03 January 2002

Transcript of State Department Noon Briefing

State Department Spokesman Richard Boucher briefed.

Following is the State Department transcript:

ANNOUNCEMENT -- Briefing by Andrew Natsios, AID Administrator, and Assistant Secretary Alan Kreczko Today

ISRAEL/PALESTINIANS -- General Zinni Visit to Region/Steps to Lower Violence -- Assistant Secretary Nick Burns' Whereabouts

WAR AGAINST TERRORISM -- Rewards for Justice Program -- Efforts to Stop Al-Qaida and Terrorists -- U.S. Contacts with Russia re: Chechnya Issue -- Types of Information on Terrorism

INDIA/PAKISTAN -- Developments to Reduce Tension

CANADA -- Detention of Mr. Baloch in New York

SOMALIA -- Potential Haven for Terrorism

TRADE -- U.S. Revision to Export Controls on High Performance Computers

ZAMBIA -- New President

Mr. Boucher: Happy New Year. Good afternoon, everybody. It is a pleasure to be here. I just wanted to remind you about the briefing this afternoon at 2:30 on the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan and a variety of different programs, in addition to the food assistance that we've been giving there. That will be at 2:30 in this room and available to all.

Now I would be glad to take your questions on this or any other topic. Mr. Schweid.

Question: Let me try an angle on the Zinni mission, and correct me if I'm wrong, but the Israelis still have forces in Ramallah, for instance. They have withdrawn from some other areas. And there is a notion that the truce can't be put back in place because it precludes or prohibits or bars Israeli occupation or Israeli force in Palestinian areas.

Is that correct? Must there be a total withdrawal for a truce to be -- or is that one of his problems? Is that a condition of US truce terms? That is what is being written out there, and frankly I had never heard --

Mr. Boucher: I have never heard that theory before. Let's deal with the real facts and not sort of speculate on terms and conditions of things.

Question: Well, if his mission --

Mr. Boucher: The mission has not been some US blueprint. The mission is to go out there and work with the parties, find practical measures of moving forward, practical ways that they can continue to take steps to move forward, to stop the violence, to ease the restrictions and to work with each other and get into the implementation of the Tenet recommendations, the Mitchell recommendations.

So the Israeli withdrawals from Jenin and parts of Ramallah are certainly positive steps. We think it's important that Israel continue to take concrete steps to improve the day-to-day lives of Palestinians. And as the Palestinian Authority continues to move in a serious manner on security, we think that Israel also needs to take appropriate steps on the ground to ease restrictions on the Palestinian population, steps to ease movement of people for example, like we have seen.

But I think General Zinni is also clear that he is trying to focus the Palestinian Authority on security steps to combat terror, to dismantle terrorist infrastructure and promote a continued reduction in the level of violence. So there he is out there with both sides. He has arrived. He will be meeting with Prime Minister Sharon, Chairman Arafat, Foreign Minister Peres. He will also be talking to security officials on both sides. And the goal is to work on a practical formula to move forward towards a cease-fire, implementation of the Tenet Plan and the Mitchell Report recommendations.

Question: Well, thank you, but let me ask you little parts of that. Putting a truce back in place is or isn't one of his objectives? And secondly, he is going to be there a limited amount of time. I don't know what this means. Does this mean that you are essentially depending on the parties to find their way to implementing Mitchell, or does it mean that things are looking so good he can get something concrete done by next Monday? You know, what is the import of this brief mission, because the other one was he is going to stay as long as it takes?

Mr. Boucher: The answer to your question is no.

Question: What was my question?

Mr. Boucher: Not (a) nor (b), and then (c) I didn't quite understand. The point of the mission is to go out there to assess the steps the parties need to take, to assess the willingness of the parties to take the steps, to assess their willingness to continue to take the steps, and assess the ability to move forward into implementation of the various plans that are out there that bring us back to confidence and talks.

The fact that he went for an initial period that was considerably longer and now is on a shorter mission that will bring him back here to talk to the Secretary next week, once he can assess the willingness of the parties and the steps the parties are in fact taking, they are just different circumstances at different times. And the mission, as I said yesterday, continues. It is important to the United States to keep moving in this direction and General Zinni will continue his work.

Question: Two questions. The first is, can you get into any kind of detail about the steps that you are recognizing publicly now that Arafat has taken? You've recognized the arrests before, but has he actually done things like dismantle mortar factories and these sorts of things? And, second, will you be asking the Israelis specifically to hand over the withheld tax revenues from the Palestinian Authority that they haven't given them since, I guess, the beginning of the Intifada?

