*EPF106 02/11/2002
Excerpt: State's Boucher Calls Arafat's Letter to Powell "Positive"
(Calls Israeli attacks against Palestinians "counterproductive") (1940)

State Department Spokesman Richard Boucher described a letter written by Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to Secretary of State Colin Powell regarding the Karine A arms smuggling ship as "positive."

"Over the weekend, our consul general, Ron Schlicher, received a letter from Chairman Arafat for Secretary Powell. It's a letter that pertains largely to the Karine A affair. We see it as a positive letter. We're currently studying it," said Boucher.

Speaking at the February 11 press briefing in Washington, Boucher added that Arafat talked about actions "he can take with regard to this affair, and we look forward to seeing him take those actions."

Boucher described the Bush administration as being "deeply troubled" by the current surge in violence between Israelis and Palestinians.

He said the administration understood Israel's need for self-defense but was "seriously concerned" over Israel's attacks upon Palestinian Authority facilities over the past several days, "particularly in areas that are heavily populated by civilians."

"We're especially concerned by attacks on or near Palestinian prison facilities, reported releases of prisoners detained in those areas, and reports the United Nations facility was struck with possibly a U.N. official wounded," said Boucher.

Boucher described the Israeli attacks as being "counterproductive to efforts to reduce the violence and restore calm," and he added, "we think that both sides need to remain focused on the need for substantive, ongoing security cooperation."

He likewise viewed Palestinian use of Kassam II rockets against Israel on February 11 as "deeply troubling," and called upon Chairman Arafat and the Palestinian Authority to halt the military escalation.

Boucher repeated President Bush's statement of concern over continued Palestinian suffering, saying the president was "deeply concerned about the plight of average Palestinians; mothers and fathers who are trying to raise and educate their children. And we do continue to underscore the importance of alleviating the economic pressures on the Palestinian people," said Boucher.

He said the United States would not "give up hope," and said the Bush administration would "continue to work with both sides in a balanced way ... to arrive at a peaceful resolution to the crisis."

Following is an excerpt from the February 11 State Department briefing:

(begin excerpt)

QUESTION: Can you tell me whether Yasser Arafat sent a letter to the Secretary over the weekend, again reiterating that he was completely innocent? And I believe he might have gone further and said that he doesn't think his Palestinian Authority was involved anymore. But maybe you could clarify.

MR. BOUCHER: I don't -- let's see. Can I tell you what the letter is not without telling you what it is? Okay. Over the weekend, our Consul General Ron Schlicher received a letter from Chairman Arafat for Secretary Powell. It's a letter that pertains largely to the Karine A affair. We see it as a positive letter. We are currently studying it. I would nonetheless point out that, as we've said many times, actions must follow words, and we hope now to see strong, resolute and irreversible action by Chairman Arafat and the Palestinian Authority along the lines that he indicated in the letter.

QUESTION: The Secretary has actually gotten this letter now?

MR. BOUCHER: Yes.

QUESTION: Yasser Arafat didn't say that -- I mean, he indicated that he was still taking action to find those responsible, but did he again state that he himself was not involved?

MR. BOUCHER: I don't think it's for me to describe his letter, and therefore I am somewhat hesitant to go into it in any detail. But I would say that we did find it to be a positive letter and we now look for action along the lines that he indicated in his letter.

QUESTION: Anything else about what was positive, new? Were there new suggestions that he would take?

MR. BOUCHER: Yes.

QUESTION: Maybe the way to go about this is to ask you what the U.S. position is now that you have the letter. Is it still the U.S. position now --

MR. BOUCHER: Our position is that we're studying the letter; in the meantime, we're looking for action along the lines that he indicated.

QUESTION: Oh, no, that I understand. I mean the U.S. position on number one and two, three and four, being that Arafat has to accept, acknowledge responsibility for the illegal smuggling operation? Is that still something you need?

MR. BOUCHER: Barry, we're still studying the letter. I don't want to try to mislead you by saying that we have reached a conclusion about X, Y or Z, 1, 2, 3 or 4 at this point. But we do see it as a positive letter, and we look for action along the lines of the statements he made in the letter.

QUESTION: (Inaudible.)

MR. BOUCHER: The Palestinian Authority. That's clearly been our view all along.

QUESTION: Yasser Arafat? Knowledge?

MR. BOUCHER: The Palestinian Authority people were definitely involved; that has been our view all along.

QUESTION: Do you have comments on the news today that the Fatah faction of the PLO has dismantled two military wings, one of them is the Bassam forces today?

MR. BOUCHER: I didn't see that, so I don't have any comment at this moment. We'll look into it for you.

QUESTION: You may have answered this question already, but I'm going to ask it anyway. France suggests forming a Palestine state immediately. Is that something the United States would consider?

