*EPF208 07/03/01
Transcript: Burns Consults with Kuwait's Leaders July 1
(Topics include Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Iraq) (2290)
Following talks with the Amir and Foreign Minister of Kuwait on July 1, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs William Burns reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to "the defense and security of Kuwait," and to ending sanctions on civilian trade with Iraq, addressing the humanitarian needs of the Iraqi people, and focusing on an effective weapons control regime.
Speaking to reporters in Kuwait after the consultations, Burns said the Mitchell Report offers a pathway back to a negotiating process between Israelis and Palestinians, and the U.S. government is committed to implementing its recommendations "as a package in all its aspects without deviation."
A committee of international statesmen headed by former U.S. Senator George Mitchell drafted the report, which was released in May. The report calls for a cessation of violence, a cooling off period, confidence-building measures, and a return to final status negotiations.
Burns said the foundation for a lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians is U.N. "Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338, land for peace and the terms of reference of the Madrid peace conference."
Concerning Iraq, Burns said the United States continues to insist that Iraq meet its obligations under U.N. Security Council Resolution 1284. Burns said Iraq needs to provide a full accounting for the over six hundred Kuwaitis and others who are still missing from the Gulf War, immediately return those who may still be alive, and continue to pay compensation for the severe damage that Iraq caused to Kuwait and to many other countries.
"Iraq must never again be allowed to be a threat to its neighbors," Burns said.
Following is transcript of Burns press conference in Kuwait July 1:
(begin transcript)
Transcript of U.S. Assistant Secretary of State For Near Eastern Affairs Ambassador William J. Burns Press Conference
Embassy of the United States of America
Kuwait City, Kuwait
July 1, 2001
AMBASSADOR BURNS: Thank you very much. Thank you all for coming. I am delighted to have the opportunity to meet with you today on this brief visit. I will just start with a few opening comments, but then I look forward to your questions following that. I have held very warm and productive meetings today with H.H. the Amir and with H.E. the acting Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah. We consulted both on our efforts to revive the peace process between Palestinians and Israelis and ultimately on all tracks of the peace process, as well as on the work in the U.N. Security Council to conclude a new resolution on Iraq. I stressed that the United States remains very firmly committed to the defense and security of Kuwait and to the stability of the region. Along with Kuwait, the United States also remains strongly committed to moving to end sanctions on civilian trade, to do the best that we can to address the real humanitarian needs of the Iraqi people and to focus on an effective weapons control regime, and Iraq's responsibilities under U.N. Security Council resolutions, and on the behavior of the Iraqi regime itself. I also made clear that the United States will continue to insist that Iraq must meet its well-known obligations under UNSC Resolution 1284. These include a full accounting for the over six hundred Kuwaitis and others who are still missing from the Gulf War over ten years ago and the immediate return of those who may still be alive, as well as the continued payment of compensation as provided for in the U.N. resolutions for the severe damage that Iraq caused to Kuwait and to many other countries. Iraq must never again be allowed to be a threat to its neighbors.
On the issue of Palestinians and Israelis, I emphasized the very active engagement of President Bush and Secretary Powell in efforts to revive a political process between Palestinians and Israelis, and to break the cycle of violence that has affected both peoples for nine months now. Violence, I think it is obvious to all of us, is a dead end for both Palestinians and Israelis. There is no military solution to the problem and what is essential and what we are working hard to do and are committed to doing is to move back to a political process based on the familiar foundation of Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338, land for peace and the terms of reference of the Madrid peace conference. As President Bush has emphasized publicly, there has been some progress made in recent weeks in trying to improve the security situation but that situation, to be honest, remains very very fragile and more needs to be done. The Mitchell Report, as Secretary Powell has made clear, offers a pathway to get back to a political process, back to a negotiating process. The United States is committed to implementing the Mitchell Report as a package in all its aspects without deviation. We are heartened by the strong unanimous support in the international community for the Mitchell Report and we continue to work very closely with the European Union, with Russia, with the UN Secretary General and with our many, many partners in the region and around the world in support of efforts to implement the Mitchell Report. We understand very clearly the importance of moving as quickly as possible into the next phase of the Mitchell Report and its full implementation. Chairman Arafat and Prime Minister Sharon undertook during their conversations with Secretary Powell to make maximum efforts to bring about a period of quiet so that we can move quickly toward a cooling off period of about six weeks, the beginning of the implementation of confidence building measures laid out in the Mitchell Report, and then on to negotiations as quickly as possible. Both sides, in order to bring that about, need to act firmly with regard to security and to implement the security work plan that George Tenet laid out for them and to which they agreed to implement thoroughly and comprehensively. There also needs to be a serious effort consistent with that work plan to ease the closure and to create a sense of hope and the possibility of a return to more normal life for Palestinians who have been living under and continue to live under extremely difficult circumstances.
In conclusion, I would simply say that as the Secretary's trip made clear, in his recent consultations with not only Palestinians and Israelis but also with President Mubarak, King Abdullah and Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, there is a great deal of work for all of us to do in order to turn the current, very fragile situation into something that can be sustained and that can get us back to a political process, which has to be our objective. None of us can afford to miss that opportunity. So again, I would be delighted after that brief opening set of comments to try to respond to your questions.
QUESTION: Yes sir, concerning the situation with the United Nations right now, you are in sort of a deadlock and there is a deadline looming. Are you willing to accept a new proposal for the three months? What are the new ideas that may come out of it? And if I may, regarding the situation with the Israelis and the Palestinians, according to some observers here around the Middle East, they believe it is hindering your ability to maneuver within the Security Council to reach a consensus because you cannot threaten to use force, which looks very difficult in view of the growing anti-American feeling in the region?
