1-8 Negotiations/Israeli and Palestinian Meetings in
Washington/Influence of Violence on Negotiations/Possibility of
Trilateral Meetings/US role in Washington Meetings
5 Secretary Albright to Host Iftaar Dinner/Secretary Albright's
Holiday Plans
7-11 Transition Team Efforts and Meetings at State Department/Secretary
Albright and Secretary-Designate Powell Discussions/Powell Plans
9-12 Secretary Albright Signs Cooperation Agreement with Howard
University/Recruitment of Foreign Service Officers
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING
DPB # 128
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2000, 1:20 P.M. (ON THE RECORD UNLESS OTHERWISE
NOTED)
MR. REEKER: Okay. 'Twas the week before Christmas, and here at Main State,
the Spokesman was waiting, the media was late. (Laughter.) Welcome back,
everybody. Always nice to see you this fine Tuesday here at the Department
of State.
I do have one announcement, or one statement, and we will put this out in
paper copy after the briefing. This is regarding Bolivia's coca reduction
efforts. Today, Bolivian President Hugo Banzer is presiding over a ceremony
to mark the elimination of all significant coca in the Chapare region,
which is Bolivia's principal coca-growing region. Seven thousand five
hundred hectares of coca remaining in the Chapare were eliminated this year
despite severe violence directed at eradication forces, resulting in the
death of seven police and military personnel.
We applaud the resolve of the Bolivian Government and the Bolivian people
to free their country from the tyranny of drug trafficking. And while less
than 14,000 hectares of coca remain under cultivation in the Yungas region,
the Bolivian Government has outlined plans for reductions to the level
needed for internal indigenous use and export to the pharmaceutical and
commercial market.
With US Government support, a full range of counter-narcotics alternative
development projects, coca elimination and law enforcement interdiction
programs can be initiated early in the next year. So President Banzer will
no doubt face challenges as he moves to consolidate the success of Plan
Dignidad in the Chapare and replicate that success in the Yungas region.
The United States will continue to support President Banzer in this
important endeavor.
And with that, I will be happy to turn to the questions, beginning with Mr.
Schweid of the Associated Press.
QUESTION: Well, we have peace talks -- well, negotiations, anyhow --
maybe begun already at Bolling Air Force Base. I wanted to check US policy
a little bit with you. The violence hasn't totally gone away. Is it the US
position now that it's all right to negotiate -- well, obviously it must be
-- but the US now supports negotiations even without a total halt to the
violence?
MR. REEKER: As we have said for some time now, Barry, the President and
the Secretary of State have pledged to do what we can to support the
efforts of the leaders from both sides to get back to the peace table, back
to the path towards peace. Obviously Israeli and Palestinian leaders, as we
discussed yesterday, have agreed to have their representatives travel here
to Washington. Teams from both sides have arrived in Washington this
morning. They are going to have parallel bilateral discussions this week at
Bolling Air Force Base. They asked us to support their efforts, and in
keeping with the President's and the Secretary's pleasures, we have agreed
to do so.
It is still very critical that the cycle of violence be broken, and I said
yesterday from this podium that if negotiations are to be successful, the
situation on the ground will have to change. Violence can never produce an
agreement, and only negotiations will be able to produce an agreement.
There is truly no other way.
So right now we are going to focus on these discussions taking place at
Bolling Air Force Base and watch for next steps. As I said, the parties
have made this decision. We hope that this can ameliorate the situation. We
are going to support their efforts. But, again, as you asked and what you
raise, it is very critical that the cycle of violence be broken. Again,
violence can never produce an agreement.
QUESTION: Well, it's a question of whether violence has produced a new
round of negotiations. You know, there is a view that the Palestinians
resorted to violence, unable to get everything they wanted in July, and now
there are negotiations going on. So isn't violence a part of the picture,
or do you see violence as being a separate matter not connected at all with
the demands or the positions of either side?
