Exerpts: August 15 Press Briefing

Question: Can you expand -- the White House has just talked a little bit about the Egypt aid situation, but very briefly and not in great detail. Can you explain what the rationale is behind the administration's decision not to pursue additional assistance to Egypt, and how it's related to the Ibrahim trial?

I don't think I can parse it too much. You're all aware that Egypt is a very close friend, a strategic partner, and an important ally of the United States, and our relationship with Egypt remains strong. As a friend and ally, the United States will abide by our Camp David commitments, but at this time we're not contemplating any additional funds beyond that commitment for Egypt.

At the same time, we have expressed also our deep disappointment over the verdict in the case of Dr. Saad Eddin Ibrahim and the serious questions that that case raises about the progress towards greater political freedom in Egypt. And I think as the White House told you, President Bush has conveyed those concerns directly to President Mubarak. So those are, I think, the issues of the day.

Question: Well, is the decision not to seek new assistance in any way related to the deep disappointment over the Ibrahim case?

Mr. Reeker: I think I want to just stick with what I've said, is that at this time we are not contemplating any additional funds for Egypt, and also what I said was that we've made very clear, and we certainly have done so here, that the Saad Eddin Ibrahim case needs to be resolved.

Yes, Elaine.

Question: But were you contemplating additional funds for Egypt before?

Mr. Reeker: I think it's something that you're all aware of that we have commitments under the Camp David agreements. I wouldn't speculate about what we would consider in terms of other things in that situation. We've certainly met our Camp David agreements, and expect to do so in the future.

I think we reiterated this point to the Egyptians. We had a meeting today, in fact, with the chargé d'affaires of the Egyptian Embassy, and confirmed to them that we're not contemplating any additional funds for Egypt at this time. We also made the point to the chargé, who was in this morning and met with officials in our Near East Affairs Bureau, reiterated the concerns regarding the verdict in the case of Dr. Ibrahim. As you know, we have raised those concerns and that issue at the very highest levels of our two governments.

Question: Can I just ask, do you have any figures on hand about aid beyond Camp David, aid that went to Egypt in the last, say, five years, or a year or two?

Mr. Reeker: Well, Egypt receives roughly $1.3 billion in foreign military financing each year, and approximately $650 million in economic support funding in Fiscal Year '02, and another 1.2 million in international military education and training, also in Fiscal Year '02.

Question: I know you don't speak for the White House. Do you know when the President told President Mubarak about this?

Mr. Reeker: I don't. I'd have to let the White House --

Question: So when the chargé came in this morning, this wasn't the first time that the Egyptians became aware of this?

Mr. Reeker: You would have to ask the Egyptians exactly the sequencing of when they, anyone in their government, became -- we certainly confirmed this morning that we're not contemplating any additional funds for Egypt at this time, and we also of course reiterated our concerns regarding the Dr. Ibrahim case.

Terri.

Question: I might just be confused, but there never was any new aid considered? So this isn't -- I mean, there wasn't any aid being considered before your decision to do this, any additional aid, so there's not really any difference after you announced this; is that correct?

Mr. Reeker: What I outlined for you, the aid that Egypt gets annually in terms of the Camp David commitments, and it's simply a fact that we are not considering other aid, contemplating other aid for Egypt at this time.

Question: Were you contemplating it before?

Mr. Reeker: I couldn't speculate on a hypothetical as to what anybody might have been contemplating. You are aware of the supplemental request that we sent to Capitol Hill regarding some aid, and so I couldn't try to parse --

Question: Is that being (inaudible)?

Mr. Reeker: I think that's a matter that the President has addressed in terms of the supplemental bill that Congress sent back to us and the figures in there. There was no, to my knowledge, Egyptian figure in that supplemental request that we made.

Question: So really, nothing -- no money that they thought they might be getting has been pulled back?

Mr. Reeker: I can't speak for the Egyptians. We're not contemplating any additional funds for Egypt at this time.

Question: So, I mean, shall I understand from that that the administration is using the additional funds as pressure because in case Egypt changes the ruling of Saad Eddin Ibrahim and change that, or --

Mr. Reeker: What we have made quite clear the need to have resolution of the case involving Dr. Ibrahim. We have been very concerned about this case. We have raised it at the highest levels for some time in this ongoing case. And so the Egyptians are quite clear on that. I can't speculate on a hypothetical situation in terms of what we might do involving US assistance levels in the future. We will meet our Camp David aid commitments, as we have, and expect to do that, but at this time we're not contemplating any additional funds for Egypt.

Question: And just to understand it, you know the Egyptians are not happy with some aspects of the latest agreement on Sudan and peace talks in Sudan, and there are differences on the Middle East peace talks, peace process, and now we have this thing on the additional funding. Do we have strained relations now between Egypt and the US?

