22 March 2002

U.S., Israel, Palestinians Hold Security Meeting

State Department Deputy Spokesman Philip Reeker said U.S. special envoy Anthony Zinni chaired a trilateral security meeting with Palestinian and Israeli officials March 22 on ending violence and implementing the Tenet security work plan.

Reeker said another security meeting was scheduled for March 24, and that the two sides "need to continue the maximum degree of cooperation to end terror and violence, and to continue steps toward the start of implementation of the Tenet security work plan."

Briefing reporters at the State Department March 22, Reeker said the U.S. government welcomes Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's pledge to take immediate action to end attacks on Israeli civilians, as well as his stated commitment to achieving a cease-fire. He said he expected the Palestinian leader to back his words with "definitive action."

"That includes clear, unambiguous orders to the Palestinian security services, the need to prevent terror attacks. These steps are crucial to the success of General Zinni's mission," Reeker said.

Reeker said Vice President Dick Cheney will be willing to meet with Arafat if Zinni indicates that Arafat and the Palestinian Authority are meeting conditions for stopping violence.

Following is an excerpt from the transcript of Reeker's March 22 briefing with his comments about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict:

Question: Well, I mean, obviously -- both. I mean, you know, we're interested in the substance of the call. We could guess, but it's not good to guess.

Mr. Reeker: I don't have a particular readout on it, Barry.

Question: Can I ask a specific question on the Middle East?

Mr. Reeker: Sure.

Question: What do you make of the fact that the security talks went on today but apparently didn't come to any conclusion -- didn't come to any agreement?

Mr. Reeker: Right. There was a trilateral security meeting today attended by General Zinni. The meeting was conducted, as I am told, in a professional and constructive manner. As we have said before, both sides need to continue the maximum degree of cooperation to end terror and violence and to continue steps toward the start of implementation of the Tenet security work plan. Another trilateral meeting is scheduled for Sunday.

Let me just reiterate and underscore what we said yesterday in terms of condemning in the strongest terms the recent series of terrorist suicide bombings that have left at least ten dead and wounded dozens of others in the region. These attacks underscore the necessity of immediate, sustained and effective Palestinian action to end terror and violence. We do welcome Chairman Arafat's pledge to take immediate action to end attacks on Israeli civilians and his affirmation that he is committed to achieving a ceasefire. We expect that he and the Palestinian Authority will move immediately to reinforce these words with definitive action. It is that definitive action and results that we are looking for.

As we have said many times before, Chairman Arafat and the Palestinian Authority need to exercise leadership. They need to expend 100 percent effort to control the violence and to prevent horrible attacks such as have occurred this past week. Chairman Arafat must take immediate, serious and sustained action to get a cease-fire started and begin implementation of the Tenet work plan, as I indicated. That includes clear, unambiguous orders to the Palestinian security services on the need to prevent terror attacks. These steps are crucial to the success of General Zinni's mission. And as I said, another trilateral meeting is scheduled for Sunday.

Charlie.

Question: As a follow-up to that, do you have anything on whether or not the steps Chairman Arafat has taken so far would lead to a meeting with the Vice President in the coming days, or have they been insufficient for that?

Mr. Reeker: I think the Vice President laid out his views on that. He said that he expects a 100 percent effort from Chairman Arafat to stop violence and terrorism, that Arafat begin immediate and serious steps to get a ceasefire started, and implementation of the Tenet work plan. We're not in Tenet yet. It has not yet been implemented. We want to see the clear public commitment on behalf of the Palestinian Authority to the Tenet obligations, unambiguous orders to the Palestinian security services to enforce the cease-fire, and a serious effort to stop terror attacks.

And if these conditions can be achieved, we will have an opportunity and an appropriate environment for a constructive meeting. That is what the Vice President has indicated before. In the end, I think the Vice President made clear, and we have reiterated, that it is going to be General Zinni's assessment of progress on Tenet implementation that will determine how the Administration proceeds on that. And again, Tenet has not yet been implemented. So there are no decisions on that matter.

I think it is important to note that there never was a specific date for this. Some of the reporting seemed to suggest otherwise. There was never a specific meeting date scheduled between Vice President Cheney and Chairman Arafat. We have always maintained that the justification for such a meeting is not time-driven, but performance-based.

