*EPF502 05/03/2002
Transcript: State Department Noon Briefing, May 3
(World Press Freedom Day, Zimbabwe, Mideast, Israel/Palestinian Authority, Russia, Libya) (5660)

State Department Spokesman Richard Boucher briefed.

Following is the State Department transcript:

(begin transcript)

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING
BRIEFER: RICHARD BOUCHER, SPOKESMAN
FRIDAY, MAY 3, 2002
(ON THE RECORD UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED)
12:35 p.m. EDT

Index

STATEMENTS
-- World Press Freedom Day

ZIMBABWE
-- Press Restrictions

MIDDLE EAST
-- Detention of Journalists in the Middle East

ISRAEL/PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY
-- International Meeting Planning/Preparation/Participants
-- Diplomatic Efforts/Contacts with the Parties
-- Monitoring of Palestinian Suspects
-- Jenin Fact-Finding Mission/UN Security Council Discussions
-- Situation at the Church of the Nativity
-- Reconstruction Effort for Palestinian Authority

RUSSIA
-- Secretary Powell's Meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Ivanov

LIBYA
-- Payment of Compensation to Families of Pan Am 103


MR. BOUCHER: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. It's a pleasure to greet you here today on World Press Freedom Day. If I can, I'd like to make a short statement.

QUESTION: Passed us by.

(Laugther.)

MR. BOUCHER: What?

QUESTION: We were all unaware.

(Laughter.)

MR. BOUCHER: Passed you by, huh? Well, sometimes we tell you things you don't know. Not always, but sometimes.

QUESTION: Can you go off the record and tell us how you really feel?

(Laughter.)

MR. BOUCHER: On this occasion we reaffirm strongly the US commitment to freedom of the press and to the protection of those who have dedicated their lives to it. The right to gather information, publish it freely, is a cornerstone of our nation and a core human right. New global communications technologies increasingly extend our capacity to provide access to information from ever more sources, and we must work to ensure that these technologies remain available to all, free from government censorship.

Freedom Forum today is commemorating 51 journalists who died covering the news in 2001. In 2002 alone, five journalists have been killed to date. One of them was Daniel Pearl, the Wall Street Journal reporter who was tortured and killed in February. His brutal death underscored how repressive forces continue to try to silence or distort the people's rights to know, and these forces must not be allowed to prevail.

The Department of State, along with our embassies abroad and the US Agency for International Development, is committed to strengthening the ability of the press to carry out its vital mission. By helping the free media do their job around the world, we're helping to bring freedom to all.

With that statement, I would be glad to take your questions on this or other topics.

QUESTION: Richard, your statement last year, a year ago, talked about the need for journalists to have access to government officials. It was omitted this year. Any reason for that?

(Laughter.)

QUESTION: Can you just tell us on background why it was left out?

(Laughter.)

MR. BOUCHER: I didn't read every single line in our statement, and when we issue -- and the accessibility of government officials and freedom of the press. It's in there; I just gave you the short version, just gave you the summary.

QUESTION: You must be absolutely thrilled with the latest developments in Zimbabwe. Do you have anything apropos of press freedom in Zimbabwe?

MR. BOUCHER: I don't have anything specific on press freedom in Zimbabwe, but I think if you look at what the Freedom Forum is doing today and other journalist groups, they are reporting in some detail on the tremendous difficulties that Zimbabwe has thrown in the way of the free press. And we ourselves have talked repeatedly about that, about those difficulties -- the laws, the restrictions that they've placed, the intimidation that's occurred -- and expressed a lot of concern about that.

QUESTION: Can I ask you a couple of Mideast things? On the conference --

QUESTION: Can I ask one last one about this Press Freedom? Do you have anything to say about some of the detentions in the Middle East of journalists?

QUESTION: (Inaudible.)

QUESTION: I wasn't going to say that, but do you have anything to say about --

MR. BOUCHER: I don't have anything particular to say at this point. We are aware of those situations. We are following those situations. Llet me check and see if we want to say anything about a particular situation. We are, in many cases, working on these things. The question is whether we say much in public or not.

QUESTION: Obviously the conference covers a lot of ground, and there wasn't all that much detail yesterday, understandably. First of all, who would attend, basically? Would this deal be on the Israeli-Palestinian dispute with maybe the Syrian track, or even with Lebanon? Could you provide a little more detail about that?