MR. REEKER: Look, we have said many times before, Barry, going back a
number of weeks as the difficult and traumatic days have unfolded in terms
of the experiences we have seen over the past 11 weeks, that this violence
has to stop. Violence is not the solution to the problems of the Middle
East. It is not going to help produce an agreement. We have got to have
negotiations to be able to produce an agreement.
The President and Secretary Albright have both said that they are committed
to doing everything that they can to support peace efforts in the Middle
East, and that is what we are doing here. Again, is it the two parties that
have decided to send their representatives, to send negotiators to
Washington. They will be having talks. We will be having bilateral talks.
Our team led by Ambassador Dennis Ross, our Special Middle East Coordinator,
and his Deputy Aaron Miller will be meeting with both sides today. We
expect there will also be trilateral discussions and we will let those
talks proceed. It is a hopeful first step, but obviously the violence has
to stop as well. And we have called upon both sides to take every measure
possible to reduce the violence.
QUESTION: Could you comment on the presence in this round of talks of
Mohamed Dahlan and the fact that -- I mean, has he been in other discussions?
MR. REEKER: I could not. I am afraid I am not just even familiar with the
readouts of specific individuals, the lists of who is in the talks. I know
that the Israeli delegation is led by their Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami
and the Palestinian delegation is led by Saeb Erekat, and I already
mentioned who is leading our delegation.
QUESTION: You said that you are expecting trilateral talks, but you're
not sure? I mean, right now it's Americans with the Palestinians, and the
Americans with the Israelis?
MR. REEKER: Again, the two teams have arrived in Washington today, this
morning. I am not going to be able to provide you with a tick-tock readout
of when talks take place, but we expect our team, led by Ambassador Ross,
to meet with both teams separately in bilateral discussions. Those may take
place in sort of parallel fashion. And there will also be trilateral
discussions, but I am just not in a position to tell you exactly when or
how, but we do expect that to take place.
QUESTION: Can I just follow up, please? When you say the bilateral
discussions, is the United States bringing any sort of bridging proposals
to the table here, or is it just expected the Israelis are going to present
their views and then you're going to go run across the hall to the others
guys and --
MR. REEKER: Again, at this point, it is an opportunity for our team to
meet with each side separately to look at the situation, to talk with them.
I am not going to be able to get into a review of exactly what is being
discussed in this process. This is in keeping with the President of the
United States and the Secretary of State's pledge to do all we can to help
the two sides in a process which is theirs. And so we will have those
discussions separately. We expect trilateral discussions to take place. And
taking this one step at a time, then we may see at some point that the
Israelis and Palestinians would meet directly on their own.
QUESTION: Can you discuss White House and/or Secretary Albright's
involvement in these talks, either to get them started, or do they expect
to be part of the negotiations?
MR. REEKER: Obviously the President and Secretary, as I said yesterday,
will be closely following these discussions. I am sure they will be kept up
to date on the discussions as they take place at Bolling Air Force Base.
Contrary to some reports, I talked to the White House and there is not, I
understand, an expectation of the President having any meetings today. So
no definitive decisions on scheduling any meetings, but we would expect
during the course of the talks and their time here in Washington that the
President and the Secretary of State would at some point meet with the
teams.
QUESTION: Are you planning to take cell phones off the members of the
delegations and,
if so --
MR. REEKER: I don't have any specifics on the administrative details of --
QUESTION: And if so -- okay. And, also, I realize that you're not going
to be able to give us what you call a tick-tock of meetings --
MR. REEKER: I think that's a journalistic term.
QUESTION: Really? But could you at least give us perhaps a daily or twice-
daily account of what's happening?
MR. REEKER: We will see what we can do. I make no promises. But seeing as
it is the holiday season, I will certainly be happy to ask what kind of
gifts we may provide for our --
QUESTION: In the spirit of Ramadan?
MR. REEKER: I will try to check in with our team obviously and see what
their ability will be or what they want to do. And obviously we would refer
you to the representatives of those two sides here in Washington, who I am
sure will be willing to let you know what they are doing.
