeat that phone number?
MR. BOUCHER: 202-371-6012.
QUESTION: So are you saying that Senator Mitchell will not be contacting
Secretary Albright during his stay there?
MR. BOUCHER: No, I didn't say that. I said that they are independent.
They will decide how they want to conduct their work. They will decide what
sort of interim reporting they want to provide. They will decide how best
to proceed. And it is really up to them to talk about it, to decide. I'm
sure if Senator Mitchell decides to contact Secretary Albright as part of
this process that she would love to talk to him.
QUESTION: New subject. In the last few days, we have become aware of
several embassy and consular closings. Can you bring us up to date on Qatar,
the two consulates in Turkey, and any others, just to throw a blanket over
the whole thing? How many others are closed up?
MR. BOUCHER: Travel Warnings are out there. You have seen them out there,
and we issue them. You can go through the files. On closures, let me deal
with the situations in Turkey first, tell you what is going on there, and
then Doha. I'm not aware of any others. Chuck, are you aware of any? No, I
think those are the only two that we're aware of here.
Both the Adana and Istanbul Consulates remain closed to the public. That
means they are not open for public services. Obviously, our people continue
to go to work and do their jobs. We are still evaluating the security
information that we got in those circumstances, and they will reopen to the
public as soon as the ongoing evaluation indicates it is acceptable to open
again.
We think that there is sufficient justification to take these measures that
protect Turkish and American employees and our property. You will remember
we did a Worldwide Caution on October 12th that remains in effect, and that
related to possible security problems and need to close posts in a number
of areas. We work closely with the Turkish authorities. We do want to
express our appreciation to the Turkish authorities for all the help they
have given us on these security issues in the past and the help they are
giving us now.
I want to make clear that at this time we don't think that there is an
increased level of threat to private American citizens residing or visiting
in Turkey. This threat, the information that we have, has to do with our
employees and our property, our diplomatic employees, our official
employees, our official properties.
So there is no information that there is an increased threat level for
private US citizens that are residing or visiting Turkey, except to the
extent that they may want to come into our Embassies, which is why we have
closed ourselves to public activity. The October 18th Public Announcement
for the Persian Gulf, Arabian Peninsula, and Turkey urging Americans to use
caution and remain vigilant, however, does remain in effect.
As far as the situation in Doha, the US Embassy in Doha closed to the
public on Wednesday, December 6th to review its security posture. The
Embassy reassessed its situation on Monday and has decided to extend the
closure through December 13th. The Embassy is now closed today and tomorrow
for its normal weekend schedule, Thursday, Friday in Qatar. The Embassy
will reassess the situation over their weekend and make a decision
regarding opening or closure for the coming week. So at this point nothing
definitive out of there.
QUESTION: One more. Nawaz Sharif is now a free man in Saudi Arabia with
his family, and the UK has announced that doors for him and his family are
open. Are the doors here in the US open for him, and also if this
Department played a role for his freedom?
MR. BOUCHER: I'll be glad to get you something on the latter question.
But let me just check on those things for you. I don't have anything with
me today. Have we had anything on that, Chuck, on doors being opened? I
don't think we've had anything on the doors. We may have a little bit to
tell you about what we knew about the other proceedings.
QUESTION: Do you have anything on an American woman in Nicaragua whom the
authorities are after? She runs a clinic.
MR. BOUCHER: Yes, we are aware of the situation. We are in daily contact
with this American citizen, but we actually don't know her location. We
don't have a Privacy Act waiver, so all we can say is we are aware of the
situation, we are in contact with her. I think she contacts us when she is
able to.
We have been working and talking to the Nicaraguan officials about
resolving this in an appropriate manner. We emphasize that we expect her to
be fairly treated, safely treated, and that she needs to receive due
process under Nicaraguan law.
QUESTION: Richard, what is the situation as you understand it?
MR. BOUCHER: To describe it in any detail would require me to get a
Privacy Act waiver, and since I don't have one, I can't do that. But I
think you have seen some press reports about this.
QUESTION: You don't even know what they're charging against her?
MR. BOUCHER: They have -- the Nicaraguan Government has apparently
ordered that she be -- that she depart the country immediately.
QUESTION: What about an American detained in Saudi Arabia? Michael
Sedlak? Do we have anything more on him?
