08/01/2001: Daily Press Briefing Excerpts

QUESTION: The Israeli Cabinet has held a security meeting this morning, and they declared afterwards that they will continue with their targeted killing assassination of activists -- Palestinian activists. Do you have any comment?

MR. BOUCHER: I wasn't aware of that particular news, but I think our views on this are fairly well known.

QUESTION: Can you just restate them please, for the benefit of …

MR. BOUCHER: We are against the practice of targeted killings.

QUESTION: Many people in the Middle East, if I may follow up, see you as partner in this policy, as part of your condemnation of such policy, because American-made weapons are used in these killings, such as the Apache helicopters which were used yesterday in the bombing of Hamas press office.

MR. BOUCHER: Well, I don't think that could be taken in any way to express -- to believe that we somehow condone these killings. We provide these weapons for Israel's defensive needs, for their legitimate defensive needs, but we have made it absolutely clear that we are against this practice of targeted killings.

QUESTION: But now that you see that they are used in killing even children civilians -- two children were killed yesterday in the Apache helicopter attack -- are you taking up this matter with the Israeli Government?

MR. BOUCHER: We have raised the matter of this attack in particular with the Israeli Government. Deputy Secretary Armitage met yesterday with the Israeli Chief of Cabinet. They discussed the current situation and he expressed our serious concern about those air strikes yesterday. In addition, Ambassador Kurtzer in Israel has raised our concerns with the highest levels of the Israeli Government.

QUESTION: In Powell's visit to China, was there mention of China opening dialogue with the Dalai Lama?

MR. BOUCHER: I will have to go back and check, frankly. I do not remember if that specific point came up. He certainly raised a number of human rights issues and stressed the importance that we attach to human rights. And then our Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy and Labor Affairs Lorne Craner was staying in China for a meeting the next day. So I would have to double check and see if the specific issue of Tibet was raised. But the general topic of human rights has been high on our agenda and was high on the Secretary's agenda during his visit.

QUESTION: New subject. We have gone over this before, but where do things stand in terms of the U.S. attending the racism conference?

MR. BOUCHER: They stand where they stood before, that we would like to go to the conference. The Secretary has said he would like to go to the conference. But our participation depends on how some things turn out. We are very concerned about some of the issues that are being raised in the preparatory part of the conference. We are very concerned specifically about these statements about interjecting the Middle East conflict into this conference, equating Zionism with racism or almost, in effect, doing that. And those are the issues that we are out working on in Geneva.

We have a strong delegation in Geneva at the preparatory conference. We are going to try to work on some of these things and make sure they don't become obstacles or sidetrack the conference itself.

QUESTION: Do you think you are making any progress in that direction?

MR. BOUCHER: Well, this just began. It is a two-week meeting, I think, that just began. Our Assistant Secretary for Democracy and Labor Affairs Lorne Craner will get there, I think, over the weekend or at least by the weekend. So he will be working on it in the second week and we will continue to work hard on this throughout the preparatory meeting.

End of Remarks Pertaining to Israel/Palestinians

Complete Transcript of August 1, 200l Briefing