*EPF102 07/12/2004
Transcript: State Department Noon Briefing, July 12
(Iraq, Sudan, Israel/Palestinians, Cyprus, Greece, North Korea) (2920)

State Department spokesman Richard Boucher briefed reporters July 12.

Following is the transcript of the State Department briefing:

(begin transcript)

U.S. Department of State
Daily Press Briefing Index
Monday, July 12, 2004
12:35 p.m. EST

BRIEFER: Richard Boucher, Spokesman

IRAQ
-- France's Restoration of Diplomatic Relations with Iraq
-- European Involvement/Contribution in Reconstruction
-- UN Special Envoy Selection/Status
-- Possibility of Other Countries Contributing to Security
-- Filipino Hostage
-- Rotation of Filipino Forces
-- Security of UN Mission in Iraq
-- Development of Syrian and Iraqi Border Cooperation

DEPARTMENT
-- Deputy Secretary Armitage's Visit to Jordan/South Asia

SUDAN
-- Update of Overall Situation/Secretary Powell's Discussion with Foreign Minister Ismail
-- Status of UNSC Resolution
-- Arrest of Militia Leaders

ISRAEL/PALESTINIANS
-- Timetable for Creation of Palestinian State

CYPRUS
-- Use of the term "Northern Cyprus"

GREECE
-- Query on Alleged Plans to Transfer Olympic Games to Sydney

NORTH KOREA
-- Ties to Terrorism/Japanese Hijacker

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING
MONDAY, JULY 12, 2004
(ON THE RECORD UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED)

12:35 p.m. EDT

MR. BOUCHER: All right. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. I'm pleased to be here. I'm happy to take your questions.

(No response.)

MR. BOUCHER: If there aren't any questions, we can --

QUESTION: You can say thank you.

QUESTION: Any reaction to France reestablishing diplomatic relations with Iraq?

MR. BOUCHER: We welcome that. We think it's a good development. I think it's been 13 years, but we do think it's time for all governments to work with the new government in Iraq and support the new government in Iraq, and we welcome signs that France is interested in doing that.

QUESTION: What about contribution from the European nations, other European nations in reconstruction in Iraq?

MR. BOUCHER: There have been contributions from the EU and from other nations, and as you know from the G-8 meetings, the NATO meetings and the other meetings held in June that there are a lot of other plans underway for how European nations can get more involved in reconstruction in Iraq, in helping Iraqis with security through NATO or other mechanisms, and we hope everybody steps up to the task at hand. It's in the interest of all of us for Iraq to be stable, to be free, to be secure.

QUESTION: Do you have any -- there are reports that Pakistan's current Ambassador to the United States, Ambassador Qazi, will be or has been selected --

MR. BOUCHER: I think the UN has now made the formal announcement, yes.

QUESTION: Do you think -- what do you think about the announcement, about the decision?

MR. BOUCHER: We welcome it. We look forward to working with him at the United Nations, as we have worked with him in Washington as Pakistan's Ambassador. It's certainly, we think, an important development for the United Nations to have the special envoy of the Secretary General working on Iraq and we'll do everything possible to support his effort, to work with him and the Iraqi government and also to take care of things like assisting them with security and other areas like that where the multinational forces might be of assistance.

QUESTION: When you said you'd work with him at the UN, I'm wondering if you know where he's going to be based and whether he's actually going to go to Iraq.

MR. BOUCHER: Don't know where he'll be based or -- I imagine he'll be back and forth a bit.

QUESTION: You know, he denied here that there was a Khan ring to proliferate. He flat out denied there was such a thing a few weeks, or a few days, actually, before it was disclosed. It was incredible. I wondered how much credibility he might have (inaudible).

MR. BOUCHER: As I said, we look forward to working with him as the special representative of the Secretary General.

QUESTION: Any thoughts on getting Pakistani troops to potentially protect the UN mission, an eventual UN mission in Iraq? Did you make any progress on that? Do you think this might help?

MR. BOUCHER: I wouldn't try to characterize it at this moment. We are having discussions with other governments, including governments in South Asia, about how they might contribute to security in Iraq. There is this possibility some governments might want to step forward and participate in forces to protect the United Nations operations there. I think the Deputy Secretary already mentioned in an interview last week that that was one of the issues that he would be taking up during the course of his trip to South Asia, but I don't have anything new on that at this point.

QUESTION: While we're on it, there was a one-sentence announcement that he's going on this trip to these places --

MR. BOUCHER: I thought it was two sentences.

QUESTION: Was it two? Well, that's more forthcoming. Usually, they're from his office. But I wondered if you could give us a little -- if not now, if we could have at least, you know, a schedule that we could alert our bureaus and they could be prepared for him.

MR. BOUCHER: I'm afraid that because of security considerations on his trip that we're not going to be able to do that. There will be some press events held locally in the different places where he's going and I expect that normal media advisories would go out in those places, but I'm not going to be able to offer too much in advance.

