28 December 2001

Powell Speaks With Indian And Pakistani Leaders

Deputy Spokesman Philip Reeker told reporters at the Department of State December 28 that Secretary Powell conferred by phone with India's foreign minister and Pakistan's president to urge both countries to continue to act responsibly in order to avoid a conflict.

Speaking to reporters earlier December 28, President Bush praised the arrest by Pakistani authorities of 50 extremists in Pakistan who may be connected to terrorist attacks against Indian officials in New Delhi.

Secretary Powell emphasized that ending terrorist attacks is an issue of critical importance to both nations, according to Reeker.

Turning to Afghanistan, Reeker indicated that the State Department has not received any official request from the Afghan Interim Authority regarding coalition bombing of Taliban and al-Qaeda positions.

"The Interim Authority is continuing the task of restoring peace and order to Afghanistan with the full support of the United Nations, the United States and the rest of the international community," he said.

Asked about reports surfacing in the Israeli press that U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East Anthony Zinni would be returning to the region shortly, Reeker said he had nothing to announce December 28 on a perspective visit.

During the briefing, Reeker underscored U.S. concern over reports appearing in the media December 27 that UN personnel in Bosnia were involved in the illegal sex trafficking, which the United States considers a gross violation of international law and human rights standards.

"We are encouraging the United Nations to investigate this matter fully and, if culpability is found, to take appropriate disciplinary action. We are confident that the vast majority of officers serving with the UN's international police task force in Bosnia are performing their duties in a highly professional manner, reflecting great credit on both their home countries and on the United Nations," Reeker said.

Mr. Reeker: I put out a statement already on the resignation. We note with regret the resignation of Hans Haekkerup, the Special Rep for the Secretary General for the UN Interim Administration in Kosovo, so you can read that on paper. And then shortly, later this afternoon, we will have a statement welcoming the Council of the European Union's adoption of a common position on terrorism as framework regulation. So that will be out on paper as well.

A couple other questions people had. I can get to those afterwards. Why don't we start with whatever you guys have.

Question: What about the Afghans now, asking -- you know, saying, "Get out of Afghanistan. You did your work. Thank you. Let us run our country"?

Mr. Reeker: I think folks from Kabul responded to that. Nobody had made any particular requests of that. The President, I think, talked a bit about that from Crawford more generally. I don't have anything else. Obviously, the Interim Authority is continuing the task of restoring peace and order to Afghanistan with the full support of the United Nations, the United States and the rest of the international community. And, even more importantly, it appears as well to have broad support among Afghans. So we've got the international peacekeeping force operating there and expanding its presence, and I think that's really all there is to say at this point.

Question: And what about -- has Pakistan told the US that it is going to have to move troops from the Afghan border to the border with India?

Mr. Reeker: As I said to some of you who called earlier, I am not aware of anything particular on that. I saw some press reports cited to unnamed officials, but I don't know. If I get anything more on that, I would be happy to give you a call this afternoon, but I haven't seen anything on that. You might check with DOD.

Question: What can you tell us about the phone calls today the Secretary made?

Mr. Reeker: The Secretary was in shortly this morning and then he also participated in the video teleconference with the President, which the President mentioned from Crawford. And he also had phone calls first with the Minister for External Affairs of India Singh, and then with President Musharraf of Pakistan and continued to reiterate the same points that we have been talking about for some days.

As the President noted in his remarks from Crawford, the Secretary stressed the need for calm and restraint, urging a lessening of tensions between India and Pakistan. We expect both countries to continue to act responsibly in order to avoid a conflict. And, as we've been saying, they need to resolve their differences through dialogue.

Obviously, we have talked a great deal about ending terrorist attacks, that being an issue of critical importance to both. As I said yesterday, reports of missile deployments and various military movements only heighten tensions and uncertainty in this situation, and we would just reiterate, as I'm sure the Secretary did in his phone calls, it's important for each country to avoid actions that could raise tensions and spiral out of control.

I think we talked a little bit yesterday about the SAARC meeting, that is the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation. They have a ministerial, a summit meeting in Kathmandu the first week of January. And, as I mentioned to some of you yesterday, this is obviously a good opportunity for Indian and Pakistani leaders to seek to make progress toward resolving their current differences and to lower tensions. So our message continues to be the same.

Question: Can we do the Middle East?

Mr. Reeker: Middle East. I don't think there is much there --

Question: Israeli Television is saying as things are getting quiet, Zinni might go back in a few days.

Mr. Reeker: I don't have anything for you on Zinni; haven't talked to him, haven't seen him.

Question: Well, Israeli Television never makes any mistakes. (Laughter.)

Mr. Reeker: Sorry, don't have anything on that. That's really about it.

Question: Do you have anything to say about the OPEC decision to cut oil production?

Mr. Reeker: I don't think so. We usually do not comment on such market-setting news or rumors of news. I don't think there is anything.

Question: No?

Mr. Reeker: No. Now, yesterday we mentioned briefly but then somebody called me again and I promised I would do it, the question of Mr. Pasko, your journalistic colleague in Russia. There have been a number of press reports about him.

The trial, as everybody realizes, was conducted in closed session and we don't have sufficient information to comment on the evidence presented or how the prosecution brought their case, but we note that prominent human rights activists and political figures in Russia have raised questions about whether Mr. Pasko is being punished for legitimate journalistic activity, and the legal basis for determining whether he collected classified information.

I think Ambassador Vershbow in Moscow also in a press availability he had earlier today noted some of the questions about that and also that the Russian court previously had acquitted him of treason charges in '99 and that the Judge in this case threw out nine of the ten espionage charges. Our hope is that his appeal will be heard promptly in accordance with Russia's law and constitution and that, as a humanitarian gesture, he might be released from detention pending his appeal.

And, as I mentioned yesterday, we had an officer from our Vladivostock consulate at the reading of the verdict, which was the only part of the proceeding that was open; the rest was closed. So we continue to watch that case with some interest.

And the other one that was an interest to some of your colleagues, there was a Washington Post story on this issue of UN police, allegations of sex trafficking in Bosnia. And I did promise that we'd look into that because, as you know, we take trafficking of persons seriously and are very concerned about accusations of this gross violation of international law and human rights standards. You are all familiar with our International Trafficking in Persons Report, which calls such activities fundamental and crucially important challenges. So we are very concerned about the allegations reported in the press on Thursday, which we expect the United Nations to address thoroughly.

We are encouraging the United Nations to investigate this matter fully and, if culpability is found, to take appropriate disciplinary action. We are confident that the vast majority of officers serving with the UN's international police task force in Bosnia are performing their duties in a highly professional manner, reflecting great credit on both their home countries and on the United Nations. And, of course, we work closely with the contractor, DynCorp, to ensure that American police officers serving in the IPTF adhere to the highest standards of conduct.

I don't know if it was one of you guys who asked me about that, or one of your colleagues, who can read it in the transcript.

Other things anybody is interested in?

Question: Phil, one more on Pakistan. You may have been asked this when I stepped away, but there was at least one report that the Pakistanis have told us that they're going to have to divert troops from the Afghan --

Mr. Reeker: Elise asked me about that and I had seen a couple of wire reports on that citing unnamed officials. I am not aware of anything here. You could check with DOD. And if I get something later in the day, I would be happy to give you a call or come back down. But I just don't have anything on that subject.

2:30 p.m. EST