07/09/2001: Daily Press Briefing ExcerptsEXCERPTS RELATING TO MIDDLE EAST PEACE PROCESS
Richard Boucher, Spokesman
Washington, DC
July 9, 2001
(begin excerpt)
Q: Somebody at the White House said or asked a question suggesting
that Secretary Powell has told Prime Minister Sharon that the
countdown has started, the seven-day countdown. Do you know anything
about that?
MR. BOUCHER: The seven days starts when we see it's quiet for some
sustained period. We certainly hope that the kind of improvements that
we saw for some period last week would be restored and sustained. But
I'll remind you the Mitchell committee report starts with an
unconditional cessation of violence, and our view is, we haven't seen
that yet.
Q: Can I do North Korea, since that was not very profitable? The North
Koreans are --
MR. BOUCHER: Well, it could be if you keep going. I mean, you want me
to say everything I have to say about the Middle East --
Q: All right.
Q: Can I ask a --
(Cross talk.)
MR. BOUCHER: Let's do the Middle East first. I think we're going to
get there.
Q: Me and my big mouth.
MR. BOUCHER: And then we'll come back. When it's time to change
subjects, George can do North Korea.
Okay.
Q: No, no, CNN. (Laughter.)
Q: Does the State Department still believe that it's up to Prime
Minister Sharon to decide when that period of calm has begun?
MR. BOUCHER: We believe that the parties have to decide when they're
going to carry out the Mitchell committee recommendations. They've
decided to do so. They've agreed on the mechanism for getting there.
They've agreed on some of the mechanisms, with George Tenet, to stop
the violence. But the parties have to exert the effort to stop the
violence. We've been following developments out there very, very
closely. We want to see the kind of improvement that we saw last week
sustained and restored.
But it's critical that the parties take the steps. It's critical that
the Palestinian Authority exert maximum efforts to bring the violence
to a halt, and that the Israelis and the Palestinians bring the
violence -- take the steps to sustain and improve their coordination
on security issues and avoid provocative actions that make the
restoration of trust and confidence more difficult.
This is -- you know, we saw, as I said, relatively improved -- you
know, some improvement last week, and now we're really -- I'd say
we're deeply troubled over the upsurge in violence over the weekend,
including a roadside bombing that occurred earlier today and killed an
Israeli soldier.
We particularly deplore the tragedy of the death of an 11-year-old boy
on Saturday. We -- on that one, we've been in touch with the Israeli
government. We've -- they've told us that they will conduct an inquiry
into the circumstances of this tragic death.
But as I said, we're looking to get back to a sustained effort of
coordination and to maximum efforts on the part of both parties, but
particularly the Palestinians, to stop the violence the way people are
committed to do so in the Mitchell process.
Q: I'm sorry, but that wasn't the answer that I was sort of looking
for. The question had to do with who it is that would decide to --
MR. BOUCHER: And nothing has changed. I said, right at the beginning
of the answer, nothing has changed on that; that it's up to the
parties to enter into the process of doing the Mitchell report. And to
do that, there needs to be the first criteria of the Mitchell report,
which is the unconditional cessation of violence.
Obviously, we're going to follow the situation very closely. We've
continued to do that. They will follow it closely. You will follow it
closely and report on it. And when we see the period of quiet that
we're all looking for, then we would hope the parties would be
prepared to move into the rest of the full implementation of Mitchell.
Q: So is it still up to Prime Minister Sharon and his government to
decide if in fact that period has begun? Are you saying it's up to the
parties?
MR. BOUCHER: It's up to the parties, one of which is Prime Minister
Sharon and his government. I don't think I'm trying to contradict
anything in particular, but we've seen a situation where parties need
to do everything they can, and then they need to agree. They need each
to be willing to enter into the Mitchell committee recommendations to
start carrying out that entire package of steps.
Q: Richard, can you give us any update of the security meetings
between the Palestinian security forces and the Israelis?
MR. BOUCHER: I have to check on when the last one was, but there have
been several in the last week or so. And I think those are very
important, and we want them to continue.
Q: And can I follow up? On the issue of the targeted killings, which
the State Department and -- you've said, you know, you opposed -- has
that come up in those meetings, and has alternatives, in terms of what
the Israelis feel they need to do in terms of dealing with terrorism,
come in that? I mean, can you talk a little bit about that?
