Briefing on New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD)

ASSISTANT SECRETARY KANSTEINER:  Welcome.  We've had a busy day, a NEPAD day, at the UN.  The Secretary made his remarks at noontime.  They've been very well received and we've had a whole series of bilateral talks, and, in fact, there's now a second plenary going on on NEPAD and the delivery systems for NEPAD.

But any questions, welcome, on anything you want to talk about.

QUESTION:  I actually have a couple of questions that I would like to ask you.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY KANSTEINER:  Certainly.

QUESTION:  The first question is you might have read -- I think there was an article, if I'm correct, in the Financial Times last week, an interview with former South African President Nelson Mandela, where he criticized the United States.  He basically said that the United States was a threat to world peace.  I would just like your comments on that.

And the other questions that I would like to ask, I'm not sure if I should ask them all at once or --

ASSISTANT SECRETARY KANSTEINER:  Well, let me just take that first and then we'll go back.  A lot has happened in the last five days.  In fact, the President's speech to the UN was a real turning point for a number of issues, not the least being the Iraqi issue.  And so I think in light of that speech and the actions that the US has taken with the UN and with the Security Council, I think the focus has shifted and it's very much one of looking to the UN, to work with the UN.  And so I think those remarks perhaps were made prior to that course of events, and so I think most folks would agree that it's changed quite a bit.

.But, please, your other questions, too.

QUESTION:  Okay.  The other question I would like to ask you, the Secretary, the US Secretary of State, Mr. Colin Powell, was in South Africa not so long ago to attend the World Summit on Sustainable Development, and during his visit there were some protestors who booed him.  And I just wanted to find out, you know, what you thought of that and what was achieved by his visit to Johannesburg during the summit.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY KANSTEINER:  Right.  Well, the WSSD summit, hosted by South Africa, was a very successful summit in that it laid out some of the very tangible issues and very real goals and objectives that the world now can work on in terms of sustainable development, in terms of protecting the environment.

It was after Johannesburg that the Secretary then went to Angola and Gabon.  In Gabon, there was a very tangible program that was initiated by President Bongo, partially financed by the United States, to open up 10 percent of his country's land mass to national parks, preserving the unique ecosystems that are found in the Congo River Basin area.  Our contribution on a bilateral level was towards facilitating capacity-building to manage those parks, including park rangers, training of park rangers, demarcation of parks, and encouraging ecotourism coming out of those parks.

All of that grew out of the Johannesburg summit.  All of that grew out of our concern for protecting some of the unique ecosystems that exist, not only in Africa but around the world.

QUESTION:  I will just ask you two more questions.  Just going back to the Mandela issue, the statements by Mr. Mandela, have they in any way affected diplomatic relations between the United States and South Africa?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY KANSTEINER:  No, they have not, in the sense that we've had excellent relations with the South African Government and continue; in fact, we had bilateral discussions with them today that covered a number of issues.  So we look forward to continuing to work with South Africa on a bilateral basis, and also within the non-align movement and other various hats that are worn by Pretoria.

QUESTION:  Last question.  I believe you -- I mean, you are also confirming that there were bilateral talks between South Africa and the United States.  What came out of these bilateral talks this afternoon?  Anything concrete?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY KANSTEINER:  Well, we discussed some follow-up issues on NEPAD and how the Millennium Challenge Account which the United States is instituting, how we can work closely with the NEPAD Secretariat.  We also looked at some of the G-8 responses to NEPAD and a number of other bilateral issues.

QUESTION:  The Secretary, in his remarks this morning, had only one sentence to say about Zimbabwe.  Why?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY KANSTEINER:  Well, it was a short intervention, it was a quick speech, and I thought it was important that we specifically brought up Zimbabwe as a warning; that is, it's an example of what happens when you don't pay attention to good governance, when you don't pay attention to the issues that NEPAD is surrounding itself with.  You end up with a failed country like Zimbabwe.

QUESTION:  (Inaudible.)

ASSISTANT SECRETARY KANSTEINER:   It has come up in the past in the bilats with a number of Southern African countries.

QUESTION:  In the bilateral with the President of Cameroon, how much discussion was there about Iraq and whether or not Cameroon would support a UN resolution on Iraq?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY KANSTEINER:  The bilateral with Cameroon covered a number of issues, the Bakassi Peninsula being one.  That's the dispute, the boundary dispute that's going on between Nigeria and Cameroon.  It's now in the court, in The Hague.  We're awaiting judgment on that, a ruling on that.

