*EPF502 04/07/00
Transcript: State Department Noon Briefing, April 7, 2000
(Earth Day, Middle East, Russia, Chechnya, Cuba/Elian, Lebanon/Israel, Haiti, Iraq, Yemen, Egypt, Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Serbia, Zimbabwe, Libya) (5800)

State Department Spokesman Jamie Rubin briefed.

Following is the State Department transcript:

(begin transcript)

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Daily Press Briefing Index
Friday, April 7, 2000

Briefer: James P. Rubin

EARTH DAY
1 Secretary Albright will make an address on Monday, April 10, at Fort McNair to mark the 30th anniversary of Earth Day.

MEPP
1-2 Parties met last night, began talks this morning. Issue of third further redeployment expected to come up during this round. This is phase of exchanging ideas, working toward framework agreement in order for permanent status agreement to be reached by September 13.

RUSSIA
2-3 US citizen Edmund Pope arrested April 4. No formal charges filed yet. He had a consular visit April 5; will have another April 10.
6-7 Russian oil tanker boarded on April 5 by Multinational Interception Force. No determination yet on origin of oil. If found to be Iraqi oil, cargo will be diverted.
12-13 US has received information about meetings concerning Chechnya. US urges Russia to work toward political situation. Military action continues. US understands Council of Europe's decision to suspend Russian delegation at recent meeting. Russia needs to understand military actions in Chechnya will isolate Russia from rest of Europe.

CUBA
3-5 US has concerns that failure to reunite Elian Gonzalez with his father would adversely affect US efforts to reunite American parents and children in over 1,100 international cases. US has not received any note from Cuba concerning diplomatic immunity.

LEBANON
5-6 US prefers Israeli withdrawal under terms of an agreement with Lebanon. Failing, that, US will work closely with PM Barak to see that a safe, orderly withdrawal of Israeli forces occurs under terms of UNSCR 425.

HAITI
6,11 As matter of practice, US opposes congressional holds on foreign assistance funds.

IRAQ
7 French concerns over no-fly zone incidents would be better directed at Iraqi regime to have it stop threatening US, British forces. No-fly zone exists to prevent Iraq from mauling its own citizens.

YEMEN
8 No change in US policy on Arab governments' recognition of Israel.

EGYPT
8-9 US continues to stand by Camp David accords, expects Israel and Egypt to live up to its terms.

ERITREA
9-10 President in US on private visit, scheduled to meet with Secretary Albright April 11. US trying to help end Eritrea's hostilities with Ethiopia.

KYRGYZSTAN
11,13 US welcomes release of opposition leader Daniyar Usenov on April 6. US continues to call for release of Feliks Kulov.

FRY (SERBIA)
11 Secretary Albright will meet today with opposition leaders in order to get information on opposition efforts to end Milosevic's yoke of oppression and disaster.

ZIMBABWE
12 US condemns violent attack on farms, and against legal and political demonstrations. US suspending its assistance toward land reform.

LIBYA
13-14 Secretary has not yet received recommendation on whether to remove US passport restriction on travel to Libya.

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING

FRIDAY, APRIL 3, 2000 -- 12:35 P.M.
(ON THE RECORD UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED)

RUBIN: Greetings. Welcome to the State Department briefing on this here Friday.

We have one notice about the Secretary's address on the 30th anniversary of Earth Day on April 10th at Fort McNair and the arrangements for that. As you know, she will be at the White House this afternoon on the family planning issue.

With those announcements and scheduling matters, let's go to your questions. Mr. Schweid of the Associated Press.

QUESTION: Jamie, is this the round where the United States pushes its own viewpoints on the Middle East settlement?

RUBIN: We are not at the stage where we think it is appropriate for us to impose or pressure either party to accept an American plan. We're at the stage where serious exploration of these issues needs to take place. The parties left the talks in the last round very comfortable with the work that had been done. Last night, the parties did meet and they've begun their meetings this morning. Ambassador Ross and Deputy Special Middle East Coordinator Aaron Miller will hold a trilateral meeting with the parties this afternoon.