Mr. Boucher: Two questions. One, on the steps that we are asking the Palestinian Authority to take, I think we have been quite clear --

Question: Not the steps -- the steps they have taken --

Mr. Boucher: The steps they have taken? Well --

Question: It's unclear right now.

Mr. Boucher: We've seen a number of arrests, we have seen some offices closed, we have seen statements made that lend his authority to an end to violence. We have seen the shutting down of some of the homemade mortar factories and things like that. I am sure that observers on the ground can look at a variety of other things.

We have also made clear that there is more that needs to be done. These steps are serious. They begin to deal with the problem of violence and the extremist groups that have perpetrated the violence. But we have felt that the people need to be arrested and the groups need to be dismantled, and that that is a process that we would say is still under way that more needs to be done to achieve that.

And the second part of it -- oh, it was tax revenues. That has always been a factor in the equation for both sides. I am sure that Zinni will discuss it at the appropriate time. I am just not going to try to put a particular element in at a particular time right now.

Question: Can I follow up? Can you be any more specific, given everything that you've just listed that Arafat has done, the part that still hasn't been done?

Mr. Boucher: No, I don't think I can, from this distance. That is the kind of thing that Zinni is out there working on: what are the further steps that people can take to make this dismantling effective, what are the further steps that they can take. But clearly, the issue of arrests and control of the organizations, dismantling the organizations, is the goal and is topic A on the agenda.

All right, no more questions. Let's go have lunch. (Laughter.)

Question: Change of subject?

Mr. Boucher: Please.

Question: With regard to the Rewards for Justice Program, have any of the terrorists listed after September 11th been apprehended or killed? And has the rewards program paid out information -- any money for information after September 11th?

Mr. Boucher: I think it's a little too early to start checking. The program always has existed, obviously since before September 11th. The announcement was, what, about three or four weeks ago now of the expanded program, $25 million. I'll see if there's anything to say.

In terms of people arrested on the 19 or 22 most wanted, I forget what it was, that would be something to check with the Justice Department on. As far as whether we have paid any rewards in connection with the September 11th attacks or other terrorist attacks since September 11th, I would have to check.

But I believe these things do take some time to process. We got an enormous amount of information, I know. All that is being passed on to the FBI. They follow up any leads, they follow up any information that is useful. And ultimately, if it results in some sort of arrest or conviction, then the issue of rewards being paid is looked at. And I don't think we are at that point. We are not at that stage.

Question: India and Pakistan? There have been quite a lot of artillery exchanges today. Have there been any contacts, high-level contacts with either party, as part of your efforts to reduce tension?

Mr. Boucher: I would remind you that our ambassadors are constantly working in the region on both sides at high levels to continue to be in touch with people. The foreign ministers and the heads of government are both traveling now in Nepal, or I guess President Musharraf is in China. But we have kept in close touch with the governments involved and certainly continue to urge them to take steps to reduce tension. We have continued to see some movement in that regard.

Prime Minister Vajpayee made a statement that he will make every effort to avoid conflict with Pakistan. We are also pleased to see that Pakistan is moving against militant groups, and we believe President Musharraf is committed to dismantling these groups which are a threat to Pakistan and its neighbors. Pakistan has also made a public commitment to reform its education system, to remove sectarian influences and improve academic standards, and we look forward to supporting these efforts with our assistance to Pakistan.

So, as I mentioned, the foreign ministers and other officials are in Katmandu now. President Musharraf and Prime Minister Vajpayee will be there tomorrow, and we hope that they will use the opportunity to move forward towards resolving their differences.

Question: Vajpayee ruled out a face-to-face meeting already with Musharraf, I believe. Do you think that is helpful?

Mr. Boucher: I was asked the same question yesterday and I'm not going to talk about the specifics of who has to see whom on what day. That is up to them to decide. We think it's an opportunity for them. Having officials, leaders, foreign ministers, other people, all in the same place, it is an opportunity for them to look for ways to resolve their differences. I'll leave it at that. They can decide exactly what they might do.

Question: Richard, the Indians are also saying that the SAARC meeting should not discuss bilateral disputes like the India-Pakistan dispute. Does the United States feel that that's unhelpful?

Mr. Boucher: We are not a South Asian nation. I'll leave it to the countries involved to decide what they want to do in their meetings.

Question: What is the latest US position on Kashmir and whether we would take any kind of role in mediation?

Mr. Boucher: The same as it has always been, that we are willing to help out if the parties want us to, but at this point I don't think we have been asked.

Question: New subject? Knowing full well your reluctance to talk about further targets, what is the concern now about the people who went through the al-Qaida camps in Afghanistan but were no longer there or were not found there when we went in -- the Chechens and even Kashmiris and other nationals who then went back? If al-Qaida is first on our target list, it can't be limited just to Afghanistan. Are we actively looking for these people in other countries? They are still al-Qaida.