MR. BOUCHER: Good questions. Those are the kinds of questions that we will be exploring with the Quartet and the other parties as we try to prepare for such a meeting. All we can really tell you at this point, all the details that we think are more or less settled, at least in our own minds, are that it should a meeting at Secretary Powell's level, ministerial level. For us it would be Secretary Powell who would lead the US delegation or team.

We should try to prepare for a meeting early summer, or summer. We'll be working with the Quartet to try to work on preparing this international meeting in consultation with parties and states in the region. Other members of the international community, I am sure, will get in touch with other nations or people in the Middle East who may be interested in pursuing peace.

But how those details will sort themselves out in the end is really just not known. It's not that I'm hiding it from you; it's just not known at this point. What the Secretary announced yesterday is we would begin to do the work to prepare such a meeting, and those kind of details have to be worked out in that process.

QUESTION: But it must be -- you would think it's the Arab-Israeli conflict, not the Palestinian-Israeli conflict narrowly; is that possible?

MR. BOUCHER: It will depend on the participants, and we'll see. We'll be in touch with all the potential participants in that regard, and we'll just see who wants to come to the table and what they bring at this moment.

QUESTION: Richard, in the past, it's been pretty much standard practice for you guys to be extremely loathe to announce any kind of meeting or conference, or in fact any kind of travel or diplomatic phone call, until it's actually been all set and arranged, and you have all the details nailed down as to who, what, where, when. Was the announcement yesterday trying to spark anew -- or trying to spark renewed interest?

MR. BOUCHER: Trying to send people crazy in newsrooms throughout the country? No, not really.

QUESTION: No, no, no. To try and keep -- to try and keep what was referred to yesterday as progress and a new window of opportunity from the resolution of the Ramallah crisis -- to try to people looking ahead?

MR. BOUCHER: Well, I don't know whether to take that as an observation or advice, the first part of your question, because if you want us not to tell you things, we're happy to do that. But --

QUESTION: You're doing a great job of it.

(Laughter.)

MR. BOUCHER: Let me --

QUESTION: What I'm pointing out is --

MR. BOUCHER: Let's both get away from the gratuitous part of it and say I think there is an intention on our part to try to maintain the momentum. We've talked indeed about a variety of steps that we want to take to keep moving forward. We want to see, I think first, as the Secretary and the President both said yesterday, we want to see Chairman Arafat exercise leadership now that he is able to move about, and that the Israeli withdrawal from Ramallah has been completed.

We do have a situation in Bethlehem that still needs to be resolved, and that is something that I think we've said yesterday we intend to contact, keep in touch with the parties and try to encourage them to resolve that as soon as possible. But we look first for Chairman Arafat to exercise the leadership and the authority in the security area.

Second, there are a number of things that we're looking at to keep this process going, to make sure that the opportunity that we have now, that we take advantage of that. Part of it is working with people outside. We have been working, as you know, very closely with the Saudi Government, with the Jordanians, with the Egyptians. The President himself is involved in this effort, having met with many of those people and seeing Prime Minister Sharon next week, seeing King Abdallah of Jordan next week. The Secretary talked yesterday about going back to the region, talked about the possibility that General Zinni would go back to the region, that Director Tenet would be involved further.

So there are a number of steps, among which is a ministerial-level meeting in early summer, that we do want to take to keep that momentum going. And we've talked about these steps because we are preparing them, we are working on them. As they coalesce more and more definitely, we'll give you more details. But the essential outlines of what we're trying to do in terms of real progress on the security front, real humanitarian assistance to address the urgent problems that are out there, and serious and accelerated negotiations, that's the goal; and all these different pieces, we're trying to bring them together in a way that creates a certain momentum in the region towards peace, because that's the only way out of the difficulties the violence has created.

QUESTION: Okay. Last one very briefly. Do you have any comment on the Swiss, the generous offer from the Swiss to host the meeting, to host the conference?

MR. BOUCHER: I'm sure there are many possible venues. It's not decided yet where the meeting should be.

QUESTION: When the Secretary made the announcement yesterday, was it already decided that the US would take part? Was it a given that there would be a conference and that the US would be participating?

MR. BOUCHER: Well, he said he agreed with the other members of the Quartet that we would work together to prepare the conference.

QUESTION: -- the administration as well?

MR. BOUCHER: Remember what he said when he was in Israel. This is not a brand new idea. He said that he had heard about it from a number of people when he was out in the region, that he would come back, talk to the President, talk to other members of the international community about it. So that's what he's been doing since he's back.