With respect to substance, they will continue to exchange ideas -- that's the phase we're at -- and work toward a framework agreement so that a permanent status agreement can be reached by September 13th. They have also agreed to have separate discussions on the third phase, the so-called third further redeployment.

These are tough issues. It is not possible to make predications. It is the first day of talks. So, other than saying that people felt the last round was a productive round, it is a fact that the issues haven't changed, the gaps still remain and there's an enormous amount of work to be done to overcome those gaps.

Q: That third phase discussion, is that without the United States?

RUBIN: I would expect that we would discuss the issues with the parties as they all thought it was appropriate. The mode of discussions at Bolling is the same as I described to you last time, which is it is primarily an opportunity for the Palestinians and the Israelis to meet and discuss issues in an informal way without a formalized agenda. Each side will be briefing the United States as appropriate and, to the extent we feel it is necessary, we will host so-called trilateral sessions.

Q: The talks on the third deployment, redeployment, are those concurrent?

RUBIN: At Bolling.

Q: But I mean they are going on at the same time?

RUBIN: During the course of this week, they will be discussing that as well.

Q: Different subject?

Q: May I ask one quick follow-up? You said they did not meet last night. Was there any particular reason?

RUBIN: No, no, they did meet last night. I just might have mumbled. The parties met last night and have begun their meetings this morning. And they met over dinner, apparently.

Q: Retired Navy Captain Edmond Pope, who is being detained on spy charges in Moscow, seems to have the kind of military and technological background that would be appropriate for an espionage agent. I realize you are constrained by certain restrictions, but can you tell us something about Captain Pope, please, and his situation?

RUBIN: What I can say is that American citizen Edmond Pope, age 53, was detained on April the 4th by the Russian Federal Security Service. The US embassy in Moscow immediately requested consular access upon learning of his detention. A consular officer visited Mr. Pope in Lefortovo Prison on April the 5th. Another visit is scheduled for Monday. On Wednesday, he appeared to be in good health and made no complaints of mistreatment. No formal charges have been filed against Mr. Pope. Russian authorities have advised the embassy that he is under investigation for violation of Article 276 of the Russian Criminal Code, which pertains to espionage. Mr. Pope has an attorney appointed by Russian authorities. We have been in touch with Mr. Pope's family and we will follow this case closely.

Beyond saying that, I think you all know it's our practice here not to get into confirming or denying any of the intelligence issues that regularly are raised in the media.

Q: Are you going to leave that subject?

Q: No, I'm going to stay on it. Was Mr. Pope spying for the US?

RUBIN: As a matter of practice, as I indicated in response to my last question, we do not believe it is appropriate for the spokesman of the State Department to make it a practice of answering questions of that nature. So I am not going to answer.

Q: What was his job at the embassy?

RUBIN: He's not at the embassy. He's a private citizen.

Q: Oh, he's a private citizen. Excuse me, I thought he was at the embassy.

Q: New subject?

RUBIN: Yes.

Q: Elian Gonzalez -- related to Elian Gonzalez, rather. I know that you've touched upon this -- in fact, you did so on January the 27th. But for those of us who were a little late out of the blocks, what are the State Department's concerns about how the Elian Gonzalez case -- if it isn't resolved with Elian returning to Cuba -- might adversely affect more than a thousand pending cases of child custody?

RUBIN: Well, we are concerned that a failure to enforce the Elian Gonzalez -- reuniting with his father would be inconsistent with principles we advocate on behalf of the United States in cases abroad where we are seeking reunification between one parent and a child. And we are concerned that if this is not done in an expeditious way, it could have very, very negative implications for parents in the United States when their children are taken abroad.

In other words, we believe that are some 1,100 cases where our consular affairs officers are working to reunite parents and children around the world. And the principle of the preeminence of the father or the mother in these cases having the right to be reunited with their child is one that we push very, very hard. And we're concerned that a failure to return and reunite Elian with his father quickly could jeopardize our efforts on behalf of over a thousand American citizens around the world.