QUESTION: Maybe. And can you tell us what the first item on the timetable
is today? Are they --
MR. REEKER: No.
QUESTION: No? You can't tell us that?
MR. REEKER: Well, in terms of items. I mean, as I indicated, we expect
separate meetings.
QUESTION: Not the agenda, but the -- are they having a lunch together?
MR. REEKER: I just can't break it down into whether it is lunch or when
it would start, what meals or beverage arrangements are made. But obviously
our team, led by Dennis Ross and Aaron Miller, expects to meet with both
the Israeli group and the Palestinian group.
QUESTION: But you don't know of any plans for an informal trilateral, as
they did last time there?
MR. REEKER: What I know is that a trilateral meeting is certainly
expected to take place in the context of this, but I don't have that kind
of detail.
QUESTION: On the food portion --
MR. REEKER: On the food portion, yes.
QUESTION: Has the Palestinian delegation been invited to the Iftaar
dinner that the Secretary is hosting?
MR. REEKER: I do not believe that is the case. As you mentioned -- and
that you have all undoubtedly seen the Notice to the Press last week --
Secretary Albright will be hosting an Iftaar dinner this evening here in
the Department for the Muslim American community. As you know, the Iftaar
meal is one that breaks the fast for Muslims during Ramadan, and of course
this reaffirms the Secretary's and the Department's commitment to deepening
our relations with the growing Muslim American community. But I do not
expect -- at least at this point I have no indication-- that the team would
be joining that dinner tonight.
QUESTION: How long do you think the talks are going to take? Are you
planning for more than one day, more than two days?
MR. REEKER: I don't have an indication particularly of a schedule on
this. As I indicated yesterday and can reiterate today, we don't have a set
schedule on this in terms of the length of time. I do think we can
certainly expect this week, which is reasonably well defined for you, but I
don't have a specific time. Obviously --
QUESTION: Because of Islamic week or Jewish week --
MR. REEKER: We will just try to keep you posted in the tick-tock of
events that we describe for you.
QUESTION: Could I ask one follow-up? Will she be lighting Hanukah candles
Thursday night or celebrating any other major religious holidays?
MR. REEKER: I will be happy to ask for you, Barry.
QUESTION: Sure, spinning of dreidles. And while we're at it, just because
I know that it may seem obvious to all of us -- and nothing negative
intended here -- but could you just in a sentence or two -- or more, if you
would like -- explain why Mideast talks are held under such extraordinary,
excruciating secrecy, as distinct from -- you know, there are other
businesses of diplomacy where reporters -- and reporters being stand-ins
for the public -- you know, get to get an opening statement or --
MR. REEKER: Frankly, I don't see this as being extraordinarily secret in
the fact that we have been discussing now for two full days the fact that
the teams are here and that they are going to have these talks. I don't
think trying to make progress through these talks is benefited by
conducting them in public, and I think that is the reason that we try to
allow the two parties -- whose process it is, after all -- to conduct this
without the assistance of our good friends from the media. And obviously we
will try to do what we can to provide you updates as they go on, but to
allow the process to continue apace.
QUESTION: Well, you said two different things. You said you expect there
to be trilateral discussions, and then you said there will be trilateral
discussions. Did both sides commit that at some point they will have a
trilateral meeting, or you're basing that on any progress that --
MR. REEKER: I don't know what commitments anybody has made or whether
they have focused on that. When I spoke with Ambassador Ross' team, they
indicated that there will be trilateral meetings, that that's an expectation
in this process. Trilateral meetings in terms of a meeting between the two
parties, just the two of them, that is something that we could also expect
but we have to take it one step at a time.
QUESTION: I've been gone for a while, but are you talking about this --
QUESTION: You didn't miss much.
QUESTION: Exactly. It doesn't seem like I've missed much.
MR. REEKER: We missed you, Matt. We missed you.
QUESTION: You're saying over and over this is their process, they're
coming here, this is them. I thought they were invited to come here by the
Secretary and the President. No?