He has been in Jordan and that meeting -- those meetings in Jordan were today in Amman. The Deputy Secretary met with King Abdullah of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan today in Amman. Their discussion focused on the bilateral relationship, key issues of mutual concern, including Iraq and the pursuit of Middle East peace.

The Deputy Secretary also visited the Jordan International Police Training Center, the facility established in December of 2003 to train Iraqi police candidates. And we appreciate the support and friendship of Jordan. We welcome this opportunity to strengthen already extensive bilateral relations.

QUESTION: I think he asked about Iraq and security. Do you have any -- can you tell us anything about whatever conversations you may be having with Manila over the Philippine situation?

MR. BOUCHER: We've stayed in close touch with the Government of the Philippines. I certainly want to make clear we call on those that are holding Mr. de la Cruz to release him at once. Kidnapping or murder of innocent civilians is one of the most heinous aspects of terrorism. We applaud President Arroyo's decision not to give in to terrorists and not to agree to an early withdrawal of Filipino forces.

President Arroyo and the Philippine people have long been strong and loyal allies in the war against international terrorism. Their actions are very consistent with that tradition. So we've stayed in touch with her and her government. The Secretary spoke with her on Sunday -- Mrs. Arroyo, Philippine President Arroyo -- and we'll continue to work with them as we go forward.

QUESTION: They're one of a few countries, or at least a few countries, who have a date to remove -- to leave. I don't know, because I guess that date hasn't come in most cases, if it's renewable. Do you happen to know if that will be it for the Philippines, or is it an open question?

MR. BOUCHER: I think for any country where they specify a date, it's obviously within their option to decide on whether renew or go beyond that. Their date -- the original scheduled date of their rotation was August 20th, and I'd just say on that that we're continuing to talk to the Philippine Government about it, as with all countries who are there, as it comes time for departure or renewal, and we've talked to them about how to handle it and whether they can stay on and help the Iraqi people further.

QUESTION: So, basically, you want them to stay?

MR. BOUCHER: Generally, we've left those specific decisions to individual governments, but we've often -- we always talked to them about the possibilities.

QUESTION: Richard, as a matter of follow-up, has there been any progress in Sudan? Is the government acting like they said they would act? Where does that stand and what kind of follow-up communication has the Secretary had, if any?

MR. BOUCHER: The overall picture in Sudan remains mixed. As you know, we've been looking for results on the ground, the kind of effort on the ground that can end the violence and remove all the restrictions on humanitarian access. Within that context, we closely monitor and evaluate the Government of Sudan's performance on its commitments, both those made to the Secretary and to the Secretary General, and more generally to the international community.

We have noted specific actions taken by the Government of Sudan, including expediting the visa process, cooperating with the African Union, and arresting some members of the Arab militias. At the same time, we continue to receive reports of violence and obstacles to humanitarian workers.

The Secretary spoke to Sudanese Foreign Minister Ismail on Saturday. The Secretary made clear to him how closely we were following the events on the ground, how we were looking at every single aspect that had been discussed between the Secretary and the Sudanese Government, as well as between the Secretary General and the Sudanese Government, and that we were continuing to work the UN resolution and the facts on the ground would determine what eventually happened to that.

QUESTION: In general, would you say they are on pace to do what they said, or are they --

MR. BOUCHER: I don't think I can go that far. We've seen more words than action at this point, but there is a mixed picture and some reports of positive actions and some reports of negative actions.

QUESTION: Are you going to come to a decision point on the resolution this week, do you think?

MR. BOUCHER: The resolution is -- we're continuing to work it in New York. There was an experts meeting on Friday. I don't think there's another one scheduled right at this moment, but we are staying in touch and working with other delegations in New York.

We think the Council should be ready to move on a resolution if it becomes clear that the Sudanese Government is not carrying out its pledges and its promises to take action. We're looking forward to hearing from the Secretary General when he returns, which I think is the 15th. And in the meantime, we'll continue to prepare the resolution with other members of the Council.

QUESTION: It wouldn't happen before the 15th, in all likelihood?

MR. BOUCHER: I think we'll see -- we'll see how things evolve as we -- as we go through the week. But that's three days from now, really.

QUESTION: You said there were arrests of some militia leaders?

MR. BOUCHER: Yeah.

QUESTION: Do you know how many?

MR. BOUCHER: Some reports of some arrests. I don't have a number for you at this point.

QUESTION: I don't know suppose you know whether this is a penthouse prison? I mean, you don't know anything about the conditions --

MR. BOUCHER: I don't know anything about the conditions of individuals.

QUESTION: Can we go back to the UN envoy for a moment? You said today, as it has been said many times, it would be good if other countries took on the task or helped in protecting the UN people, but they haven't. As it stands now, is this a shared responsibility of the U.S. and Iraqi forces, or is it essentially an Iraqi security job, or is it not that clearly defined or delineated?