Q: How is it an exact match? Because in the case of Elian, his mother died bringing him here, so his father is the only surviving parent?

RUBIN: Right, well, there is no case that is exactly the same. So there are no exact matches in any of these cases. But the principle of reunification of a parent and a child is a principle that we believe in very strongly when we advocate on behalf of American citizens abroad.

So making that principle preeminent in the calculations in any particular case where the facts may differ is what we're concerned would be harmed if this is not resolved quickly.

Q: What is the general reunification issue in those 1,100 cases? I know it's --

RUBIN: What we are talking about is parents in the United States whose children are taken to other countries perhaps by another parent or maybe abducted in some cases. So where you have an American citizen who has desire and intent to reunite with their children, if that principle is not given preeminence around the world, it makes it harder for us to persuade other governments to work with us to resolve cases abroad.

Q: How has this effort been going so far? Is it a tangled bureaucratic effort? I realize each case is different but is it a matter of setting out the facts and things are done? Is there anything like this? Is this totally unprecedented for this much tugging over a child?

RUBIN: Certainly in terms of publicity it is unprecedented. I think that is evident. Beyond saying that, I don't want to compare cases that may turn out to be apples and oranges.

What I am saying is that our consular affairs officers, who work very hard to try to reunite parents with children, are concerned that the preeminence of that reunification principle be upheld so that when they go to a foreign government, that foreign government doesn't say to them, well, look at the Elian Gonzalez case; you didn't follow that principle, therefore we are not going to work as hard on your behalf. That is what we are concerned about and it is something that we, as a department, are obviously concerned about therefore.

Q: Continuing on the Elian case somewhat, have you yet received an official diplomatic notice from the Cubans, officially again, revoking the diplomatic immunity of the Cuban residents?

RUBIN: We have not received such a note and given, with each passing day, we become less sure we are ever going to receive such a note.

Q: What are the implications of not having received that note while the Cubans continue to say that they have revoked the diplomatic immunity?

RUBIN: I am not sure they continue to say that. Different people seem to be saying different things. So long as we haven't received a diplomatic note, we don't have to examine the legal implications of revoking diplomatic immunity and the diplomatic immunity stands.

Q: Mr. Rubin, is it a part of the visa that Juan Gonzalez received -- does it empower him, allow him to be a critic, as he was yesterday, a critic of the Gonzalez family in Havana, a critic of the -- generally the Cuban-American community? He seems to be a mouthpiece of Mr. Castro.

RUBIN: Let me say this. Just as freedom of the press allows you to be in this room to ask me this question, so does freedom of speech allow Mr. Gonzalez to say his mind.

Q: Are there any restrictions on him? I mean, when a Taiwanese official decides to visit his old college and comes through here, very severe restrictions are put on his travels and his behavior --

RUBIN: They are not legal restrictions. They are -- we don't -- we have never muzzled foreign visitors.

Q: You never muzzle speech.

RUBIN: Yes.

Q: Your ambassador to Greece, Nicholas Burns, was in town before yesterday. And --

RUBIN: Do you know where I was? I was in Boston while Nick was in town.

Q: So you met him in Boston? He was in Boston, too.

RUBIN: I missed him there.

Q: May we know the reasons of his visit to Washington?

RUBIN: To Washington?

Q: Yes.

RUBIN: Well, rather than give you an off-the-cuff response, and let me simply say that we here at the Department always welcome trips from Ambassador Burns here. But in terms of his official duties and what his official purposes were, perhaps I can get him to provide me some information.

Q: Could you, please?

RUBIN: But speaking for myself, I always welcome visits from Ambassador Burns.

Q: Was his visit related with the Greek elections this coming Sunday?

RUBIN: I will check.

Q: Can we go back to the Middle East? Do you have anything in response to the letter from the Lebanese president to the UN warning that continual attacks on Israel were a real possibility if troops were withdrew from Lebanon without a wider agreement?