Cameroon's role on the Security Council was brought up.  In fact, the Secretary thanked President Biya for his support and very good analysis and clear thinking on a number of past issues, and we look forward to working with him on future problems and future resolutions.  And President Biya appreciated that and said that, in fact, Cameroon does look forward to working with us on not only Iraq but other subjects as they come forward in the Security Council.

We also discussed the Congo River Basin and, as Cameroon is part of that Congo River Basin, how they can more fully participate in some of the plans that we have for the region.

QUESTION:  But Iraq was not a large part of that discussion -- whether or, how they, I mean I'm just trying to get a sense.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY KANSTEINER:  Yeah.  It was -- I wouldn't say it was a large part, no, but it definitely was in it, in the sense that Cameroon is on the Security Council.  In fact, Cameroon will be the President of the Security Council come October.  But there was other Security Council business that we discussed, as well.

QUESTION:  But did they indicate any support for the American position on Iraq or did they think --

ASSISTANT SECRETARY KANSTEINER:    They, in fact, commented that the President's speech was a very excellent beginning and that it clearly showed some thoughtful analysis that they were appreciative of.

QUESTION:  Are you guys still expressing concern about possible Libyan leadership of the Human Rights Commission?  I understand the African bloc is supposed to choose its candidate very soon.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY KANSTEINER:   Right.  In fact, I'm having dinner with Lorne Craner tonight, and he will fully brief me on that situation.

QUESTION:  So it didn't come up today?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY KANSTEINER:  It did not.  But it might come up tomorrow after my dinner with Lorne tonight.

QUESTION:  We now have the new compact, Partnership for Africa.  We've had a Partnership for Africa before.  We've had a Special Session of the General Assembly on Africa.  Does the US see anything different in this new partnership?  What is it?  And how does that affect how the US will be dealing with Africa in the coming year?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY KANSTEINER:  Good question.  We do think there's a difference with NEPAD, in the sense that at the core of NEPAD's theology, if you will, is a notion that good governance is not only expected, but good governance is going to be required of African governments.  And the implementation component of that is the neighbors, other African states, are going to expect their colleagues to have good governance and practice good governance.  That's a different perspective than what we've seen in the past and we think it's an important one and it's an important addition, and we embrace it wholly and fully.

In fact, if you look at the Millennium Challenge Account philosophy, which President Bush unveiled in Monterrey, the philosophy behind that is very similar to NEPAD:  good governance; delivery systems to the people, primarily health care and education; and economic freedoms and liberties.  Those are the three criteria, if you will, that will guide us in the Millennium Challenge Account.  Those are also pretty much the three main criteria in NEPAD, so I think there's a lot of crossover and a lot of commonality between NEPAD and the Millennium Challenge Account.  And that's why we take NEPAD seriously and we're hopeful that it does more than just talk about it, but that there's actually implementation.

Yeah.

QUESTION:  Can I go back to Zimbabwe for a second?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY KANSTEINER:  Sure.

QUESTION:  Have you guys expressed any disappointment or have you said anything to the New York City Council about inviting Mugabe down to the -- down there and feting him?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY KANSTEINER:  Well, as you know, the treaty that we have regarding the United Nations allows UN visitors to come into the United States, and so there is visa allowances that occur.  And in the case of Mr. Mugabe coming to the UN, that's exactly what he -- he had a visa waiver on that.

QUESTION:  I don't mean coming to the UN.  I'm talking about the City of New York City Council people honoring him.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY KANSTEINER:  Right.  And there's a provision that allows him to be in a 22-mile radius or a 23-mile radius or whatever it is of the UN General Assembly, so he has certain freedoms and liberties.

QUESTION:  I'm not talking about his physical presence.  I'm talking about the symbolic message that's sent by elected leaders of the City of New York.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY KANSTEINER:  Right.  And as you know, our separation of powers enables --

QUESTION:  Okay, let me cut to the chase --

ASSISTANT SECRETARY KANSTEINER:  Third tier --

QUESTION:  I've been told you guys told some of the City Council that it would be a bad idea, and some of them did not show up because of that.  Others of them did, so what's the deal?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY KANSTEINER:  I'm not aware of any messages sent to the New York City Council.

I'm off the hook.  Here we go.  We're done.  Thank you all for coming on a rainy afternoon.