Yesterday we had the chance to talk to a very important grouping of other members of the international community. This is the European Union, who have all been active in this area; it's the United Nations, who has been active in this area; the Russians, who have been active in this area. These are important partners in this process.

So he said he would come back and talk to the President, talk to the international community. That's what he has been doing, and now we're prepared to move that much further and say we're going to work at this point to prepare such a meeting.

QUESTION: But US officials have said for a while, good idea, but not just a conference for the sake of a conference. So I'm just wondering, what would have to happen for it to serve a purpose? What kinds of things would it accomplish to be successful?

MR. BOUCHER: I don't want to throw up any conditionality to it, but I do want to say that the intention of this conference is to bring together all the ideas out there, to bring together the good work that a lot of people are trying to do in the direction of peace, to bring together the ideas that the parties have about how to move forward; to look at how to use the meeting to sustain the momentum, create more momentum in the direction of peaceful resolution of the differences, and real security for the people who live in this region.

So that's something that we'll be able to do, I think, with the participants. The Secretary said yesterday what we hope to do in preparing this -- he didn't really focus that much on the details of where it will be and which delegation will attend, and what are they going to eat for lunch. What he focused on was working with the parties involved to come up with the principles that can underlie such an effort to make political progress. And that will be a significant part of the preparations that we'll be doing between now and when the whole thing comes together.

QUESTION: Richard, I seem to recall hearing many, many times, including from people in government, that the only way to get to any kind of breakthrough in the Middle East is through the leaders. So what is the thinking behind having this conference at the ministerial level?

MR. BOUCHER: I don't think we've excluded anybody or included anybody in terms of a peace process. If we have a meeting at the ministerial level, presumably the parties would come and attend, would be there to contribute, would be there with -- you might say empowered or with authority. Jonathan, the kind of thing you're saying that we think we can only do things at the top, I don't think that's true. There have been various kinds of negotiations at various levels in this region, and some of them have been at lower than leader level and actually achieved something, and some of them have been at the highest levels.

QUESTION: Is that decision -- does it reflect in any way the Israeli refusal to sit down with Mr. Arafat?

MR. BOUCHER: It reflects the kind of thinking in the US Government about how we want to move this effort forward, about the stage that we're at in this process. The Secretary and the President have both been very active in pursuit of peace in the Middle East. The President has had numerous meetings, continues to have meetings and be involved. The Secretary has also had his role in terms of trips and stuff, and this is one of the things that they thought, for our part, the Secretary could do.

QUESTION: It's not particularly on the conference; it's on the Middle East. If you have more conference-related --

MR. BOUCHER: George.

QUESTION: Sometimes international conferences are more successful if they are held behind closed doors with minimum access to the press. You know how leaders tend to grandstand when the cameras are around.

QUESTION: On Press Freedom Day?

(Laughter.)

QUESTION: Has any thinking been done on this?

MR. BOUCHER: Not by me. No, the press arrangements for the conference, I think let's decide those after we have a conference or after we have agreed on what the meeting is going to be and how it's going to be operated. I am sure we will consider World Press Freedom as part of our planning process.

QUESTION: Do you see this conference as a --

MR. BOUCHER: I keep using the word "meeting." You keep using the word "conference." Let me --

QUESTION: Gathering? Meeting?

QUESTION: A confab?

MR. BOUCHER: Oh, a confab, yeah. A gathering, a conclave.

QUESTION: Party? Do you see this meeting as a jab at trying to, you know, hash out the -- a first try at trying to hash out the main issues of the conflict, or do you see this as a gathering of leaders to set out the principles for eventual peace talks? Or do you see this as a first kind of peace talks?

MR. BOUCHER: I just described the way we saw it, and I didn't actually use either of those formulations, so I'm going to take Option C in this case. We see this meeting the way the Secretary has described it and the way I've described it; it's a chance to try to advance on the strategy that involves restoration of security, urgent humanitarian assistance, and serious and accelerated negotiation towards a negotiated settlement. What we're looking to do, as I said before, bring together ideas, create some momentum, and chart out how to go forward.

QUESTION: But while you do -- while you advance your strategy, do you intend to tackle specific issues? Because several other parties to the Quartet came away with the impression that all issues were on the table and that you would be discussing in detail some of these, including final status issues, such as settlements and things like that.