RUBIN: Well, with respect to Lebanon, let me say this: We believe that it would be far preferable if Israel could withdraw from Lebanon as a result of an agreement between Israel and Lebanon and an agreement between Israel and Syria -- that seems to be a necessary prerequisite of an agreement between Israel and Lebanon. Failing that, we are intending to work closely with Prime Minister Barak to see that there is a safe and orderly withdrawal of Israeli forces pursuant to Resolution 425 of the Security Council.

And we expect all parties concerned to do what they can with us and with others and with the Secretary General to see that any potential withdrawal is done in a safe and orderly fashion.

Q: Does Lebanon have that kind of capability, whether or not it wants to exercise it? I mean, after all it's Lebanon's country that's being --

RUBIN: Let's start with --

Q: -- de-occupied.

RUBIN: -- a 100 percent effort and then we'll worry about 100 results.

Q: Well, what do you think about the warning, though?

RUBIN: I said what I thought about the warning -- is that first of all, there are conflicting reports about what was actually contained in a letter. We don't have this letter. To the extent that you're asking me questions based on reports of a letter, I'm stating what our view is, that we would expect all parties -- including Lebanon -- to act to ensure that there is a safe and orderly withdrawal of Israeli forces in the event an agreement is not reached.

Q: Yesterday -- I think it was yesterday, Peter Romero was up on the Hill talking about the Haitian elections. And today it turns out that Jesse Helms has actually frozen $26.3 million of aid to Haiti, including almost $4 million which was supposed to be for the elections. What's the State Department's response to this aid being frozen while you are trying to push the government there to hold elections in a timely fashion?

RUBIN: Well, let me say this, as a practical matter in many cases in these areas, we are troubled that we are trying to solve problems that members of Congress are concerned about -- as we are -- and often we need leverage and funds to solve problems. And we can't solve problems without any tools.

Q: So you don't quite think this is a good idea? You're opposed to this freezing?

RUBIN: As a matter of practice we don't support congressional holds on funds we've requested. Yes.

Q: New subject. Another Russian oil tanker has been stopped in the Gulf. Do you have anything on that? Do we have any information yet on how high the suspicion is that it's carried smuggled Iraqi oil?

RUBIN: Well, right now, as I understand it the Multinational Interception Force -- MIF -- has boarded a Russian-flagged tanker on April the 5th. The vessel is suspected of carrying smuggled Iraqi oil. They have to go through a process now to determine whether or not the vessel is, indeed, carrying smuggled oil. And it will be detained until that determination is made. As far as I know that determination hasn't been made as of yet. But I will check that for you.

If found to be containing -- to have smuggled oil, it will be diverted -- the vessel -- to a receiving state in accordance with the procedures of the MIF.

Q: Do you have any information on whether -- how valid the ship's owner's statement that the oil belongs to Shell is?

RUBIN: Well, what we need to do is to go through an investigative process. And that's what you do when you board the ship. And we are going through that process. And when I have a determination as to -- obviously, if the ship owner's claims of total innocence are correct, then our findings should be different when we examine the oil to see whether it's the kind of gas-oil that comes from the Iraqi regime.

Q: So the ship will not be taken into a port until the gas oil is tested?

RUBIN: Right. That's my understanding. Once it's -- well, I don't know where it is right now. I'll have to check that for you.

Q: On Iraq, yesterday the Iraqis claimed that 14 civilians were killed in British-American raids. And not really looking so much for information on that, as I am -- the French have responded to this with great alarm and the Quai d'Orsay spokeswoman has said that these raids are "pointless." I am wondering what the US position is.

RUBIN: Yes. I think that the French Government, to the extent that they regard these raids as pointless, ought to direct through their dialogue with the Government of Iraq, these comments to Iraq to stop Iraq from threatening American and British forces that are doing a job to protect the people of Iraq. Let's bear in mind what the purpose of the no-fly zone is. It is to prevent Iraq from using its airspace to maul its own citizens. And as a result of the no-fly zone, they haven't been able to do that.