MR. REEKER: The President and the Secretary have long said --
QUESTION: Didn't they say, "Why don't you guys come over here and have a
talk?"
MR. REEKER: No. Both sides made a decision. The two sides made a decision
that they wanted to meet --
QUESTION: To accept an invitation?
MR. REEKER: No, no. The parties made a decision. They each made a
decision --
QUESTION: Okay. The United States had absolutely nothing to do with them
coming to Bolling Air Force Base to talk? They decided that they --
MR. REEKER: Look, Matt. I mean, I don't know what point you're trying to
prove, but we have said for months and months and months, if not years,
that we stand ready to help the parties however we can. That is the pledge
that the President and the Secretary have made in terms of this process.
But obviously it is the two parties that have to make the decision to have
their teams come together. They asked us to support their efforts, and we
agreed to do so.
So there is a standing invitation of ours to be as helpful as possible.
That has been stated very clearly by the President of the United States and
the Secretary of State on any number of occasions. Israeli and Palestinian
leaders agreed to have their representatives travel here for parallel
bilateral discussions this week, and they asked us to support this effort,
and we said yes.
QUESTION: What I was trying to get at was the tick-tock of this
Administration and rather than -- and whether or not that they had accepted
invitations to come here. And you seem to say yes, there is a standing
invitation, so they have. Lovely answer.
MR. REEKER: Right, okay.
QUESTION: Is there anybody from transition team with Dennis Ross going to
peace talks?
MR. REEKER: I'm sorry, one more time?
QUESTION: Is there anybody from transition team with Dennis --
MR. REEKER: No.
QUESTION: New subject?
QUESTION: No, I have one --
MR. REEKER: Let me just follow up on what we have said now for a number
of days in terms of the transition team which, as you know, is slowly
developing here in the Department. The Secretary of State, and obviously
the President of the United States, have a responsibility, constitutional
responsibility, that they will continue to meet until January the
20th.
Both the President and the Secretary have talked extensively about having a
smooth transition and how much they want to help in that process, and we
reviewed yesterday the meetings that the Secretary has had with Secretary-
designate Powell. And I am sure you have all seen the pictures of the
President meeting with President-elect Bush, and in fact today the
Secretary is continuing her meetings with the Secretary-designate by having
lunch with him, as we speak, I believe. So that process goes on. And while
the President and the Secretary fulfill their responsibilities, they will
keep informed the transition team and the appropriate people on any
developments or decisions, as appropriate.
QUESTION: Phil, when you say the US wants to help, can you just finish
the sentence, if you feel like it -- I mean, if you feel like it's called
for?
MR. REEKER: I have to write his copy now.
QUESTION: Well, I mean, you know, we're short of facts so we're looking
for maybe nuances that aren't there. But is the US trying to help them
reach an agreement, or is it for them to decide if there is a basis for an
agreement, or maybe the two are not mutually exclusive?
MR. REEKER: I think you are correct in the last thing you said: this
isn't mutually exclusive; this is an opportunity for the two parties to
meet. They have representatives that have traveled to Washington, and it is
up to them to discuss the issues of concern so that they can find the way
back to the peace process. That is obviously the ultimate goal, is to find
peace here. Ending the violence, as we discussed just a few moments ago, is
absolutely critical, absolutely important, and so this is an opportunity,
which we hope is a good sign, to move back in a positive direction.
New subject? Anything else on the Middle East? No.
QUESTION: I just have one practical question. Will they ever leave the
Air Force Base? I mean, are they sleeping there?
MR. REEKER: I don't know.
QUESTION: You don't know? I mean, are they always confined in that area --
(inaudible) -- cell phones?
MR. REEKER: Again, I don't know. I think my understanding would be yes. I
will try to check into that if there will be more details, but I don't know
the specifics of their billeting or their messing, which I hope is the
correct term.
QUESTION: Transition question?
MR. REEKER: Transition, please.
QUESTION: General Colin Powell said that he was meeting Albright for
lunch today. How much of a transition in terms of -- do they just talk
about logistical things or do they talk about issues and, you know, the
kind of handover of the big issues? And how much of the transition will be
done on that level?