MR. BOUCHER: It's too early, I think at this point, to try to explain exactly the topics of what will be discussed. I told you the purpose, I told you the goals, I told you the description of it. But one of the things we do want to do over the next weeks, or however long it is, is, as the Secretary said yesterday, come up with a set of principles that can be a basis for a meeting. And yes, that does involve discussion of principles, but, as I said, the point of the meeting is to get people together, bring these ideas together -- whatever principles can be worked out and other ideas -- try to create some momentum and look at how to move forward.

QUESTION: Can I ask you about the Palestinians beginning to try to make a case for the release of two of the Ramallah six, Shubaki and Saadat, saying that -- and it is true they were under Palestinian jurisdiction. Does the arrangement that the US was so -- played such a central role in give the Palestinians authority to spring two or three or whatever number of these people?

MR. BOUCHER: The arrangement that was made was to keep these people in custody, so one would have to assume that any other arrangements would have to be discussed with the people involved in the first one. So I don't think I can speculate at this point on --

QUESTION: The US hasn't been approached, has it? That you know of?

MR. BOUCHER: I think we've been aware, legally speaking, within the Palestinian Authority some of these people have been tried and some haven't. But as I said, the arrangement is to keep these people in custody, and we would have to discuss with them any ideas that would want to change that.

QUESTION: Can you talk a little bit more, when you say "come up with a set of principles," what you mean by "principles"? I assume it's already built in as sort of based on 242 and 338, and the Saudi Arab League proposal, so you obviously are thinking about something beyond that. What kind of things are you thinking about? Addressing what sorts of issues, what kinds of principles?

MR. BOUCHER: When we come up with them, we'll be glad to explain them. But I don't think -- it's sort of like the guest list. If you start saying that so-and-so will be there and so-and-so will be there --

QUESTION: I'm not asking what the principles will be; I'm asking sort of what kind of principles.

MR. BOUCHER: You want to know sort of how far down the road -- not what they will be but what kind of principles? Good principles. (Laughter.) Solid principles, fundamental principles that can help lead us forward in this hope for peace.

QUESTION: Principles on process? Principles on what the settlement would look like? I mean --

MR. BOUCHER: We'll have to see as we go forward and as we discuss this with the parties, what they see as the basis for moving forward further. Those would be the "principles," as you say.

QUESTION: On Jenin, now that the -- it looks like there's not going to be this UN fact-finding commission, is it the view of the United States that the Israelis are in violation of the recommendation of the Security Council? Some Arab states have said that they are, and suggested stronger action.

And also, can you describe any kind of alternative at this point that you may have for getting to the bottom of what happened there?

MR. BOUCHER: I think, first and foremost, read the resolution again.

QUESTION: I'm well aware, but there's --

MR. BOUCHER: We supported an initiative of the Secretary General. We have heard back from the Secretary General now that it wasn't possible to proceed with that initiative. We regret that that didn't work out, and we did indeed support his initiative and thought it was good.

QUESTION: So the Israelis are not in violation of any particular UNSC resolution?

MR. BOUCHER: The United Nations Security Council supported an initiative of the Secretary General that didn't work out. That's the exact factual history of the situation; I'm not saying anything else.

The situation, now that you asked about it, is, I think, to remember the first and foremost concern is about the humanitarian conditions and what happened there. There are indeed unanswered questions that still need answers and still need to be resolved, like timely access for humanitarian staff and services, search-and-rescue efforts, treatment of the wounded in the wake of the fighting. As you know, we've always said the Israeli Defense Forces should do their utmost to avoid civilian casualties and damage to civil institutions.

Concerns about the current humanitarian situation in Jenin extends to the difficulties that are facing the Palestinian population there and elsewhere on the West Bank, and the international community needs to continue to address these Palestinian needs. We are in close contact with the organizations involved in the humanitarian effort. We'll continue to monitor the situation through our Embassy and Consulate to see what we can do to assist and facilitate the delivery of needed assistance. And we'll continue to remain engaged on this issue with both parties and UN officials to ensure that humanitarian relief is delivered as efficiently as possible.

QUESTION: Can I just follow up? I just -- the Arab states right now, particularly Syria, are saying that the Israelis are in violation of the UN Security Council, not unlike Iraq is in violation of a UN Security Council resolution. Is it the US view that the Israelis are? I understand what the --

MR. BOUCHER: This has been discussed at the Security Council, I think two nights running now.

QUESTION: Right.

MR. BOUCHER: I'm not aware the Security Council as a whole has made any decisions on it, so I don't think there's anything new to announce from here.

QUESTION: Well, in fact, they have --

MR. BOUCHER: Yes.