MR. BOUCHER: In Saudi Arabia, yes, I do know something about that. What
do we know? Michael Anthony Sedlak, an American citizen working for a
private company in Saudi Arabia, was arrested in Riyadh on November 28th. A
Consular Officer visited him on December 9th. He is well. Another consular
visit is planned for next week. He has not been charged, nor has the
Embassy been informed of any charges against him.
Saudi authorities have informed us they are continuing to investigate a
case against Mr. Sedlak, but I repeat, he has not been charged nor have we
been informed of any charges against him. In his case, we visited him and
we do have a Privacy Act waiver, so that is about all we know.
QUESTION: So tell us more.
MR. BOUCHER: I think that's about all we know that we can tell you.
QUESTION: Do we know how long they can hold him under their laws without
charges?
MR. BOUCHER: I don't know. I would have to check on that.
QUESTION: Forever.
QUESTION: Forever?
QUESTION: In China, I think a senior US diplomat -- do you want to follow
up?
QUESTION: Can I ask about one more on Sedlak? This is the first waiver
I've ever seen, by the way. (Laughter.)
MR. BOUCHER: Just about. We had a pretty extensive waiver on Mr.
Colombini, but I'm not sure I can -- and Mr. Pope. So we did pretty well.
It's up to individuals. But you're right, normally we don't have them. We
don't -- it's law, you know. We don't talk about people unless they allow
us to.
QUESTION: Do you have an age and a hometown?
MR. BOUCHER: Probably not. No, I'm afraid I don't have that, but I'll see
if I can get it for you.
QUESTION: Has he expressed to you why he thinks they are taking him in,
Richard -- or to Consular officials, I should say?
MR. BOUCHER: Again, we just don't have the information on possible
charges that I can give you.
QUESTION: Do you know who he worked for in Saudi Arabia?
MR. BOUCHER: He worked for something called Vinell Corporation, V-i-n-e-l-
l.
QUESTION: Is that "V"?
MR. BOUCHER: "V" as in Victor, i-n-e-l-l Corporation.
QUESTION: Do you know what they do?
MR. BOUCHER: No. That I'm sure you can find out.
QUESTION: On China, earlier this week a senior US diplomat called US
reporters into the Embassy for a private briefing and issued a rather
strong sort of rebuke of Chinese authorities for the jailing of this Falun
Gong member, and also for the closing of numerous churches throughout
China. How concerned is the United States that the Chinese authorities have
launched some sort of accelerated campaign targeting Christians and Falun
Gong members?
MR. BOUCHER: I guess I would say I'm not sure we're in a position to talk
about accelerated campaigns or to draw the sort of conclusions of that type
at this point. But we do know of the campaign on Falun Gong members, that
that continues. We have commented, for example, about the sentencing of US
legal permanent resident Teng Chunyan. We have seen a reported denial of
Rebiya Kadeer's appeal for release, so we have continued to press those
cases with the Chinese.
In addition, we also have independent confirmation of the destruction of a
church, at least one church, in Wenzhou. We are appalled by this,
particularly coming in light -- coming at the eve of the celebration of
Christmas around the world. It seems particularly cruel, frankly. We have
protested that here and in Beijing. We have urged China to cease the
demolitions, to respect fundamental internationally recognized human rights,
to exercise free exercise of religion, belief, and conscience.
So these are issues that we are concerned about, that we do continue to
push, and we will continue to push, both on the side of the Falun Gong
cases, Rebiya Kadeer's situation, as well as the destruction of churches.
QUESTION: On the destruction of churches, did the Chinese authorities
offer any kind of explanation as to why they felt that was necessary?
MR. BOUCHER: I think it is really up to the Chinese to provide any sort
of information on why they think it is necessary. We do consider these to
be violations of generally expected and accepted international norms, and
we will continue to push that. Frankly, we have also talked to the Chinese
about -- in the past, you will remember from the President's meeting with
President Jiang in Brunei, they agreed in principle to resume the human
rights dialogue. We continue to think that that will be an important
mechanism for discussing these issues and raising these issues.
QUESTION: Do you think the Chinese Government is in violation of any of
the UN covenants that they have signed?
MR. BOUCHER: I think what is clear is that the rights to belief,
expression, and association are enshrined in those international covenants,
and China has adhered to these covenants, and therefore we think they
should respect them.
QUESTION: Thank you.
MR. BOUCHER: Thank you.
(The briefing was concluded at 1:30 P.M.)