Mr. Reeker: No. I think you may have been a little late coming in. I reiterated the fact that Egypt is a close friend, a strategic partner, an important ally of the United States, and our relationship remains strong.

Anything else on this subject? Then we can switch subjects. Let's start with this row and move our way back.

Question: You talk about resolving the issue, but I think the Egyptian position is that it's gone through the courts and it is resolved. What do you expect them to do?

Mr. Reeker: We do not feel that it is resolved. We have met here, as I mentioned, including today. We met in Cairo with senior Egyptian officials to convey our continuing concern regarding the verdict in that case and the serious questions it raises regarding progress towards greater political freedom in Egypt. We have followed the case very closely. We press our concerns with the Egyptian authorities in the hope of seeing Dr. Ibrahim's release. As you know, our Ambassador and consular officials in Cairo visit Dr. Ibrahim on a regular basis, and we're going to continue to maintain the consular access. That included a visit to Dr. Ibrahim today. The consular officers have brought medical supplies. They've secured special permission for visits of his family and medical officials, and he does appear to be in satisfactory condition, according to those who have seen him.

We have also been meeting with the Ibrahim family in our consular role on a regular basis. We keep them briefed on our pursuit of this case as a human rights issue and our commitment to the ongoing consular access that I just mentioned.

Question: So can you deal with the Foreign Minister's assertion that, you know, our judiciary is independent of the government and the case went through the court processes. I can imagine what it is the US is asking, because there's always room for executive action, but are you asking for executive action?

Mr. Reeker: Again, the next steps in a legal process, which this is, are for Mr. Ibrahim to decide in consultation with his attorneys, and I'm not going to try to comment on those privileged discussions. For our part, we're going to continue to underscore to the Egyptian Government, both here and in Washington, our concern over the verdict and the process that led to Dr. Ibrahim's conviction. We have concerns about what it says about democratic reforms in Egypt and in terms of a human rights question, and we've called for his release.

Yes, one more.

Question: Phil, do you expect some specific steps from the Egyptians, or -- we don't have specific steps that they have to take in order to satisfy you?

Mr. Reeker: There's an ongoing legal process, and some of that is very much something that Dr. Ibrahim and his legal team need to decide about. So I don't want to try to get into that. But we have underscored repeatedly to Egyptian officials the importance of this case and that they need to address it and resolve this case.

Matt.

Question: Have you noticed that you're being more assertive on issues relating to freedom and democracy in Muslim countries -- I can think of Egypt, Iraq, the Palestinian territory, Pakistan, Afghanistan -- than you were before? Have you noticed that?

Mr. Reeker: No, I think our determination to express our views about human rights and values is something we've always underscored. It's you guys that decide when you're going to write about it or when you're going to ask about it and get us to reiterate it. We do our Human Rights Report every year in the same manner we have done for many, many years. We publish that. We highlight that. We raise these issues with governments all over the world when they are of concern to us. They are part of our dialogue in many places, including in the Arab world. As part of our bilateral relations with any country, we raise these issues.

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Question: I don't know if anyone noticed the report -- it was a brief story in the Financial Times -- that the US has invited humanitarian, private nongovernmental groups to bid for humanitarian projects in Iraq, to present proposals for projects and be evaluated, I guess, by the State Department.

Is that something -- that came out last month, but I hadn't heard about it.

Mr. Reeker: Sure. Yes, you may not have seen it in the Federal Register. Matt have been away, since he's usually our Federal Register monitor.

On July 10th of this year, the Office of Northern Gulf Affairs, which is an office in our Bureau of Near East Affairs, announced in the Federal Register an open competition for proposals for humanitarian assistance projects in Iraq and for Iraqi refugees in neighboring countries, countries neighboring Iraq. The proposals, as stated in the Federal Register notice, may address a broad range of humanitarian relief to Iraqis and can include, but are not limited to, medical care, health services, health education, relief to internally displaced persons or refugees, relief supplies, shelter and housing, water supplies and sanitation, primary education and landmine education awareness and action.

It's part of our ongoing humanitarian relief effort to alleviate the suffering of the Iraqi people, and is something we've certainly talked about from this podium for some time. It's intended to provide relief and access to basic life-sustaining resources for Iraqis and Iraqi refugees, and the funding level for the program is $6.6 million. I think as the notice indicated, we anticipate awarding at least five grants somewhere between $500,000 and $3.5 million each under that money. And we anticipate that the majority of the grant proposals will involve humanitarian relief for the Kurdish-controlled areas of Northern Iraq and for Iraqi refugees in neighboring countries. And we'll evaluate those proposals. I believe the time expired August 1st for submitting those proposals, so they will be looked at and we'll evaluate those proposals.