QUESTION: Right. So -- but what's the US view?

MR. BOUCHER: The US view is that we supported the Secretary General's initiative, we regret it didn't work out, and we're very concerned about the current humanitarian situation and doing everything we can to deal with it.

QUESTION: Well, how about this. What's your view of the Syrian position? Are they being obstructionist in getting a -- by insisting on their interpretation of the original resolution? Are they being -- are they hindering other efforts --

MR. BOUCHER: I think it goes without saying that the Syrian resolution, the Syrian sentiments, are not shared by other members of the Council; otherwise, the resolution would have passed after two days of discussion. So the United States, like many other members of the Council, did not support that resolution.

QUESTION: Well, yesterday Kofi Annan said he was expecting to get a letter by last night, including a paragraph that would sort of re-mandate a team or a report. He didn't get any letter, as far as I understand. What's the US position on the language that's going around now? What can you tell us about it?

MR. BOUCHER: Again, there are a number of things that are under discussion or have been under discussion over the last few days by the Security Council. Rather than take a position on every single possibility, I need to say that as members of the Council want to keep discussing this, we'll continue those discussions in New York.

I have to point out, though, that our concern, at the same time, is for the real needs of people on the ground, and we're putting a great emphasis ourselves on the situation of people in Jenin and other parts of the West Bank and trying to make sure that they get the help they need.

QUESTION: If I may follow up because the Secretary General said he may be able to make a report without even having people in there. What do you make of that? If you're worried --

MR. BOUCHER: The Secretary General said he may get a letter from the Council president that says he could make a report without having people there.

QUESTION: And he said -- without going in.

MR. BOUCHER: I mean, let's just --

QUESTION: And he was in favor of that.

MR. BOUCHER: There are a variety of possibilities and ideas being discussed within the Council, and rather than try to take the positions on ever yone from here, I would just say that we are just continuing our discussions in the Council, and we'll see if that gets anywhere.

QUESTION: Can we move on to Ivanov?

MR. BOUCHER: I guess Elise has one more.

QUESTION: One more thing. Are you satisfied with the level of access into Jenin and other West Bank towns and cities now? I mean, there have been -- the UN said yesterday that a humanitarian crisis is looming in Gaza because of the lack of access for food and supplies.

MR. BOUCHER: As I said, we remain concerned about unanswered questions, about things that need to be resolved in terms of access for humanitarian staff. There are still questions about search-and-rescue efforts, or treatment of the wounded in the wake of the fighting. So there are active questions that need to be explored and resolved in terms of humanitarian assistance.

I don't have anything that particularly focuses on Gaza, but we have been concerned about the condition of the Palestinian population in a variety of places.

QUESTION: Can I ask one more on the monitors in Jericho? And you may not be able to answer this. But is it your understanding that these wardens have the power to prevent anyone from being released from that facility? Or are they just --

MR. BOUCHER: I don't know.

QUESTION: Can we find out?

MR. BOUCHER: I'll see if we can say anything particular on that.

QUESTION: The Russian Foreign Minister has seen the Secretary -- the President, too.

MR. BOUCHER: Yes.

QUESTION: And he'll have a longer talk with the Secretary. But at this juncture, he's saying mildly optimistic things, pretty much what he said when he got off the plane. Are they closer now, the two sides, to an arms deal? And he's very elliptical about how missile defense might be treated in these documents. Can you illuminate that, too?

MR. BOUCHER: No. The Secretary and Foreign Minister Ivanov will come out and talk to you directly later this afternoon. They are in the middle of their conversations now. They are upstairs having lunch together now. At great peril, I would try to address these issues down here as they are even being discussed upstairs, so let me not do that. QUESTION: Well, the Foreign Minister doesn't have a lot to say, but that's all right. We can wait three hours.

MR. BOUCHER: He had something to say in the middle of the talks, but at this point our view is we ought to wait till they're over and tell you where we are authoritatively.

QUESTION: I have a couple questions on --

QUESTION: Does the State Department share Mr. Ivanov's optimism?

MR. BOUCHER: I don't share your interpretation of anything, Matt, so I would -- (laughter).

QUESTION: Oh, now, that's --

MR. BOUCHER: If you're talking about sharing, we share your joy on World Press Freedom day, though. (Laughter.)

QUESTION: I can't remember what my question was now. (Laughter.)

MR. BOUCHER: Sorry.