MR. REEKER: Well, I think it is largely a question I can't answer. I mean,
we have discussed the fact that the Secretary called General Powell, now
Secretary-designate Powell, from her aircraft returning from Europe on
Saturday about the time of the announcement that he would be our next
Secretary of State. They had a good discussion then, agreed to get together
at the soonest possible convenience. In fact, that took place Sunday when
they met for over three hours at Secretary Albright's residence here in
Georgetown. The Secretary and Secretary-designate were alone in that
meeting, and as I said yesterday to all of you, the readout I got from that
meeting was that it was an excellent meeting; they had a very good and full
discussion, and agreed to continue their discussions.
I don't have specifics on that, but I can certainly suggest that they talk
about a wide range of issues. The Secretary noted in her statement released
Saturday that she had had a lot of support in a smooth transition herself,
and has been very grateful for the help she has gotten from her predecessors,
and she pledged to offer similar availability and support to Secretary-
designate Powell as this transition continues and into the future.
So I think those talks will continue. As I noted, they are having lunch
today. I think you can expect that they discuss a wide range of issues.
Secretary-designate Powell was, as we discussed yesterday, in the building
yesterday. He met with a number of State Department officials in the
transition offices that he and his team are occupying. And obviously those
talks will continue, I am sure, at a variety of levels, and as the team
expands, they will be able to focus on specific topics to which they are
each assigned. So we will let the process take its course and try to report
to you in due course.
QUESTION: New subject. At an event this morning, Colin Powell told us
that he had had to "crash" the event because -- and I guess Congressman
Rangel said that he had tried to invite Colin Powell but was told by
Powell's own people that it's not appropriate for him to attend an event
since he's not part of the administration yet, which is kind of ironic
considering that it's a diversity event.
Do you have any explanation for why he would --
MR. REEKER: I am not sure that there is a particular irony in that but --
QUESTION: (Inaudible) -- Howard University --
MR. REEKER: There was a very nice event this morning, and I know that the
Secretary herself was extremely pleased that Secretary-designate Powell
could participate in that as well. He was here preparing to have lunch with
her.
As you all know, the Secretary signed a "Principles of Cooperation" with
Howard University with Howard University President Swygert today. These
Principles establish a formal relationship between the Department of State
and Howard University to work towards the goal of promoting a more diverse
workforce here at the Department -- something we have talked about for a
long time and the Secretary has been very concerned with. She has been
committed to improving our workforce diversity. She has worked with
Ambassador Marc Grossman, our Director General of the Foreign Service, the
head of Human Resources here at the Department, to reflect --
QUESTION: (Inaudible) -- to invite the Secretary-designate?
MR. REEKER: Exactly. He was preparing to meet with her and --
QUESTION: No, but to this event. You don't know whether she asked him to
come or whether she thought it would be appropriate that he come?
MR. REEKER: I think she thought it was perfectly appropriate, and in fact
we sent out word to all of you here -- those that hadn't already gone up to
it -- that the Secretary-designate would be there.
QUESTION: But it was a surprise to everyone that he came?
MR. REEKER: That could be. I can't --
QUESTION: He told us that he wasn't invited.
MR. REEKER: No, I read the transcript of what he said among the laughter
that accompanied it, so I think we were all very pleased that he was there.
And obviously this is an arrangement, a relationship, with Howard
University that should be very important for all of us in the coming years,
and obviously that will be important as the new administration takes over
and Secretary-designate Powell is in charge of the State Department.
QUESTION: Do you know, is it just kind of a rough period in between the
time when he takes over and he's just transitioning? I mean, do you expect
that he will attend many events here? I wasn't here for the last transition.
MR. REEKER: I just couldn't say. I can't speak for his schedule or what
his plans would be in terms of events. Again, Secretary Albright is the
Secretary of State until the 20th of January, so she will be fulfilling her
responsibilities and the role that she has up until that time. She will
continue to meet with the Secretary-designate. I think they have had a very
good series of meetings now. Both have seemed very pleased with that. So I
am just not in a position to speak for what his schedule or expectations
will be for events over the coming days and weeks.