MR. BOUCHER: "Those meetings" meaning the trilateral meetings with the
Israelis and the Palestinians --
Q: (Off mike) -- security, and the Israelis have -- say that they need
to occasionally kill certain people that are going to be plotting --
MR. BOUCHER: First of all, I'm not going to report on everything that
comes up in such meetings.
Q: Okay.
MR. BOUCHER: Second of all, I would find that to be a rather unusual
thought to discuss in a trilateral meeting; a policy that we don't
agree with and I'm sure the Palestinians don't agree with either.
Third of all, I would say that one of the things that is discussed in
these meetings -- one of the important parts of security cooperation
is to take steps together to prevent acts of violence from occurring.
And that's why we continue to stress the importance of these meetings,
the importance of cooperation; to stop the acts of terrorism from
occurring.
Q: President Mubarak of Egypt today has condemned the Israeli policy
of target killings of Palestinian activists as a form of thuggery.
You're closest allies in the area are very worried about this policy.
The peoples of the area are very worried about it, including the
Palestinians. Can you speak more frankly concerning this policy? I
mean, can you address it in a -- and are you sending any more
representatives to the area beside the new representatives to the
area?
MR. BOUCHER: I don't have anything more to say. Our views on the
policy of targeted killings are very, very well-known and have been
widely reported and I'm sure have been the occasion for many questions
from others to ask other governments what do they think about this.
We've been quite clear and we haven't changed our minds.
Second of all, our representatives in the region continue to be very,
very active. I wouldn't measure U.S. policy by whether we're putting
somebody else on an airplane. Bill Burns has just been through the
region. He, in fact, returns to Washington tonight. But our
representatives in the region are very active, working with the
parties, and we will continue to work in that manner and send people
out as need be.
Q: Can I follow on that?
MR. BOUCHER: Yep.
Q: We understand your views on targeted killings, but are you getting
anywhere with the Israelis? I mean, are they heeding your advice on
this subject, because it's very concerning to the peoples in the area
as you might appreciate.
MR. BOUCHER: Well, it's of great concern to us as well, and we follow
developments very, very closely in that regard and we state our views,
I think, clearly and repeatedly.
Okay, Middle East or is it time for George?
Q: Still the same region. Can you tell us any more about Ambassador
Burn's visit to Yemen? And did he discuss the return of the FBI
investigators while he was there, with the government?
MR. BOUCHER: He was in Yemen -- I think it was yesterday. I'm trying
to look and see. I guess I don't have the itinerary here other than to
say he's on his way back.
The goal of Ambassador Burns in making these visits was to stop in all
the countries, or as many countries as possible of the region that he
is going to be responsible for back here in Washington. He's assistant
secretary for the entire region. And I think we've talked to you
before about the need we see to take a regional approach in our
relations with these governments and to take seriously the bilateral
issues and the agenda that we have with each individual country.
In Yemen, obviously he's going to discuss the status of the
investigation, the importance of making that continue, the status of
the security out there. And we certainly all hope that we can work to
a point where the FBI feels comfortable going back, if that's
necessary, to pursue their investigation. So that's our goal, that's
what we want to work with them on and with the Yemeni government on.
So we'll keep working on that.
Q: But you just said you don't have an actual update of what he
discussed with them while he was there, I guess, right?
MR. BOUCHER: No, he went through the whole agenda in each of these
countries, I'm sure; security, I'm sure; FBI, I'm sure; the Cole
investigation. All came up in Yemen because those are important issues
to us in Yemen, and that's what our embassy and our ambassador are out
there working on.
Q: On Iraq?
Q: Can I have another question on the --
Q: Go ahead.
Q: Has it always been your position that it's up to the parties to
decide when the cease-fire starts, or has there been a change in your
policy? Has it always been like that?
MR. BOUCHER: If you look at what Secretary Powell said during his
trip, if you look at the position that we've always taken, it's up to
the parties to do this. We can tell them what we think they should do;
we can tell them -- we can help them with trilateral security meetings
with the presidents and Mr. Tenet, or whatever. But the parties
accepted the Mitchell Committee recommendations, said they were
willing to carry out these steps. They said that that includes the
unconditional cessation of violence. That's where the whole process
starts, so that's what we're looking for, and we've worked in various
ways to try to get that to start.