Mr. Boucher: Listen to the President. Listen to the President ever since the beginning. We are going to go after terrorism. We are going to go after this organization, al-Qaida. He made clear all along it has tentacles, it has offices, it has cells, in maybe 50 or 60 countries. This is a worldwide effort and we have enlisted people from all over the world, whether it is the European allies, whether it's allies like Australia, whether it's the Central American and South American nations in the Rio Treaty that invoked the treaty to fight against terrorism.

This is a worldwide effort, first focused on al-Qaida, which does have an existence of some kind in various places. And you see financial controls being put in place. You've seen law enforcement efforts and arrests and people taken into custody. I haven't checked recently, but a couple weeks ago the numbers were something like 300 people taken into custody in 30 or 40 different places in relation to the campaign against al-Qaida. So there is a worldwide effort going on against terrorism and against this organization, and it exists in a whole variety of ways, not just the military ones that you see in Afghanistan.

Question: In Chechnya, where I mentioned earlier, Russia says it has now killed more than 100 rebels in a recent operation in Chechnya. Are we checking into whether there is a link between the insurgents and terrorists? Are we in touch with Russia on this issue? We have expressed concerns about killings in Chechnya before.

Mr. Boucher: We clearly keep in touch with Russia on the campaign against terrorism and the fight in Afghanistan against al-Qaida and elsewhere against al-Qaida as well. We have talked before about some of the links between the training of some of the people fighting or conducting terrorist acts in Chechnya, but we have also made quite clear and continue to make clear in our discussions with the Russians that there is a political aspect to this situation that needs to be resolved politically.

One can fight against terrorism, but one needs to deal with the fundamental political issues in a political manner. In fact, that was a statement that President Putin made not too long ago as well, so I don't think we have any difference of views. We have seen -- after President Putin's speech in September or October we have seen some contacts of a political nature, and we would urge the Russians to pursue those contacts and try to resolve the political situation.

Question: So you have nothing on these latest clashes?

Mr. Boucher: No, I don't have anything particular on a specific set of attacks.

Question: I have a question on a related topic. It's about a man named Shakir ali-Baloch. He is a Canadian citizen who is one of the detainees who was arrested for immigration violations after September 11th. The Canadian Government is demanding to know why Mr. Baloch is being held, whether there are any legal charges against him and whether his Vienna Convention guarantees of consular consultations were violated. I was wondering if you had any answers to those questions today.

Mr. Boucher: I'm not sure I can answer the questions of charges. You would have to check with the arresting authorities and law enforcement authorities involved. We became aware of Mr. Baloch's detention about mid-December, December 14th. We did later receive a diplomatic note on the case from the Canadian Government and we will be replying to that soon, we hope.

Our role in this case has been to try to ensure that the United States is abiding by its Vienna Convention obligations regarding consular notification to access. We have no reason to believe that those obligations were not met in the case of Mr. Baloch.

During the past several weeks, Canadian consular officials have visited Mr. Baloch at the Metropolitan Detention Center in New York. And that is about all I can tell you about the case.

Question: A follow-up question. Are you aware whether Mr. Baloch is considered to be a suspect in connection with the September 11th attacks? And if not, can you provide any answers as to when he might be deported back to Canada?

Mr. Boucher: Those are not questions that involve the State Department. I am afraid those are questions most properly directed to the law enforcement authorities involved.

Question: They're not providing any answers at this point because the questions have been put to them --

Mr. Boucher: Well, I haven't been up there to ask them, but you could if you wanted to.

Question: Thank you.

Question: Back on the terrorism, there's a big story in The Washington Times today about Somalia, the al-Qaida presence there. Is there anything you can talk about in that regard?

Mr. Boucher: I think nothing particularly new to say about Somalia. We have always made clear that we felt that Somalia and the situation that existed there made it a potential haven for terrorists. If you look at our Patterns of Global Terrorism and other reports, you will see that we have identified organizations that operate in Somalia. I think -- I'm trying to think -- the Foreign Financing Executive Order, I think, has one or two involved there. And, obviously, we have discussed a bank that operates in Somalia as being one of the conduits for funds as well. So there are links to organizations, groups or people in Somalia.

But the concern is that it could become a potential haven and we are in touch with various kinds of various Somali authorities and individuals. We have an officer from our embassy in Kenya who visits there regularly and was there about a week ago. So we are working to try to ensure that Somalia does not become a haven for terrorists.