AMBASSADOR BURNS: Thank you. Let me try to address those two questions separately. The first one is, as you rightly said, the date of July third is looming in front of us in our efforts to try to put together a new resolution. I think we have made some considerable progress in that direction and have built a fair amount of international support, and support within the Security Council toward the direction that I have described before and that Secretary Powell and the administration have been pursuing. There are still some questions that need to resolved, so with regard to the question of what might happen on the third of July and what other options there might be for continuing to build on that progress, we will just have to see because we are going to continue to make every effort between now and July third to put together a workable resolution. But as I said, there has been a fair amount of progress made particularly with regard to the list of items which would be controlled and also with regard, I think, to the general concept that we, along with many others in the international community and in the region, want to move away from sanctions which limit civilian trade, and toward a system which focuses much more on the control of weapons and weapon related items, and puts the focus squarely on those responsibilities of the Iraqi regime. With regard to the question about the peace process, obviously as I said, this is an extremely difficult proposition right now especially after the violence of the last nine months and the lack of trust which is evident in every conversation. But I think there again, there has been some progress in recent weeks. Both sides have declared cease-fires. Obviously this is a very fragile situation, but the United States is making every effort to try and consolidate that, again not as an end in itself, but as a way to get back to a political process because as the Mitchell Report made very clear, it is very difficult to sustain a cessation of violence unless you are able to show that you are moving in the direction of the full range of measures and recommendations which are laid out in the Mitchell Report.
QUESTION: Mr. Ambassador, how exactly do you see Kuwait helping in reviving the peace talks between the Israelis and the Palestinians?
AMBASSADOR BURNS: As the new Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs in Washington, I really value the opportunity to come to Kuwait. I will be visiting other states in the Gulf over the course of the next few days. I have had an opportunity to travel extensively elsewhere in the region in my first few weeks as Assistant Secretary. Obviously the issue of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is uppermost on the minds of people throughout the region and that is why it provided an excellent chance for me to consult, to describe our efforts especially in the wake of Secretary Powell's most recent trip, and to convey a sense of our engagement and our commitment to continuing to work very hard on this issue. But I know how central it is in the minds of people throughout the region and how much of a concern it is, and that causes us to re-double our efforts to try and as I said before, to break the cycle of violence and get back to a political process.
QUESTION: The cease-fire that Secretary Powell brokered, it looks like it is still ink on paper. How do you think it could be implemented, especially when the Palestinians want observers and Israel refuses? How could it be implemented?
AMBASSADOR BURNS: I think there is no magic formula. The security work plan that George Tenet laid out more than two weeks ago now, provides a very clear blue print, which is based in large part on many of the recommendations in the Mitchell Report for beginning to solidify the cease-fire, which as I said is very fragile right now. We are building on the progress that has been made, creating a situation where you not only have a resumption of security cooperation between the parties, which is critically important, but also one in which Palestinians can see the closure being eased, and can see efforts being made to re-deploy Israeli forces over time. I think the elements required to consolidate the cease-fire are contained in that work plan and as I said, they also provide the key to moving into a cooling off period and into the rest of the Mitchell Report. As I said, it is very important to keep in view the importance of the Mitchell Report as a package -- that it moves from ending violence, through re-building confidence, to the resumption of negotiations.
QUESTION: The United States faced strong opposition from Russia to the smart sanctions proposal and the Russians suggested some changes or amendments to the proposal. Will the United States accept these amendments from Russia?
AMBASSADOR BURNS: Thank you for the question. I have never personally liked the term "smart sanctions". As I said before, what we are trying to do is to move away from sanctions, which have affected civilian trade, to ease the burden on the Iraqi people and to put the focus squarely on a weapons control regime, which really as I said, puts the focus on the responsibilities that the Iraqi regime has with regard to weapons and disarmament, especially with regard to weapons of mass destruction. We obviously have a great deal of work to do. We have been working hard in the Security Council to try and arrive at a resolution that captures that concept in a very clear, understandable and effective way. We have run into some questions, concerns and objections from the Russians which we are still working on, but what I think is noteworthy is the fact that you now have amongst the other members of the Permanent Five, I think, the emergence of a real consensus with regard to the list of items that would be controlled under a new resolution, as well as the emergence, I think, of a clear, common understanding of other elements of this new resolution which could put this concept into effect. So as I said, there is still work to be done but we are working hard on it and are encouraged by the progress we have made so far.
QUESTION: Two days ago, there was an attack on Chebaa Farms in the south of Lebanon. Israel accused Syria of arming Hizballah and on the other hand, Syria and Lebanon issued a press release saying that Israel was responsible for what happened, asking Israel to abide by the margins. In your opinion, who was responsible for the attack, and to what extent does South Lebanon remain an area that threatens the peace process in the Middle East.
AMBASSADOR BURNS. I think obviously the situation is still tense there. The UN has made very clear its view of Chebaa Farms and has drawn the Blue Line very clearly, so I think that should be self evident to everyone. I think, broadly speaking, it is a time when all sides need to exercise maximum restraint. The situation, as all of you know as well as I do, is a very tense one, and it is a time when everyone needs to be very, very careful about their actions and not take steps which can lead to the situation becoming more explosive.
Thank you very much.
(end transcript)
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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