Question: Phil, a follow-up. There's going to be a great need for this kind of assistance in the event of hostilities in Iraq, and I just wonder whether the timing of this is related to anything that may happen down the road.

Mr. Reeker: I don't think so. As your colleague noted, this is something we put out quite some time ago. It's part of our ongoing efforts for Iraq. The money, in fact, was, I believe, provided earlier as part of the money we have as part of the FY '01 budgetary allocation for Iraqi opposition activities, $12 million of which was earmarked by Congress for humanitarian relief. So that's back in the Fiscal Year '01 budget process. So it is an ongoing effort. As the President has made quite clear, our concerns about Iraq, our policy on Iraq, and that he has taken no decisions in terms of steps there, but keeps on the table all of his options.

Question: And what has the response been to it?

Mr. Reeker: I know we've gotten a number of proposals submitted under that Request for Proposals. And I just don't have any specific ones to share with you, but we're reviewing them as the process warrants.

Question: Phil, so the Financial Times, though, in its story, which was actually not that small and on the front page and quite breathless in its scope, said that this was a prelude to an invasion. So you would reject that theory that this is being done to --

Mr. Reeker: I think in answering George's question -- and I can't amplify yet again the President, who has spoken quite clearly about our Iraq policy, and the fact that he has taken no decisions regarding military action.

Question: Is this, though, the first time that the State Department, that you're aware of, that the Department has solicited offers for projects that are actually inside Iraq, inside like Central Iraq, not in the Kurdish zones?

Mr. Reeker: I would have to check. As I said, we anticipate that the majority of these proposals will involve humanitarian relief for the Kurdish-controlled areas of Northern Iraq and for refugees in neighboring countries. We will evaluate any proposals for humanitarian relief inside the center and south of Iraq for viability and consistency with US law, and of course appropriate United Nations Security Council resolutions.

Question: Does this soliciting of proposals suggest any deficiency in the way the Iraqi Government is converting oil revenue to good public use?

Mr. Reeker: I think we've seen that demonstrated quite well, including by the United Nations, which has shown that in areas where the United Nations is in charge of distributing money from the Oil-for-Food program for children and other purposes, the population in that country is doing considerably better than those who are living under the full strong arm of Saddam Hussein and what he's done to his own people while he, himself, continues to build palaces and import luxuries for himself and his cronies, and of course pursue his weapons of mass destruction programs and other insidious actions.

Yes, Terri.

Question: Yesterday, the Iraqi National Congress says they had a meeting here, actually while we were in the briefing, and working out their budget with Assistant Secretary Burns. So can you tell us whether that qualifies yet as having notified you they intend to use this money?

Mr. Reeker: Yes. As you rightly note, things do occur even as we're standing here. You will recall, just to refresh people's memories, some people may not know what we're discussing, on May 23rd the Department of State notified Congress of our intent to award the Iraqi National Congress a new cooperative agreement offering the organization another $8 million for June through December of this year. We discussed the offer with the Iraqi National Congress leadership over the course of the last week, and we do anticipate finalizing an agreement very soon.

Question: So the money is now freed up and they have --

Mr. Reeker: No, we anticipate finalizing an agreement very soon. You have to actually see the process through. But it's moving ahead.

Question: So it has to be finalized before it's considered that they've notified you they accept the money?

Mr. Reeker: I think what you can take from what I said is we've heard what they have said, yes, they're going to accept this, so we need to finalize the agreement. I can't really put it any more plainly than that.

Question: Can you go over what the money will be used for?

Mr. Reeker: Yes. We're anxious to continue our support, as we have said, for the Iraqi National Congress for their newspaper, for their TV station, for the regional offices they have, their Office of Humanitarian Relief, and a draw-down of training. We believe that the INC can continue to play a productive and useful role through the activities proposed in our new agreement and so we look forward to finalizing now this agreement very soon so that they can continue with those projects.

Question: Phil, what type of training?

Mr. Reeker: I missed that.

Question: You said a draw-down of training?

Mr. Reeker: I'd have to check into the specifics in the agreement of the training. That is something that will be drawn down, things that have been ongoing but will be drawn down.

Question: I have another question on Iraq. Some reports coming from Kurdish areas saying that both that the administration is not following through on their promises to protect the Kurds, that perhaps Mr. Chalibani, who came here and offered US bases and talked about a lot of cooperation with the United States, was not speaking for the whole -- all the Kurdish factions. Is there anything you can about whether you think that there will be a problem in terms of cooperation from all of the Kurds?

