Remarks With Minister of Foreign Affairs of Spain Ana Palacio After Her Courtesy Call

SECRETARY POWELL: Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. It has been my pleasure to host the new Spanish Foreign Minister, Ana Palacio. This is our first meeting face to face, but we have become great telephone friends over the last month, working through a number of issues.

Today, we reflected on the strength of the bilateral relationship between the United States and Spain, and I had the opportunity to thank the Minister for all the strong support that we have received from Spain in the course of the campaign against terrorism. We talked about a number of bilateral issues, as well as some regional issues, to include the Middle East, Iraq and some European Union issues.

This was just a courtesy call this morning, and I look forward to many, many such meetings with Minister Palacio in the months ahead. Ana, a great pleasure to have you here.

FOREIGN MINISTER PALACIO: Well, it's my very great pleasure. And before I address you as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Spain, I would like to say, as a citizen of the world, that being a minister gives you some fantastic opportunities, and this time I have fulfilled a wish that I know I have shared for a long time with many citizens, not just here in America, but all over the world, to just be close to, to shake hands, to speak to and to listen to Secretary of State Colin Powell. I would say he doesn't listen to that -- one of the greats of our times.

Having said that, now, as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Spain, I would say that our bilateral relationship is excellent, and this has provided the framework for our conversation. We have, as Secretary of State Colin Powell has just said, touched upon different issues. It was a very general, but very interesting for me as a newcomer to this club, a very interesting conversation, and I wish we will go on. Thank you.

SECRETARY POWELL: Thank you, Ana.

QUESTION: Madame Minister, if the United States decided to attack Iraq, and you know the reasons, would Spain be supporting?

FOREIGN MINISTER PALACIO: Well, may I just say that, first of all, this is a hypothesis that I don't think that we should address now. It's not realistic. Having said that, Spain and the United States are committed to what I would call the rule of law in the world, and the fight for the rule of law in the world, but are committed, too, to the community of states within the United Nations. And this would be my general remarks.

QUESTION: Well, is Iraq a part of that community? Does Iraq deserve the consideration of --

FOREIGN MINISTER PALACIO: Well, I would say very clearly that the world would be better off without Saddam Hussein, which is my answer right now.

QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, another question on Iraq. I'm sorry. After some meetings now with the Iraqi opposition, what do you make of their viability as a cohesive organization?

And also, what were they able to tell you about the attitude of Iran? There were some Iranian-based representatives here. What do you make of Iran and its typically rather hostile policy towards the US in the case of an attack on Iraq?

SECRETARY POWELL: I don't have anything to say about the Iranian part of the discussion. I didn't participate in that.

I think the meetings we had with the opposition over the past several days were very useful. I met with them on Friday briefly while they were here, and the State Department and the Defense Department hosted them, and then of course, as you know, the Vice President and Secretary Rumsfeld spent time with them on Saturday.

This is one of a series of meetings we will be holding to measure the effectiveness of the opposition elements, to get to measure how each of them interacts with the others, and to see what possibilities exist if and when regime change takes place for putting in place people who would help the Iraqi people come up with a representative form of government that will reflect the best values of the 21st century world and not the criminal values represented by Saddam Hussein.

So it was a good start, and look forward to other such meetings with the opposition.

QUESTION: Madame Foreign Minister, a question on the International Criminal Court. Is Spain willing to sign an Article 98 agreement with the United States? Did you discuss this today? And would you provide the United States with assurances you would not hand over peacekeepers?

FOREIGN MINISTER PALACIO: First of all, I would say that Spain is not just Spain; Spain is also European Union; that we will be addressing all the concerns that are concerns for the United States, are concerns for the European Union, and we will be addressing on the more constructive way this issue in our next meeting of foreign affairs ministers of the European Union by the end of this month.

SECRETARY POWELL: And we did discuss it.

(The Secretary escorts the Minister to her car.)

QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, could you say how far you all have gotten towards a security agreement with the Palestinians and the Israelis? The Palestinians met with Mr. Tenet on Saturday?

SECRETARY POWELL: They had good meetings with Mr. Tenet on Saturday, and I talked to George this morning after seeing one account that suggested they did not. But they were very positive meetings, and Mr. Tenet is in touch with the Palestinians. I expect him to be calling them again today and to start to operationalize it. So it was a productive meeting.

QUESTION: Do you think he will go to the region soon?

SECRETARY POWELL: I don't know if George is planning to visit, or others working for George would be planning to visit. We do have some people who are there now working on the problem. Thank you.

QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, what do you make of reports that there could be a ceasefire with some of these groups in the Palestinian territories? Do you think that could provide an opening --

SECRETARY POWELL: We'll wait and see if it takes place. These reports have been bubbling around now for a couple of weeks. I'll be more interested in seeing something actually agreed to, and then it coming into effect. Thank you.

QUESTION: Is there any truth to the reports that the United States has been pushing EU-aspirant countries into signing Article 98 treaties and using military aid as a weapon in that discussion?

SECRETARY POWELL: We are having discussions with all of our European Union and other friends around the world on Article 98 negotiations. You are well aware of what the Congress has said in the law with respect to the potential withholding of military aid, but we're not bludgeoning or threatening any of our friends; we're discussing with them our concerns about the ICC and a way of dealing with those concerns through Article 98.

But the Congress, showing its seriousness with respect to this matter, has put into law some elements that are obvious to all, but has also given the President authority to deal with it, to waive it if he thinks it's appropriate. It is a serious matter. We have serious concerns with the ICC, as everyone knows, and Article 98 is a way of dealing with those concerns, and I hope that all of our friends and allies will view Article 98 as a positive, constructive way of dealing with those concerns.

Thank you.