27 September 2001

Jordan's King and Powell Discuss Anti-Terrorism Cooperation

State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said Secretary of State Colin Powell and Jordan's King Abdullah met in Washington September 27 to discuss the crisis of terrorism and how to cooperate in the fight against it.

King Abdullah "made quite clear that, first of all, Jordan is committed and, second of all, that the many people that Jordan is in touch with in terms of the Arab world are also committed to moving forward with a serious fight against terrorism, and that, I think, was welcome news," Boucher said during his daily briefing in Washington September 27.

Boucher said the king and Powell also discussed the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and its bearing on "how we go forward in terms of dealing with the problem of terrorism."

The spokesman welcomed the direct discussions September 26 between Israelis and Palestinians that resulted in an agreement to consolidate and strengthen a cease-fire.

"Both sides now have to take this opportunity to break from their past practices, break from the provocation or the retaliation, and begin to build a new relationship of trust and confidence," Boucher said.

In terms of specific actions, Boucher said, Israel needs to halt the demolition of Palestinian homes and incursions by its defense forces into Palestinian controlled areas.

The Palestinian Authority, Boucher said, needs to act "to preempt violence, to arrest those responsible for planning and conducting acts of violence and terror."

He said President Bush, Powell and others in the administration will do everything they can to help the two sides end violence and create circumstances to resume a meaningful political dialogue.

In response to a question about world oil prices, Boucher said the United States welcomes the statement from Saudi Arabia that it would cover the needs of the oil market in case of disruptions.

Following are excerpts from Boucher's September 27 briefing related to the Middle East:

Mr. Boucher: Can we stop, because Jonathan did ask about the meeting with the King, King Abdullah, and I would say, yes, to some extent this came up in the meeting with King Abdullah just now. Part of the discussion was about the aspirations, the views of moderate Arabs, and people who believe in Islam as a religion of peace.

We also discussed the close coordination between the United States and Jordan in the crisis, and the type of cooperation that we might have in the future.

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Question: The Jordanian officials, before they arrived here and indeed outside, were saying that the King's message was that the United States and everyone else, too, has to address the root causes of terrorism.

I assume that the King put that point to the Secretary; what did -- how did the Secretary respond to that?

Mr. Boucher: I'll let the Jordanians characterize their message as they wish. I'm not going to try to speak for them.

Question: I'm asking what the response was, not what the message was.

Mr. Boucher: Well, I wouldn't automatically assume that what you say their message is is what their message is. I would invite others to check what the Jordanians actually said, because what I heard doesn't correspond to what you're saying. I guess that's where I'm starting.

Question: (Inaudible) getting invited to these meetings, and not -- this is what they said in public both before and --

Mr. Boucher: I'm not going to argue with you about what they said in public.

Question: Can you say anything else about the meeting?

Mr. Boucher: I will try to answer the questions if I can. We discussed any number of issues that relate to the crisis and to the issue of terrorism and how we cooperate; how do they see the situation in the region; how do they see sentiment in the region; what are the issues that are important as we go forward; what are the things to bear in mind as we go forward; what is the view of people in the region of this kind of terrorism; what is the way of encouraging and getting the cooperation of all the countries in the region to fight terrorism. And he made quite clear that, first of all, Jordan is committed; and second of all, that the many people that Jordan is in touch with in terms of the Arab world are also committed to moving forward with the serious fight against terrorism. And that, I think, was welcome news.

We also discussed the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. We recognized what the King and others have told us, that this has a bearing on how one might say the "atmosphere" or how we go forward in terms of dealing with the problem of terrorism. But there is, I think, also a strong commitment to deal with the problem of terrorism and to work with us in that regard.

Question: On a related issue, has your embassy in Riyadh received reports from American citizens in Saudi Arabia of incidents of harassment of Americans and other Westerners in the kingdom? And are you giving them any special advice?

Mr. Boucher: I don't know; I'll have to check.

Question: Richard, there was a report out of Kuwait that the Kuwaitis had stopped some Iraqis coming across their border, and the reasons that they were coming, they said, was to target US facilities in Kuwait. Do you have any information on that?

Mr. Boucher: I've just seen the report. I don't have anything for you. I'll check and see if we can get you something later.

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Question: Yes, do you have any comment on what's been happening in the Middle East since the meeting yesterday? It hasn't been too good news.

Mr. Boucher: First, to say that we think that the direct discussions the two sides had yesterday, an agreement to consolidate and strengthen the cease-fire. These are critical steps toward ending the violence and restoring a substantive dialogue.

Both sides now have to take this opportunity to break from their past practices, break from the provocation or the retaliation and begin to build a new relationship of trust and confidence. We think it's essential that Israelis and Palestinians both take the opportunity to act in a manner that helps make progress and avoid actions that can only make forward movement more difficult.