In order to keep that no-fly zone in place, we have to have protection for our pilots. So if there's no point to these raids by us, the French Government would be well advised to inform the Iraqi Government that, as they have on many subjects, and they have a dialogue with them, to stop threatening American pilots, then there won't be any need for the raids. We certainly agree that they're pointless in the sense that there would be no point to them if Iraq wasn't threatening American pilots.

Q: (Inaudible) -- on the talks between the Secretary Madeleine Albright and the EU delegation under Commissioner Gunther --

RUBIN: I will have to get that for you. I don't have that available right now.

Q: On the Middle East, when the head of Yemen -- I forget what his title is -- and the President, the President of Yemen, President of the United States wound up their talks, they issued a statement. And the statement spoke of a joint wish to have relations, normalization of relations, between the countries and Israel after there's peace. And this in some minds, maybe, raises the question whether the US policy hasn't changed a little bit. Because I understood the US policy was to push for normalization now, as a way of fomenting peace, of promoting peace.

Has something -- was it just the reality or was it some bad writing or has something shifted here?

RUBIN: I know you will be surprised to learn this but there has been no change in policy.

Q: You mean the policy is that the Arab countries can wait until there is peace with Israel before normalizing relations?

RUBIN: I think you know that's not the policy.

Q: Then what is the policy? I would like to hear you say it because it came out different in the President's statement.

RUBIN: The policy remains the same and that is that we believe that all Arab governments should sooner rather than later deal with the State of Israel. That is why we have worked so hard in UN fora to try to get support for Israel to join various international organizations. That remains the policy. But both can be true.

Failing a willingness to have diplomatic relations prior to a comprehensive peace, we would certainly hope that failing that it would occur after a comprehensive peace. So there is nothing inconsistent and nothing new.

Q: The United States played a very important role, President Carter did, in virtuoso diplomacy at Camp David, without knowing the outcome, helped -- more than helped, pushed Israel and Egypt into a peace treaty. The Egyptian ambassador yesterday said it was foolish to talk about how warm or cold the peace between Egypt and Israel is. There can't be real peace until there's a Palestinian state, until Israel gives up ever inch of land that Syria considers its own, et cetera.

Is it the US position that peace between Egypt and Israel stands on its own under terms of a 21-year-old treaty? Or, indeed, is it proper for Egypt to hold back until there's a Palestinian state, until there's an agreement with Syria?

RUBIN: Without --

Q: I didn't even speak about opening the Damona reactor but that might be next.

RUBIN: Without having heard the ambassador's comment -- and I'll have to get a transcript before I make --

Q: Nixon Center -- it was the Nixon Center.

RUBIN: -- make any more formal response, let me say that we stand by the Camp David accords and we believe that Egypt and Israel should live up to the Camp David accords.

Q: Is that a warm peace that the Camp David accords called for? Without using the word "warm" in them?

RUBIN: I don't recall the temperature being in the peace accords.

Q: Exactly, but what kind of -- do you feel that the peace between Egypt and Israel now is consistent with the Camp David accords? Or is it somewhat short of it?

RUBIN: We would like to see more.

Q: Thank you.

Q: Do you have anything on the visit by the Eritrean president?

RUBIN: Yes, the Eritrean president is visiting the United States on what I understand to be a private visit, from April 5th to the 11th. We understand he was invited by the Council on Foreign Relations and Princeton University. He is scheduled to meet the Secretary of State on April 11th, at which time they will discuss the Ethiopia-Eritrea conflict and ways to bring the OAU sponsored peace process to a successful and speedy conclusion.

Q: On that subject, this morning he said that he felt it was US inaction which had led to the failure of the last peace efforts and that this was why they were still having such difficulties now. Do you have any response to that?