But ultimately, you know, we've used the analogy of the door and the
keys and the locks and the rooms. They've got to walk through the
door, and they're going to have to be willing to take that step to get
started with this process -- and it is a package, and it is a package
that we're looking for full implementation -- but the parties have to
be willing to do it.
Now, in the past, we've seen that one of the parties was willing to
start right away, and another one was not willing to start until he
saw seven days of quiet. It's actually -- originally, it was said more
than that. So, you know, what was agreed by both sides during the
secretary's visit was if there was seven days of real quiet that they
would both start implementing the Mitchell Committee recommendations.
One side said they wanted that; another side said they could do that,
and that's still what we're looking for, the unconditional cessation
of the violence.
Q: Richard, how can you have seven days of quiet if there is a policy
of target killings is still existing and is still carried on?
MR. BOUCHER: Both sides, we have said, need to take steps; need to
avoid provocative actions, need to take steps in terms of cooperation,
to bring about that period of quiet. We expect that of both sides. We
have been quite clear when we think they haven't done that. But it
requires 100 percent effort, as we've said before and, frankly, we're
still looking for that.
Q: You mentioned that you'd been in touch with the Israeli government
about, and they had promised an investigation into, the killing of the
boy.
Can you tell us what level that was at? And also, have you talked to
the Palestinians to find out about the Israeli accusation that and
this -- and the suicide bomber, that they had given the Palestinians
information about him and they'd failed to act.
MR. BOUCHER: I don't have any information on that at this point. I
know our representatives in the region have been in touch, close
touch, with the parties, but I don't know what exact level and
specifics of those conversations.
Q: (Off mike.)
MR. BOUCHER: That applies to both parts of your question.
Q: Okay. Thank you.
Q: (Off mike.)
MR. BOUCHER: We're going to do Iraq first.
Q: Iraq. Thank you. Several weeks ago there were reports that the
Iraqis were moving troops north towards the Kurdish areas of Iraq.
Over the weekend, there is an Iraqi newspaper that is reported to have
said that the Iraqis were going to take back the Kurdish areas of
their country. Do you have any reaction to this? Do you know anything
more about troop movements and whether they are in any threatening
posture?
MR. BOUCHER: I would have to check and see if there is anything new on
troop movements. I haven't checked on that for a while. I would say
that our policy remains the same. Our commitment remains strong. We
have Operations Northern and Southern Watch that prevent the Baghdad
regime from using air power to repress their people. This also
provides a deterrent against Iraqi action and a warning, should any
action be considered. And you'll remember that we've made quite clear
so-called "red lines," one of which would be an Iraqi move towards the
north. So none of that has changed, and we've been quite clear on our
policies on those points.
Q: I just want to clarify. So if ground troops attacked Kurdish
targets in the north, then U.S. planes would strike the Iraqi troops?
MR. BOUCHER: Eli, I didn't give you an "If A and B, then C." It's not
formulaic in that manner. We've made quite clear that we have
capabilities and we have options and that should Iraq do certain
things, we would respond as we determined appropriate, at a time and
place of our choosing.
....
Q: Why doesn't the State Department come out and say it's up to Sharon
to decide when the cease-fire starts? Because when you say it's up to
the parties and you say one of the parties is willing to start
straightaway, Secretary of State Powell said in Cairo it's up to
Sharon to decide, and that's what was reported, why don't you come out
and say it's up to Sharon to decide?
MR. BOUCHER: It's up to Sharon, it's up to Arafat, it's up to the
people who are out there in the region to actually decide to start
doing this. It's up to the Israeli government to carry out its
obligations on the Mitchell Report and to decide when it's going to
start doing that. That's true of both parties. I think the only point
-- what I'm trying to say is, not to change any particular, you know,
things that we've said in the past, but clearly the Israeli
government, Prime Minister Sharon, have to make a decision about this.
They will have to decide when they are ready to go forward and
implement this.
But what did happen during the secretary's trip was that there was an
understanding that we would make the unconditional cessation of
violence actually occur, and that we would look for seven days of
quiet. And the effort right now is to make that happen, and that
requires a maximum effort of the parties. If we see that kind of
quiet, then we can argue that, you know, whose turn is it to walk
through the door first. But until we see that kind of quiet, we know
that we're not going to be able to get started on the Mitchell
Committee recommendations, and we very much want to see those
recommendations implemented by both parties, in full, as a package.
(end excerpt)
Complete Transcript of July 9, 2001 Press Briefing
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