We have called on the Israeli Government to halt the demolition of Palestinian homes and to halt the incursions by Israeli defense forces into Palestinian-controlled areas. We think it's especially important to do this at this moment, when the genuine opportunity exists to break the cycle of violence that has taken so many lives on both sides. We think it's important for Israel to refrain from provocative acts that can only escalate tensions and undermine efforts to bring about a lasting halt to violence.

For their part, we continue to call upon the Palestinian Authority to undertake sustained and effective steps, to preempt violence, to arrest those responsible for planning and conducting acts of violence and terror. We think it's essential that the parties not underestimate the challenges ahead. President Bush, Secretary Powell, Assistant Secretary Burns, our diplomats in the field will continue to do everything we can to help those two sides end the violence, create circumstances where they can resume a meaningful political dialogue.

Question: Have there been any calls since yesterday?

Mr. Boucher: To the Middle East? No, yesterday the Secretary spoke to Foreign Minister Peres, Prime Minister Sharon, Chairman Arafat. He also talked to French Foreign Minister Vedrine and EU Representative Solana. He usually talks to Europeans about the Middle East as well. Not so far today.

Question: When you say we've called on the Israelis to stop (inaudible) is this in response to this latest incident? You mean today or --

Mr. Boucher: We have done it in the past and this is the view that we are reiterating to them in contacts today.

Question: Throughout? I mean, now?

Mr. Boucher: I'm doing it here. But this is also the view that we are telling them in private as we meet with their people.

Question: So you have reissued the request to stop incursions or the --

Mr. Boucher: Our diplomats meet with Israelis and Palestinians every day. This is the message they are carrying today.

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Question: Did the subject of several Palestinians who have been killed in the last short while also come up in these conversations? Since the cease-fire.

Mr. Boucher: You mean the violence that has taken place over night?

Question: I understand that between three and five Palestinians, including a teenager and a 30-year-old man who was described as "deranged" by his family were killed in sort of random incidents with Israeli soldiers, according to hospital sources.

Mr. Boucher: I'm not sure. I can't tell you that any specific event came up. But certainly our people in the field have been discussing the violence that has occurred. They have been telling the parties it's really an opportunity to take advantage of, you've got to keep moving in the direction that you set, you've got to keep taking the steps that can help end the violence, taking the steps that can help cement the cease-fire. And certainly they look at the kind of violence that is occurring within that context.

Question: I don't know if you have reported this, but there is supposed to be a security cooperation meeting tomorrow, right? Have you established what the US role in that will be?

Mr. Boucher: I don't have anything for you on that now. We'll see if we have anything tomorrow.

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Question: OPEC is apparently leaving oil prices unchanged -- oil production unchanged. Do you consider that to be an act of cooperation with the present --

Mr. Boucher: I think I would say, I would leave it to those who follow the energy market more carefully than I do to comment on it. Certainly, we have welcomed the statement that we have seen, for example, from Saudi Arabia early on that they would cover the needs of the oil market should there be any disruptions. And we would hope that the oil markets would -- that everybody would act to maintain stability in the oil markets.

Question: There have been some Arab leaders and also political analysts mentioning that the attacks on the US could be a reaction to the US policy toward Israel. My question is, has there been in this administration any member suggesting to the President to review the US policy toward the Middle East so far?

Mr. Boucher: We have been discussing the Middle East policy of this administration for the last nine months. I don't think we have ever said that we were reconsidering our commitment to Israel or that we were reconsidering our role in trying to bring peace for Palestinians and Israelis. That has been a very firm commitment on the part of the administration. It has been the subject of many, many efforts by the Secretary, by the President, by our diplomats. And it continues to be a major effort of this administration, even as we go forward to fight terrorism on a global scale.

Question: You touched on this, but you have never really given a very kind of illuminating answer --

Mr. Boucher: That was marvelously illuminating, Jonathan.

Question: To what extent does this campaign -- as you constantly review your Middle East policy, what -- how much influence does this campaign against terrorism have in that? What's the input? How does it weigh in there? See what I mean?

Mr. Boucher: No, I don't.

Question: It's obviously a factor --

Mr. Boucher: We have talked about this on and off over the last few days. We recognize that there is an influence. Some have said it affects the atmosphere, the Palestinian/Israeli issues affect the atmosphere of cooperation. But, essentially, there are, on some planes, two different things. One is that there are violent people trying to destroy societies, ours, many others in the world. The world recognizes that and we are going to stop those people.

On the other hand, there are issues and violence and political issues that need to be resolved in the Middle East, Israelis and Palestinians. But we all recognize that the path to solve those is through negotiation and that we have devoted enormous efforts to getting back to that path of negotiation. And we have called on the parties to do everything they can, particularly in the present circumstance, to make that possible.

I guess that's about as close as I can come to the kind of sophisticated analysis I'm sure you will want to do on your own. But they are clearly issues that are different, not only in geography but also, to some extent, in their nature.