Mr. Reeker: I think this goes back to reports that some individuals who had been invited did not attend the meetings in Washington, in particular I would note because of press reports that suggest the contrary. We invited the Kurdish Democratic Party leader, Massoud Barzani, and we invited him to attend last week's Iraqi opposition meetings in Washington. We worked to facilitate Mr. Barzani's travel for the meeting, but for a variety of logistical reasons he wasn't able to attend, and he sent a personal representative in his place who did attend the meetings last week that we talked about. And it is our understanding that the only reason that Mr. Barzani himself was not able to attend was for logistical reasons, not for any other reason. We'll let individuals obviously speak for themselves.

And in terms of the earlier part of your question about commitments, I think we discussed yesterday about our recognition that free Iraqis do run risks. The record of Saddam's regime in oppressing and murdering its own people is all too clear, including the campaign in 1998 against the Kurds, the use of chemical weapons against the civilian population at Halabja, and suppression of the Shi'a in the South. And so we are very conscious of the nature of that regime, the risks that are out there to those who oppose Saddam's regime, and that's why we have in place our no-fly zones, the Operation Northern Watch and Operation Southern Watch, and why we've consistently made clear that if Iraq reconstitutes weapons of mass destruction programs, threatens its neighbors or US forces, or moves against the Kurds, we maintain a credible force in the region and are prepared to act in an appropriate time and place of our choosing.

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Question: Apparently, last night Yasser Arafat approved a fairly major reform of his authority related to management of finances. Do you have any comment?

Mr. Reeker: You know, we've been very much supporting reform in the Palestinian community, the need to make changes and positive reforms for institutions that are going to be necessary if we're going to see through to the President's vision of an independent Palestinian state. On the specific developments there, I think I would have to refer you to the parties themselves that have done that. We have stressed increased transparency and accountability, the importance of that. We have stressed the need for leaders untainted by terror or corruption. And we have certainly always underscored the critical importance of direct discussions between the parties, between Palestinians and Israelis, and we strongly encourage them to continue in those efforts.

As the Palestinian civil and security reform progresses through steps such as these, we will reiterate again that reciprocal steps from Israel, like easing closures and handing over tax revenues to responsible parties and facilitating movement of humanitarian goods and services, is going to be critical. There are these reports of progress. We think they are encouraging and we urge the parties to continue their direct discussions in this regard.

Question: Can I change the subject?

Mr. Reeker: Yes, Terri.

Question: Today -- I think it was today -- the Israelis sent a Palestinian teenager in to deliver a message to Hamas, and he was killed, and it's not yet -- it's not yet clear whose gunfire killed him.

Mr. Reeker: I'm afraid I'm not even aware of the specifics of that situation. Our call for an end to terror and violence remains the same that we've had. We've got to work on security. We want to see positive steps in that direction. We've got to end terror and violence so we can create an atmosphere where we can move forward on all tracks of the President's strategy and the strategy that's been adopted and agreed to by the international community and the parties themselves. But in terms of that specific development, I don't know that I would have anything, or an analysis for you of it.

Okay. Anything else on the Middle East?

Question: Yeah, I have one. Well, it's a different country in the Middle East.

Mr. Reeker: Okay. Why don't we finish the Middle East and we'll do this geographic thing, and then we'll go to our friend from Mexico.

Question: It's on Saudi Arabia. Today, a class action lawsuit has been filed on behalf of members of the families of the -- family members of the victims of the 9/11 attacks. And in addition to Saudi individuals and businesses, it's also filed against the Saudi Minister of Islamic Affairs, the comptroller of the Saudi National Bank, and another senior member of the Saudi royal family.

Does the US believe that members of the Saudi royal family should be sued in connection with supporting Usama bin Laden?

Mr. Reeker: I don't know anything about the lawsuit. I haven't seen reports of that. And so I really --

Question: It was in the New York Times today.

Mr. Reeker: I guess I missed it. So I could check into that. I think we've been quite clear about the support that Saudi Arabia has given to us in terms of being a strong friend and ally in the war against terrorism, that we've been fully and very satisfied with the support we've gotten from Saudi Arabia in the many aspects of this war against terrorism -- the financial aspects, the intelligence and information-sharing, the law enforcement actions in doing that. So I couldn't possibly comment on a case that would be introduced into our court system that I'm not even fully aware of. But our position has been gone over many times in terms of our relationship with Saudi Arabia and their support in the war against terrorism.

Question: But just in a general sense, do law suits filed against a country that the United -- against officials of a country that the United States has such a close relationship with, would that affect the US ability to deal with Saudi Arabia in any way? Would it affect US national interests?

Mr. Reeker: I would have to check with our lawyers, Elise. I mean, American citizens have rights to take their own steps through our judicial system. I just can't comment on that.