RUBIN: Well, I think the problems between Ethiopia and Eritrea are a result of the faults of Ethiopia and Eritrea, not the United States. And if Ethiopian and Eritrean leaders want to make peace, they can easily do that without our help. We are trying to help and we work very hard to help. And we think it's a great tragedy that Ethiopia and Eritrea have fallen into this situation to the detriment of their own peoples. And we have been working extremely hard.

Anthony Lake has taken several trips there in recent days. Susan Rice is working overtime on this. So I think it would be unfortunate in the extreme to be pointing fingers at the United States from either the Ethiopian leadership or the Eritrean leadership when, indeed, the problem is in the region, not here in Washington.

Q: (Inaudible) -- he said that a pledge of action had been made if this latest effort didn't work, that if the Ethiopians didn't agree to the document, action would be taken. Can you --

RUBIN: We don't think it would be wise to get into the details of our discussions. That would make it harder for us to succeed. But we certainly reject any suggestion that the cause of the problem between Ethiopia and Eritrea is Washington.

Q: It's a different subject.

RUBIN: Let's go over here.

Q: It's also different, but it's very serious.

RUBIN: Let's go over here.

Q: This is very serious, too.

RUBIN: I'm sure his is serious, too.

Q: Can I go ahead? This is serious.

Q: I'll defer to you.

Q: French diplomats are complaining that French is losing its place to English as the language of diplomacy --

Q: That's going to be my question.

Q: Well, that's because I showed you the article. Can you in any language -- probably not Spanish -- because the Spanish complain there are no Spanish translations at European meetings and they've walked out of meetings. But sticking to the French and their compliant -- does the US -- and you can respond in any language you like -- object to the French's objections? Or is it just a natural course of events that English gained prominence?

Q: I think my question is more serious.

RUBIN: Well, why don't we do your question. And then I'm --

Q: No, I'm dying to hear the answer to this one.

RUBIN: Je prend le question.

Q: It means he'll take the question.

Q: Muchas gracias.

Q: Two days ago ahead of the Secretary's visit to Kyrgyzstan, you put out a statement that was very critical of the arrest of an opposition leader. And, lo and behold, that opposition leader has been released. I am wondering if you have any --

RUBIN: Well, we do welcome this release and obviously Secretary Albright will have an opportunity to discuss these issues in full during the course of her visit. We welcome the release and that is all we really want to say at this point.

Q: There was a second person in that statement that had been -- there were two people that you had been complaining about, two opposition people who had been treated rather roughly by Uzbek justice -- Kyrgyz justice, I'm sorry.

RUBIN: We will get you the details on who was released. But, obviously, we want all the people released we indicated.

Q: Secretary Albright is meeting this afternoon privately with a delegation of pro-democracy mayors of the Serbian opposition. Because this is closed to the press, I would very much like to get as much as you can give us on this subject.

RUBIN: Well, Secretary Albright has been working very, very closely and has had numerous meetings with Serb opposition leaders to try to help them organize a strategy so that they and the people of Serbia can throw off the yoke of oppression and disaster that President Milosevic has visited upon them. And she has worked with the opposition leaders in a variety of cities in Europe and here in the United States.

In response to a request of opposition leaders, we supported the suspension of the ban on flights to and from Belgrade and also have been supportive of other steps to ease the situation facing the people of Serbia. So, obviously, at a meeting like this, she will be seeking information from them on where the opposition stands. In recent weeks, there has been a larger and larger body of evidence that Milosevic is getting increasingly desperate, he's closing down newspapers, he's threatening local mayors, he is behaving in a way that demonstrates he understands how isolated he is both internationally and at home and has acted to increase the repression by this closing of newspapers, intimidation of opposition leaders.

Q: There was a second part to my Haiti question earlier and that was also Senator Helms has sent a letter to the Secretary asking that visas for Haitian officials be --

RUBIN: I will have to check that letter.

Q: -- revoked. March 7th --

RUBIN: I don't know whether we've received it. I'll check the letter. I'm sure we have, if it was sent on March 7th. But I'll have to check it.

