Preview of Secretary Powell's G-8 Trip

QUESTION: Thank you, Barry.

MR. BOUCHER: The Secretary's travel to France tomorrow is for a G-8 foreign ministers meeting. G-8 foreign ministers have the responsibility to help prepare for the leaders meeting which comes ten days or so later in Evian, France. So the G-8 foreign ministers will meet in Paris. I'm sure they'll discuss the full range of topics in the world. We cooperate with many of these countries on things like our efforts in the Middle East. We expect to cooperate with them in terms of, for example, the rebuilding of Iraq. We're already working together in Afghanistan. There are mutual concerns about any number of topics around the world, including things like the situation with Iran and broader questions like nonproliferation.

So this is a chance for the Secretary to get together with some of the foreign ministers, with the foreign ministers of the G-8, with some of the foreign ministers that we work most closely with, in order to pursue a full range of issues and see where there are areas for cooperation. In that context, I suppose, it can contribute to overcoming or moving beyond some of the differences that we've had with certain members. As you know, we have cooperated very closely with some members of the G-8 in terms of the action that we took in Iraq. Many are members of the coalition. Many are very supportive on the reconstruction side. For example, the Japanese have now put forward the idea of holding -- organizing a reconstruction donors conference, and that's something that we'll work with them and want to support on.

So we have a lot of effort underway with these various countries, but to the extent that we had some differences with some of them, we'll see how much they want to cooperate and move forward with the G-8 in accomplishing some of the goals that we think we still share.

QUESTION: Speaking of economics, an economy group, is this an opportunity to make a pitch, a further pitch, for freezing assets of terror groups, tracking them?

MR. BOUCHER: Well, the G-8 has a whole economic structure based on the treasury ministers, the finance ministers, and that feeds into the leaders as well. But certainly, where we are with Iraq in terms of looking for passage of the UN resolution, and we expect -- we look for a vote to that tomorrow, so we would hope that countries would vote in favor of it and they would be meeting in Paris after the successful completion of that UN resolution, even though we may be just arriving in Paris at the time.

And then at that point, the issue becomes how to implement that, how to move forward on things like reconstruction, where the Japanese have put together some what we think are very good ideas, very timely ideas -- we'll work with them, talk to them about that -- and how to move forward in Iraq to implement the resolution in its various aspects: selling oil, creating the fund, getting the international financial institutions involved, and yes, making sure the assets that need to be frozen are frozen and then transferred into the development fund.

QUESTION: Richard, does the Secretary have any bilats there? I've heard that he may have one with the French, but not anybody else.

MR. BOUCHER: I don't think we have a final schedule there, and so normally he would have a bilateral with the host. That's something we do at most every G-8 meeting and meeting like this. But I don't have a final schedule yet. They will be seeing a lot of each other as a group and they always find time to talk in corridors and around the meetings with individuals.

QUESTION: If he does meet with de Villepin, that would be part of the normal pattern of meeting with the host, not because he wants to have a particular conversation with the French?

MR. BOUCHER: I would say there is all kinds of reason to meet with the French Foreign Minister.

QUESTION: Richard, so can we assume, then, that the thrust of this is -- the thrust of what the ministers are going to be talking about is Iraq, Afghanistan, terrorism, nonproliferation?

MR. BOUCHER: As well as others. If you want to talk about the major issues that we want to talk to the other ministers about, it's going to be Iraq reconstruction, stabilization and reconstruction in Iraq; it's going to be pursuing the roadmap process, pursuing peace in the Middle East, how we can all contribute to that; it's going to be nonproliferation issues, including issues like Iran and nuclear developments there; and you can just throw in other regional issues as kind of a grab bag for many other things. I am sure North Korea will come up, for example.

QUESTION: Okay. And when you talked about -- when you said -- before, when you said the situation with Iran, you were referring specifically to the nonproliferation, or were you also talking about the alleged al-Qaida or the reports of al-Qaida people --

MR. BOUCHER: In the context, I should have listed the war on terrorism as well among the top three that has now become four. I am sure Iran will come up in different ways. When it comes to nonproliferation, the subject of Iran is important because of the information coming out about nuclear developments there. When it comes to the war on terrorism, the presence of al Qaida and various places is obviously very important right now.

QUESTION: Will the Secretary be looking for votes for the IAEA meeting coming up in -- next month regarding the report on Iran's proliferation activities?

MR. BOUCHER: I don't have anything specific on that meeting yet. We'll have to see --

QUESTION: But will you be expecting some of the G-8 countries --