MR. BOUCHER: I think there are a lot of people with some responsibility here. The primary consideration of security for United Nations individuals falls with the Secretary General of the United Nations, and he has to determine what he can do and what help is available to make his people safe. And we've always recognized that he has this particular decision to make in that regard. We've tried to help him in terms of helping provide the kind of security, but ultimately he has to make the choice.

Now, what kind of help does he have available? He has on-the-ground help from the Iraqi government, first and foremost, who are contributing to the security of people within Iraq. And they have the help of the multinational force as well. So in terms of providing security for UN people, it's the United Nations, the Iraqi government and the multinational force that all want to contribute to that security so that the UN can carry out its important work.

Joel.

QUESTION: Richard, this morning, the Sharon government has invited Labor in to try and form a new unity government and that would necessitate new elections in the short run; and also with the Palestinian Authority, they've postpone their parliamentary elections for three months. Has this World Court ruling this past week caused this, your envisioned timetable to slip for 2005 for creation of a Palestinian state and such?

MR. BOUCHER: (Laughter.) No. (Laughter.) I think we'd already said well before any of these events occurred that it was -- while we certainly hoped to make as much progress as possible, as quickly as possible, towards creation of the Palestinian state, that the continuation of the violence, the failure of the Palestinian Authority to take up its responsibilities and the continuing difficulties of making progress on negotiating -- on negotiations had made it increasingly unlikely that we would be able to make the 2005 date.

Yeah, sir.

QUESTION: Yes, on Cyprus. Mr. Boucher, did you find the mechanism by which you are going to send to the Turkish Cypriots the amount of $30.5 million you mentioned last Friday?

MR. BOUCHER: I think we put up an answer to that on Friday afternoon, so I'll refer you back to that.

QUESTION: And most recently, you have used the term "Northern Cyprus." Do you consider that as a separate entity from the territorial integrity of the Republic of Cyprus? What do you mean exactly?

MR. BOUCHER: I mean the geographically northern part of the island of Cyprus. It has no implications for recognition or anything like that.

QUESTION: And (inaudible) the Olympics. According to the NBC in a story appear today in The New York Post, there are plans for the Olympic games to be cancelled in Athens and transferred to Sydney in the last minute, it exactly says. (Laughter.) Do you know if your government has such information or disinformation -- (laughter) -- since you are going to -- (laughter) -- since you are going to get a lot of (inaudible) stories, and above all, of course, hundreds of armed security personnel?

MR. BOUCHER: I have never heard that within our government.

Mr. Ota.

QUESTION: Thank you. I have one quick question on North Korea. North Korean authority made announcement last week about they have no objection to extradite Japanese hijacker that was, you know, hijacking conduct in 1970-something. This is the main reason for United States to designate the North Korea as a state sponsor of terrorist countries. Do you have any comment on this statement by North Korean side?

MR. BOUCHER: I did not see the statement, so I haven't had a chance to look into it. I think we've made clear that there are steps that North Korea needs to take, particularly regarding its residual ties to terrorism. This may be among them. But as far as the -- then the review and the legal process and everything we'd have to go through, I'd take that as a separate matter if such an event occurred.

QUESTION: The Prime Minister of -- if I could go back to the Iraq topic.

MR. BOUCHER: Yeah.

QUESTION: The Deputy Prime Minister of Iraq had just concluded his visit yesterday to -- with President Assad of Syria. And he announced few very positive steps that have taken place between the new government and Iraq and the Syrian authorities, many agreements. And he said there were no contentious issues between the two countries as long as Iraq is concerned.

Thousands of Iraqis are flooding the Syrian beaches -- beaches on the Mediterranean's -- luxury cars and all kinds of -- the tourists. How do you read all of these developments, positive developments between the two countries and people?

MR. BOUCHER: Well, we certainly welcome any support that Iraq's neighbors can give to reconstruction of Iraq, to stability in Iraq, and in this particular case, any assistance that its neighbors can give in terms of controlling the borders.

They also announced some kind of joint border patrol arrangement, which we've seen reports of, and that certainly would be a welcome development.

We think that neighboring countries have a particular responsibility to stem the inflow of foreign fighters, terrorists and weapons and to combat smuggling. So we think that there is more that needs to be done; we've made that clear over time. We welcome any steps by the Syrian Government, or the Syrian Government in cooperation with Iraq, to better control the flow over its border.

As far as the flow outward from Iraq -- and I presume they go back after they've been to the beach -- it just demonstrates once again why it's important to have an orderly system of control on the borders.

QUESTION: Thank you.

MR. BOUCHER: I guess that's it. Thanks.

(The briefing was concluded at 12:50 p.m.)

(end transcript)

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