Question: Just to follow up. And the performance to date by Chairman Arafat would indicate that there won't be a meeting? Next week -- I'm talking about in the --

Mr. Reeker: Again, timing has never been pinpointed. This isn't time-driven; it is performance-based. We have welcomed things that Chairman Arafat has done, including his pledge on taking immediate action to end attacks on Israeli civilians. We want to see results from that. That is what we will continue to be looking for. As I said, we had a trilateral security meeting today, another one scheduled for Sunday. And General Zinni obviously will be reporting to the Secretary and the Vice President on where things stand.

Question: Can I try the Israeli side of this? I think it's safe to say that the Prime Minister has not responded to three suicide attacks that have taken at least ten Israeli lives, wounded more than 60 people, 16 in just one of the attacks --

Mr. Reeker: I've read the news reports, yes.

Question: Yes, but he hasn't responded. Is that because he's come to this decision himself, or has the US Government suggested that, for whatever motives, like maybe Zinni's mission, he shouldn't retaliate, he shouldn't stir up any more violence?

Mr. Reeker: I think the Israeli Government comes to its own decisions, Barry. That is the way it has always been. I think we have made quite clear our points about that, in terms of what we want to see, in terms of security, moving ahead with these meetings. That is a positive thing. The meeting we had today, the meeting that is scheduled for Sunday; that is the way we will move forward. We need to get into Tenet, which involves both sides doing that. We have made quite clear what we have called upon Chairman Arafat and the Palestinian Authority to do in that regard, the results we want to see, and that is what we will keep looking at, and that is what General Zinni's mission is about.

Question: Can I move to Iraq?

Mr. Reeker: Did anybody else have Middle East? Joel had a Middle East question. So let's just let Joel ask --

Question: This morning, apparently General Zinni met one-on-one with Yasser Arafat. It came out on the news about two hours ago. Also, there's been other killings in Jenin, right over in the northern West Bank area, at a bus station that the troops use.

Is there anything that Yasser Arafat, as well as the Palestinian populace, can learn from your State Department, Secretary Powell and the President, that they can implement step by step in the next few days before the conference in Beirut next week with the Arab League?

Mr. Reeker: Joel, we have talked for a long time here about the Tenet work plan, something that the United States, under the auspices of course of Director Tenet, put together almost a year ago in terms of providing a security structure that the two sides can use with our support, our help, our facilitation, to put into place the measures necessary to get the violence down and then move into the appropriate next steps of that.

So I think we have laid out quite clearly what we want to see after the tragedy of yesterday's suicide bombing in Jerusalem. I relayed to you what the Secretary said to Chairman Arafat in terms of what he needed to do: speak clearly to the Palestinian people that these actions, these suicide attacks, other terrorist actions, were undermining his leadership, Chairman Arafat's leadership, and that they were undermining the dreams of the Palestinian people for an independent Palestinian state. So we need to get the violence down, first of all, and move forward in these structures, these things that have been put in place, to allow the parties to work together to move ahead out of this situation.

Question: A follow-up question. Last evening our American ABC television network was a program on Nightline, and they showed just in a hospital setting at Adassa Hospital, they're treating both Arabs and Israelis alike. And they did a whole series of interviews, and Adassa Hospital has a branch in East Jerusalem as well, and one of the hospital nurses, her own daughter had been killed in one of the recent bombings and yet is still --

Mr. Reeker: Do you have a question, Joel? I hate to take up everybody's time.

Question: Yes, I do. Is there any way that that type of cooperation can be expanded between the two communities?

Mr. Reeker: I think there are lots of ways the two communities can do that, and I am glad to see that it is being documented and shown that there is hope for peace, that people can live together, because, after all, that is the reality. The Palestinians and the Israelis need to live together side by side.

President Bush has described our vision -- the Secretary has reiterated that -- of an independent Palestinian state, fully recognizing Israel, living in peace with one another. We have got to take the appropriate steps. Chairman Arafat, the Palestinian Authority, needs to show leadership in terms of moving forward on those steps to get the violence down, get into Tenet immediately, and then move on with the Mitchell Committee recommendations and implementing those.