Remarks on Kosovo, Burma and Lebanon

USUN PRESS RELEASE #233

Ambassador Khalilzad: Good morning. We just had a good session on Kosovo. We heard from the Secretary-General's special representative with regard to the situation and with regard to next steps. There was a good discussion on the issue of the elections which are planned for next month, local elections. And we applauded the efforts of the special representative and his team in preparations for those elections. There was a report that Serbia is discouraging the Serb minority from participating in those elections. Several members, including myself, deplored that and supported the representation made by the special representative to the Prime Minster of Serbia that they need to do everything they can to help encourage Serb participation rather than discourage Serb participation. There was also a discussion with regard to other achievements of the special representative and his team, particularly with regard to the elections that have been held, with regard to the capacity building of the ministries, of the legislature, and that they have achieved many of their core objectives. And that the continuation of the current situation is not sustainable. The final status needs to be determined as soon as possible. It is fair to say that most members, especially it is the view of the United States that the Troika effort needs to be terminated as, that is the timeline for the mandate of the Troika on December 10 that the best outcome obviously will be that all parties, the parties Serbs and Kosovar, come to an agreement. But one cannot continue indefinitely with the situation without clarifying final status because the potential for destabilizing Kosovo where the UN and NATO have a presence, it is a challenge to them, to the local people, to the peace and stability in the region, and peace and stability in Europe. This is after all, a big issue for the future of Europe. Both of these entities, Kosovo and Serbia, belong to Europe. They should have a European perspective. But to get from here to there the situation in Kosovo needs to be clarified with regard to the final status. And we had a good discussion back and forth between various members. But it's our view, and the view expressed by the special representative, and I don't want to put words in his mouth, that the status needs to be finalized, and be finalized soon. And as I said, the preference would be for the parties to come to an agreement, but time is running out. Hopefully, Troika will succeed, otherwise we will have to come to that decision by, otherwise. Thank you very much.

Reporter: Ambassador, on Burma, where are things at in terms of a Declaration?

Ambassador Khalilzad: Well we are negotiating, the experts are meeting to finalize a draft text of a PRST, Presidential Statement. The Secretary-General spoke this morning to the First Lady of the United States on Burma. We believe it is very important that progress be made, that the prisoners are released, that the conditions for Aung San Suu Kyi be improved. That she can prepare for participation negotiations for a transition, that there be negotiations for a transition. And that we need to start preparing ourselves with regard to a transition in Burma. And we would like, of course, the Special Representative to go back as soon as possible, Mr. Gambari, so that he can facilitate a dialogue between the government, the military, and the opposition. The military as a national institution has its role to play in the transition, and post-transition. But it's very important that a serious dialogue on transition begins. And that the international community, regional players, play their roles. I was heartened by the statement made by the Senior Official of the Singaporean Government given that they have the Chair of ASEAN, given that the situation in Burma is a time bomb. It is a serious situation that the people of Burma deserve international support. And certainly the United States is working hard inside and outside the UN.

Reporter: The meeting today with Mr. Hariri, can you please describe us what was it about?

Ambassador Khalilzad: I have not met with Mr. Hariri here. I will be meeting with him later. I have met with him in various other settings already in Washington and here and we'll be very supportive obviously. U.S. policy is quite well known. We want the presidential election to take place in a timely manner. We want no interference in the process by outsiders in electing a president. We want the tribunal to move forward as soon as possible. I made our announcement of contribution. We will be discussing that with Mr. Hariri how we can generate the necessary financial support to make the tribunal operational as soon as possible. This is extremely important as well as having timely presidential elections. We'll be discussing what we can do together to achieve those goals.

Reporter: Ambassador, why is it taking so long to agree on a statement on Burma?

Ambassador Khalilzad: Well, I'm sure you are a keen observer of the United Nations, the Security Council. We have several members with different perspectives on what needs to be in the PRST. We are working to come to an agreement. A lot of my time in the Security Council is spent when we talk about statements or resolution, wordsmithing, finding alternative words that can find broad support without compromising on the goals, ideas, suggestions, proposals that we have and I'm sure, my colleagues have faced similar issues but we are working on it. Our hope is that we finalize it today.

Reporter: Ambassador, just to follow up on Hariri, can you please clarify what are the difficulties regarding generating enough financing for the tribunal?

Ambassador Khalilzad: What are the difficulties? Well, we need to generate 40 million in cash, 80 million in pledges and I think based on a good plan and we are working to the other plan, we should be able to generate those resources and that's what we are going to discuss how to move forward.

Reporter: (inaudible)

Ambassador Khalilzad: We have not really…the campaign to get those resources have not been launched. We've committed five, Lebanon has committed five. So we need to generate more.

Reporter: What do you mean as soon as possible about the tribunal?

Ambassador Khalilzad: Well we think that is should be done. It has not happened as quickly as it should happen and we want to do what we can and I will discuss ideas with Mr. Hariri how we can accelerate it. The sooner the better. Political assassination, not only of Mr Hariri, the prime minister, but of members of parliament has continued. This is serious issue. The threat to stability in Lebanon but to the region and to the world so we need to move at a faster pace.

Reporter: So finance is the only obstacle Mr. Ambassador?

Ambassador Khalilzad: At this point, the key.

Reporter: Thank you. Would you kindly tell us if you see a Security Council role in providing some sort of protection at least political one so that there will be no reoccurrence of these assassination you mentioned you spoke about. Is this something you are discussing among SC members or in your talks with Mr Hariri?

Ambassador Khalilzad: We'll discuss it with Mr. Hariri, this idea has come up on occasion. Politically of course, the Security Council has a role in terms of holding those responsible accountable and a strong united message by the international community in this regard, with regard to accountability. But with regard to specific steps for protecting members of parliament, this idea has come up, we will discuss it with Mr. Hariri as well, as to whether it is a role for the forces that are there under the UN mandate.

Reporter: What do you mean a message on accountability, can you describe what you mean by that? A united message on accountability?

Ambassador Khalilzad: Well, those who commit political assassination will be brought to justice. There is no impunity, no matter how long it takes the international community is determined to support bringing those people to justice. And that if these assassinations are in part motivated by derailing the establishment of the tribunal, by preventing it from taking place, there may be other motives too, but if that is the motive we are determined to make sure this tribunal is operationalized. If anything, it has increased our effort to operationalize it as quickly as possible. Thank you very much.