Question: On that, there are those who say that already though even to talk about Somalia being possibly the next target is weakening the transitional government and that the warlords are using this talk in the United States as an opportunity to attack, even if it is not the next target.

Mr. Boucher: Well, I think people have to differentiate between what you write and what we say. The fact that there is all this speculation about Somalia has nothing to do with anything the US Government has said. The Secretary has made clear, the President has made clear, I've made clear there are no decisions on future targets, no recommendations on future targets that have gone to the President.

Obviously, the situation that we discussed before, the fact that al-Qaida has operatives and organizations around the world, has been a matter of fact from the beginning. And one of the goals of the United States is to eliminate the ability of this organization to operate around the world. So naturally, we are concerned in any number of places and concerned that Somalia might become a safe haven. But that is a long distance from saying it is on a target list.

Question: But I'm saying the warlords aren't distinguishing between what I say or what you say. It's being used as an opportunity by them, whether or not the US Government has made a decision on it or not. Do you see any evidence of that with our diplomat going in? Can you comment on --

Mr. Boucher: I don't know. No, I am not going to speculate on relations between parties inside Somalia. That gets me a little too far down the road into an analysis I don't think I know the answers to.

Question: Can you just say yes or no whether or not the State Department believes there are active al-Qaida cells inside Somalia?

Mr. Boucher: No, I can't say yes or no, because I don't know the answer and I don't know if the potential terrorist organizations, groups, individuals there, are properly defined as active al-Qaida cells. So I don't really have an answer to the question. I'm sorry.

Question: In a related question, from your contacts with these Somali groups, to what extent do you think that they are, in fact, fingering each other and using this as an excuse to bring in the United States to attack their enemies? This seems to be a widely suspected tactic that they are employing in this case.

Mr. Boucher: Isn't that the same question we had before?

Question: Not exactly, no. The other question seems to be to what extent are you actually leading to conflict now. But the --

Mr. Boucher: Jonathan, I don't stand up here and analyze anybody's internal political situation. And to ask me to stand up here and analyze the relationships between individual warlord groups in Somalia goes a little beyond my comprehensive knowledge of world affairs.

Question: Well, no, this is an important -- I mean, if you're considering --

Mr. Boucher: No, I think you are asking me to speculate on relations between Somali warlords, and I just don't think that's something I can do.

Question: Okay, what is your assessment of the reliability of the information which these people have been providing to you?

Mr. Boucher: I haven't said that people have been providing us information. I haven't ever tried to assess the reliability of information we might get from other people. The United States has an enormous number of ways of finding out what is going on in any particular place. As you know, a lot of the effort that we have made in Afghanistan through our military forces has uncovered information about the al-Qaida network and where it exists from that side.

So we have a variety of sources of information. We have a variety of means of identifying where terrorists are and where they operate. There is intelligence information, military information. There is the spoils of war, things picked up in a paper in Afghanistan. There is law enforcement information from all the arrests that are going on around the world. There is financial information from people whose bank accounts we trace and we watch transfers. There is a whole body of knowledge that one can amass to try to determine where terrorists are and where they're operating.

That is the kind of information that we use to conduct the campaign against terrorism. So I don't think trying to analyze an individual section of that and whether this guy said something that was better than what that guy said is necessarily the issue right now.

Question: Can I ask you something else? Assistant Secretary Burns, is he on the road again? Maybe he never got off the road. There are reports he is going to Yemen.

Mr. Boucher: I saw him this morning.

Question: Is he going to Yemen, do you happen to know?

Mr. Boucher: I haven't heard. I'll check.

Question: Thanks.

Mr. Boucher: He did make a couple trips in December and I wouldn't be surprised to see him go again. I am not quite sure where he stands right now, in terms of future travel. I know where he stands right now.

Question: (Inaudible) the President's decision to lift the supercomputer export control?

Mr. Boucher: I could give you all the gory details, but has the White House done it already? Have they put out a statement?

All right, the White House made the announcement on January 2nd, so I think the White House fact sheet is probably the best place to get the information on that.

Question: Can we go back to Zambia? Yesterday, you said the opposition needed to produce more specific evidence of their allegations. Have you seen anything yet from them? How do you assess the current status of the president elect? Well, he's been sworn in now, so I guess he's president.

Mr. Boucher: Yes, we went through the legal matters yesterday and did say that the electoral commission needs to look at any indications or evidence of irregularities. We have noted and various observers have noted that there were reports of some irregularities. But we have also said, as I said yesterday, that we didn't see any of the observers reporting widespread or massive irregularities or fraud. That remains the situation today. But obviously, any irregularities need to be looked into and pursued.

Question: Thank you.

(The briefing concluded at 1:37 p.m. EST.)