QUESTION: Is security one of the issues that they have talked about
already? I ask because there are physical things going on at the building,
changes being made. Well, I mean, you have a guard every three feet in the
basement, for instance. That can be increased or put in reverse, but there
are changes -- the structure of the building is changing.
MR. REEKER: All the time. We're building a new briefing room, Barry.
QUESTION: A new briefing room, and I expect you'll have machine gun
turrets pretty soon downstairs. But the point being that these things are
hard to put in reverse if the next Secretary of State doesn't agree with
it. What I am trying to say is, has she explained to him what the current
people think is the need for greater security measures, including some
physical changes? And has he said it makes sense to me, full speed
ahead?
MR. REEKER: I think I indicated, Barry, that I just am not privy to the
details of the discussions between Secretary Albright and Secretary-
designate Powell, and I don't expect to be. I think they have indicated
that they have wide-ranging discussions. Security is something that is
paramount to the Department of State. It has been something that Secretary
Albright has taken very seriously, and I have no doubt that it is something
that they will discuss. But in terms of your references to specific
measures, I am just not really quite sure to what you are referring, but
obviously I wouldn't be in a --
QUESTION: Well, they're changing the entry, for instance, the way of
driving into the building and, you know, this talk of actually closing the
street. I just mean when physical changes are made, you know, they take on
a certain life of their own. And I think it would maybe be helpful to know
if the incoming administration, you know, thinks this is the way to go,
because changing it would be very difficult.
MR. REEKER: I think, Barry, that security is something everybody takes
very seriously, and we allow the professionals who make reviews of security
to do their jobs and take the necessary measures. We have talked at great
length over this past year about the need for some security changes here.
It is a complicated world we live in. There are security threats that we
are aware of that we have talked about.
Our policy, as always, is not to talk about specific security measures for
the building or for any particular individual because that wouldn't be
particularly prudent or responsible to discuss in a public forum. But we
recognize very much the importance of security, and I think there will
obviously be discussions at a variety of levels between the transition team
and the current team in terms of security and the importance of security.
And I think we leave that to the professionals to make the judgments
there.
QUESTION: Can I ask on something else? In her remarks at this Howard
ceremony, specifically with regard to trying to attract students from
Howard, she also made remarks about the difficulty in recruiting people
into the Foreign Service. But obviously she didn't say why it's difficult.
Is it more difficult now? And if it is difficult, why is it difficult for
the State Department to keep Foreign Service professionals or to get bright
college students of any ethnic background to come to work here?
MR. REEKER: Well, I think you are all aware in a thriving economy which
we have experienced in the last several years, the difficulties, the
competition for strong employees. The Secretary has enunciated many times,
as has Ambassador Grossman and others, that the Department of State
requires a skilled, motivated, flexible and diverse workforce, and that is
certainly what we are aiming to do.
We have to compete for strong employees with lots of other strong
employers. And so just as others in the private sector, other parts of the
government sector, the growing nongovernmental sector of our economy are
competing to get top employees with the right skills and also taking into
account diversity, that is not an easy job. And so we work very hard.
Secretary Albright has worked very hard.
This agreement that was signed today, the Principles of Cooperation with
Howard University, I think will be an excellent opportunity to work with a
really top national university here in Washington, D.C., to help us to
create an environment here at the State Department that can continue to
attract and retain the best employees in order to effectively carry out our
mission on behalf of the people of the United States.
When the Foreign Service exam was given this past fall, there were still
more than 10,000, I believe, people sitting for that exam. It is a very
competitive process to join the Foreign Service. It is competitive to join
our civil service ranks. We, as I said, need to get skilled, motivated,
flexible and diverse people to join our workforce, and it is not an easy
task in this day and age.
QUESTION: Thank you.
(The briefing was concluded at 2:00 P.M.)