MR. BOUCHER: Our view on the idea of two states living side by side has been repeatedly expressed. It was expressed at the White House by the President, with Prime Minister Sharon, who repeated his remarks as well. The proposals made by France in this regard, I think, have a lot of different aspects. At this point I haven't seen either Palestinians or Israelis support them. So I don't think I'm going to try to comment on every idea that's out there.

QUESTION: Did Chairman Arafat's letter concur with your belief that elements of the Palestinian Authority ordered the arms --

MR. BOUCHER: Once again, I don't think I want to start explaining what Chairman Arafat writes. It's up to him. But as I said, we think it's a positive letter; it talks about the actions that he can take with regard to this affair, and we look forward to seeing him take those actions.

QUESTION: But do you believe that President Arafat has accepted responsibility for the ship?

MR. BOUCHER: That's the same question that was asked a minute ago over here. I'm not going to try to update you on A, B, C, D, 1, 2, 3, 4; I think that was number two.

QUESTION: The Palestinians reportedly used a new kind of missile in the last few hours, in the last day. I'm wondering, does that indicate -- do you believe that there may be other shipments en route to the Palestinians? And are you looking for such shipments? And can you (inaudible) this new missile?

MR. BOUCHER: I'm not sure I would make any particular conclusion about new shipments at this point. I think one of the things we have always looked to the Palestinians to do was not to import new weapons, and obviously that's the kind of action that we're looking for.

As far as a new missile, the Qassam-2 rocket, reports that these rockets have been used we find deeply troubling. Once again, we'd say that Chairman Arafat and the Palestinian Authority need to act now to halt this kind of dangerous and provocative escalation.

QUESTION: After this letter, is the Secretary considering to send Mr. Zinni back to the region?

MR. BOUCHER: No change on Mr. Zinni, General Zinni at this point.

QUESTION: Yesterday, on 60 Minutes, Mike Wallace, in a prerecorded interview, I would assume, Saturday our time, but perhaps late Friday, interviewed one-on-one Arafat in Ramallah at his headquarters. And it's just at the same time that there was this shooting in Beer Sheva, and of course then the retaliation in Gaza. Asked pointedly by Mike Wallace, it's about the terror and the incitement, he sort of discounted it. What is your view concerning this interview? You may have seen --

MR. BOUCHER: I don't have any view on particular interviews. As we have always said, actions need to follow words. Chairman Arafat has made the right statements in his speeches about ending the violence, and we need to see strong and resolute action to effectively end the violence. That's what we have been looking for; that's what we continue to look for.

QUESTION: Do you think he knew about the state of siege that Arafat lives now?

MR. BOUCHER: I don't have anything new on that. I would remind you the President has spoken frequently, as he did last week, about the need to ease the hardships and the restrictions on the Palestinian community, and the importance of letting Palestinians return to a normal life.

QUESTION: Do you want to speak directly to the bombing yesterday of Arafat's headquarters?

MR. BOUCHER: Well, that's one of many things, I think, that are involved in the current situation, so let me give you the whole rundown. I would say that we are deeply troubled by the upsurge in violence in the region. We have made it very clear, as I just made it now, that Chairman Arafat and the Palestinian Authority have responsibility right now to take strong, resolute and irreversible action to halt violence and terror and to take immediate steps to ensure that there are no further arms smuggling attempts. I mentioned our deep concerns about the use -- reports of the use of a new rocket and the need for action now to end that kind of dangerous escalation.

Though we understand the need for Israel to take steps to ensure its self-defense, we are seriously concerned about Israeli attacks over the past several days on Palestinian Authority facilities, particularly in areas that are heavily populated by civilians. We are especially concerned by attacks on or near Palestinian prison facilities, reported releases of prisoners detained in those areas, and reports a United Nations facility was struck, with possibly a UN official wounded.

Attacks such as these are counter-productive to efforts to reduce the violence and restore calm, and we think that both sides need to remain focused on the need for substantive ongoing security cooperation. As I mentioned in the meeting last week, the President noted that he is deeply concerned about the plight of average Palestinian mothers and fathers who are trying to raise and educate their children, and we do continue to underscore the importance of alleviating the economic pressures on the Palestinian people.

But as we have said before, we are not going to give up hope. We will continue to work with both sides in a balanced way as we can to get back to the process that can lead to a cease-fire and negotiations on the basis of UN Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338 to arrive at a peaceful resolution to the crisis.

QUESTION: I think that this is the first criticism of Israel that we have heard in a long time. Is there a reason that this has happened?

MR. BOUCHER: First of all, I don't think so. And second of all, long time -- I don't know what that is.

QUESTION: Several weeks.

MR. BOUCHER: But there are actions now that we have made clear in the past we didn't think were helpful, and on they're repeated now we think they're not helpful.

(end excerpt)

(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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