Q: New subject. Russian President -- new question? Same subject?

RUBIN: Please go ahead.

Q: I'm sorry. Okay. Russian President Putin, after meeting with European leaders, apparently signaled that he is ready to move toward a political end to the crisis in Chechnya, although he apparently specified this did not mean peace talks. And at least the Portuguese Foreign Minister came out with a statement after this meeting saying that this has been a move in the right direction. Has anything like this been conveyed to Secretary Albright or the United States?

RUBIN: Well, we have received information about these various meetings. We are not yet convinced that the necessary steps are going to be taken. We have repeatedly made clear that Russia needs to take meaningful steps toward political solution. Dialogue with responsible regional leaders is critical. We have urged the Russian Government to address the deep rooted social and economic problems that are the source of unrest in the North Caucasus region of Russia.

But we continue to remain open to hearing additional information suggesting that such political solution is imminent. Meanwhile, military operations continue in Chechnya. And Russian forces continue air and artillery strikes against Chechen positions in southern Chechnya. Reports of continued fighting, in our opinion, only reinforce the view that there can be no military solution.

On the European front, however, let me say that we understand the concerns that motivated the Council of Europe to suspend the Russian delegation unless it improves its human rights record in Chechnya. The decision of the parliamentary assembly is something that we can understand, given the developments there. And it demonstrates for those who had their doubts that the conflict in Chechnya is, indeed, increasing Russia's sense of isolation, internationally. And that's what this kind of suspension indicates. We think it's important that Russia follow through on commitments its made to the international community to conduct immediate transparent and impartial investigations of all credible charges of human rights and to provide the International Committee of the Red Cross access to detainees and re-establish the OSCE's offices in Chechnya.

Q: Do you think the suspension of Russia will make a solution, will solve the problem?

RUBIN: What we think is that it's a reflection of the reality. And Russia needs to understand that it is getting increasingly isolated around the world as a result of its behavior and actions in Chechnya. And then, hopefully, that will help in general make Russian leaders see the danger of continuing on their current course, which is not solving the problem -- military actions continues, the war continues. It's now moved from the cities to a guerrilla operation with no end in sight. The world is increasingly concerned. And, hopefully, at some point the calculus in Moscow will change the political solution we have been calling for will become more possible.

Q: Do you take a position on the suspension? Do you think it's good or bad? Or just you understand it?

RUBIN: I think we understood it, and it's not up to us to make a decision on what the Council of Europe does. But we certainly understand the sentiment behind it.

Q: Zimbabwe.

RUBIN: Yes.

Q: Moving swiftly across the globe. Do you have anything to say about President Mugabe's legalization of the seizure of white farms without compensation?

RUBIN: We condemn the violent attacks that have taken place on farms and against legal and political demonstrations in Zimbabwe. We support rational, sustainable, and equitable land reform in Zimbabwe. Because the program has broken down, we are joining other donors in suspending assistance that we had -- $1.5 million towards land reform. Violence has escalated and we're very concerned that the land reform issue is not being dealt with according to the rule of law. And the court-ordered system is not being implemented. As a result, we've suspended our support for the land reform there.

Q: Anything on the new tension in Presevo valley between Serbian forces and Albanian rebels?

RUBIN: I have nothing new on that.

Oh, by the way, on Kyrgyzstan, we understand that Mr. Usenov was released from detention on the morning of April 6th. We welcome this step. We note that opposition leader Kulov is still being held and call on the government to release him pending resolution of his case.

Q: Can you say anything at all about the logistics of the Bolling Air Force Base meetings? Was there a meeting this morning?

RUBIN: I did that --

Q: And was it -- sorry, I wasn't here.

RUBIN: At the beginning at the top.

Q: Has the recommendation on the Libya travel ban been done, finished yet?

RUBIN: The Secretary hasn't received any recommendation at this point.

Q: Is anybody poised at this point?

RUBIN: I think -- I'm poised to end the briefing.

Q: Thank you.

(end transcript)

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