QUESTION: I know what it was. I have two, actually. Although you don't want to talk about ongoing negotiations, can you at least tell us what the US position was going into the negotiations on whether missile defense should be included in this document, on whether ABM should have a sort of offspring that is maintained in this document that goes beyond just agreeing arms cuts, beyond just agreeing verification?

MR. BOUCHER: I really don't think I should do that at this point. We're in the middle of discussions. People upstairs are going to discuss whatever they want to. I'm glad to give you a readout. You'll get it authoritatively in person from the participants. I can't --

QUESTION: Can I ask whether -- at least whether the Secretary plans to raise with Foreign Minister Ivanov, given this new relationship that you're supposed to be sealing, the fact that the negotiations on Chechnya have gone nowhere -- they're dead in the water -- is he trying to get the Russian side to revive those political negotiations?

MR. BOUCHER: Once again, a variety of issues are going to be discussed today in addition to the strategic issues. There will be regional issues. Every time we meet with the Russians we talk about Chechnya. You know our position has always been to support a political process of discussion there because we think fundamentally that's the only way these issues can be resolved. But I can't really take it beyond that at this point. We'll see. We'll have a chance later this afternoon to ask them directly if they discussed it.

QUESTION: With respect to returning to the Middle East, are you satisfied with the behavior of both Chairman Arafat and Ariel Sharon with respect to what they're doing following yesterday's Quartet meeting here at the State Department? And would it be -- have you asked Chairman Arafat to intercede with the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem to personally end that standoff?

MR. BOUCHER: I think first, I'm not going to get in the habit of being satisfied or dissatisfied with somebody's behavior on a daily basis.

QUESTION: Even ours?

MR. BOUCHER: Privately.

(Laughter.)

MR. BOUCHER: We have made quite clear that we think the parties have responsibilities. The President made that clear in his April 4th speech. We've made that clear repeatedly, particularly with regard to Chairman Arafat and the need to show leadership, to work against violence. So we've made clear that's what we expect of them. We've made that clear in specific ways as well when we talk to him, and some of the things we've said in public.

In terms of the Church of the Nativity, if you look back at what the Secretary and the other members of the Quartet said yesterday, they all said they wanted to urge the parties to resolve the situation at the Church of the Nativity. We felt that the parties should recommit themselves, and they have had discussions in the past on the Church of the Nativity, and we would hope that they would be able to get together and resolve that issue as soon as possible.

QUESTION: Richard, do you want to say anything about the Israeli operation in Nablus?

MR. BOUCHER: No, I think our position has been clear on things like that.

QUESTION: It hasn't been clear at all. (Laughter.) I'm serious, it really hasn't. Is that a violation of the withdrawal agreement?

MR. BOUCHER: We have said repeatedly that they should finish their withdrawal and refrain from further incursions.

QUESTION: Is that another incursion?

MR. BOUCHER: I'll leave it at that for now.

QUESTION: Is it a further incursion -- the Nablus operation?

MR. BOUCHER: I'll leave it at that for now.

QUESTION: Let me ask you another question. If you're preparing to do an assessment of the Palestinian security stuff, what happens when the Israelis are still doing this? I'm saying, if you want -- the Secretary yesterday said very specifically you have to assess what they've got to do in the security infrastructure, and here you have what looks to be another attack on the PA's security infrastructure.

MR. BOUCHER: As we've said before, we're willing to work with the reconstruction of the Palestinian Authority. The President made clear yesterday we want to do that in a manner that respects democracy, open markets, the rule of law, transparency, and accountable administration, and respect for individual liberties and civil society.

So as we go forward in this, we would expect to be able to -- for the international community to assist with a reconstruction effort that would set up institutions that can exercise authority, that can exercise jurisdiction and control to help stop the violence and work in a positive direction.

QUESTION: Is there anything new on the -- any movement on the North Korea front?

MR. BOUCHER: No.

QUESTION: Have you seen any reports that the Libyans are now willing to pay the families of the Pan Am 103?

MR. BOUCHER: I think we've seen some reports, but as far as checking on that, I think you'd have to check with the families. The families also have legal counsel. You can check with the families or their legal counsel. We're really not in a position to deal with the details.

Our longstanding position is that Libya must comply with all of the UN Security Council resolutions. These include payment of compensation, as well as acceptance of responsibility. Our policy has not changed. There is no shortcut to this. They must comply with UN resolutions.

QUESTION: Thank you.

MR. BOUCHER: Thank you.

(end transcript)

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