*EPF202 12/28/2004
Transcript: State Department Daily Briefing, December 28
(Asian earthquake, U.S. aid, Iraq, Middle East, Turkey, Syria, Ukraine) (3810)

State Department Deputy Spokesman Adam Ereli briefed the press December 28.

Following is the transcript of the State Department briefing:

(begin transcript)

Daily Press Briefing Index
Tuesday, December 28, 2004
12:55 p.m. EST

Briefer: Adam Ereli, Deputy Spokesman

ASIA
-- Update on U.S. Aid to Asian Countries and Tsunami Victims
-- DART Team Deployment
-- Monetary Contributions
-- Coordination With Defense Department
-- $20 Million Increase in Aid
-- Consular Services Hotline
-- Response to Criticism of U.S. Initial U.S. Aid Levels
-- Disbursement of Aid Funds
-- Private Charitable Contributions to NGOs
-- Numbers of Americans Abroad Possibly Affected

IRAQ
-- Update on Iraqi Elections and Broad Political Party Participation

MIDDLE EAST
-- Travel of Deputy Secretary Armitage and Ambassador Burns

TURKEY/SYRIA
-- Turkey-Syria Bilateral Relations

SYRIA
-- Border Security and Support for Iraqi Insurgency

UKRAINE
-- Update on Elections

DEPARTMENT/ASIA
-- Consular Affairs Update on American Tsunami Victims

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING

DPB # 212

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2004
(ON THE RECORD UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED)

12:55 p.m. EST

MR. ERELI: Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to our briefing today. If I may, I'd like to begin with an update on U.S. Government response to the disaster as a result of the earthquake and tsunami in the Pacific. We are now at 12 American citizens dead, still hundreds missing, obviously -- 7 dead in Sri Lanka, 5 in Thailand. Consular teams from our embassies in the region have been dispatched to the affected areas and the most affected areas in Thailand, Sri Lanka and Indonesia.

Our Embassy in Thailand is working around the clock to provide assistance to American citizens needing passports and needing other repatriation assistance. We have deployed a DART team, Disaster Assistance Relief Team, from USAID to the region. We have a senior regional advisor in Bangkok and setting headquarters there. We have team members in Colombo, Phuket, and we will be traveling to India today and tomorrow.

In terms of assistance provided to the victims and local institutions, as you know, in the immediate aftermath of the crisis and in response to the appeal by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent for $6.7 million, the United States immediately provided $4 million to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent. We then identified an additional $11 million in Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance Funds that we would be providing directly to our missions abroad for local NGOs, as well as procuring ourselves needed assistance items for humanitarian aid.

That money has not, obviously, fully been spent yet, but some examples of what we're doing with it are: $2 million in funds to our USAID mission in Jakarta, Indonesia for rice, water purification equipment, blankets, bladders, plastic bladders that hold water and keep them clean, up to 10,000 gallons, I believe, and water sanitation kits; $2 million dollars has also been allocated to our USAID mission in Colombo; $1 million to our USAID mission in India.

USAID has organized two flights with relief materials from their pre-positioned stocks in Dubai for Indonesia. These supplies will include things like 100 rolls of plastic sheeting that can provide protection up to 10,000 people, body bags and other equipment to provide shelter and immediate relief.

As you know, we are coordinating closely with the Department of Defense. The Government of Thailand has offered for our use and access, the Utapao Naval Air Base in Thailand, as a regional hub to help coordinate our assistance. We recognize this important gesture and this valuable contribution to the relief efforts by the Government of Thailand and we commend them for that. The Department of Defense is setting up a joint task force now at Utapao Air Base --

QUESTION: Where?

MR. ERELI: Utapao Air Base -- U-t-a-p-a-o, I believe. There is one search and rescue aircraft on the ground. There will be more arriving in the region to help search for missing people. The Department of Defense is also dispatching a number of cargo aircraft with humanitarian supplies to the region. The Department of Defense is also sending three of their disaster assistance relief teams to go to Thailand and Indonesia and Sri Lanka, I believe. They will knit up with the USAID missions, our embassies, the country teams there, as well as the DART teams, the AID DART teams, so we can all work in a coordinated way to identify needs and provide assistance.

I think it's important to note that everything I've just described in terms of assistance is preliminary. We know the needs will be greater. This is a disaster of almost unimaginable dimension and it's going to require massive support for some time. Our approach is to regularly look at the situation, assess the needs, determine what can be -- what people need right now, what assistance we can provide, how that assistance can be -- and can that assistance be used by local institutions. And this will be an ongoing process.

The Secretary -- we are hearing from our teams out there. Based on what we hear, based on what they report, we will be responding appropriately. The Secretary, the Deputy Secretary, USAID Administrator Mr. Natsios met this morning and they've identified an additional $20 million to add to the 15 we've already pledged. This, as I said, is in response to what we're seeing out there, what we understand the needs to be, what we think can be usefully used at the present time.

Obviously, it's for the moment. I wouldn't say it's final. We'll be continuing to look at the situation, and based on our assessment, responding to what we believe the needs are. The clear message, however, is that we are committed to helping. The United States Government, I think, has responded quickly and in a meaningful way, and that will continue to be our approach as we go through what's going to be a -- unfortunately, a long and difficult period of assessment and then relief and reconstruction.

And I would just conclude by reminding people that the two important numbers to call if you are concerned about friends or family is -- for consular information is 1-888-407-4747. If you're interested in ways that you can contribute materially to help the people in need, the number is 703-276-1914.

QUESTION: Adam, you covered a lot of ground on that comprehensive report, but I missed who Mr. Natsios met with. The Secretary or the --

MR. ERELI: And the Deputy Secretary.

QUESTION: Oh, both?

MR. ERELI: Both.

QUESTION: All right. Can I ask you -- is it all right? Can I proceed on this?

QUESTION: Yeah.

QUESTION: The fellow in New York, not surprisingly, says he was misinterpreted, misinterpreted to be saying the U.S. and other countries are stingy. The Secretary wasn't pleased with the report of his remarks. Have you heard anything from him or his office attempting to retract what was reported he had said?

MR. ERELI: I've read reports that -- I've read reports of what he said subsequent to those initial remarks. I'm not aware of any direct communications with us. I think we are all of a common understanding that this disaster is greater than -- the needs of this disaster are greater than any one country or organization can offer. And so, it's important that we all work together to do these utmost in our capacity to help those in need. That's certainly the approach of the United States Government and that's the spirit in which we are working with our colleagues, both bilaterally, as well as multilateral organizations.

QUESTION: Well, considering the U.S.'s long history of generosity in calamities, isn't there a feeling here that an apology is in order?

MR. ERELI: I think we all, as I said, are focusing on the disaster at hand, on the needs of those who are so tragically affected by it. That's where we're putting our efforts. I know that's where the UN is putting its effort. Secretary Powell spoke to Secretary General Annan yesterday as part of his efforts to reach out and express to all those involved the concern of the United States and the eagerness of the United States to cooperate and get to the people in need what they so desperately require.

QUESTION: I'm sorry to extend it, but if he spoke to Annan, I don't know if that was before or after the reported slur. Did that come up in the conversation?

MR. ERELI: No, it did not.

QUESTION: Thank you.

QUESTION: Adam, can you just -- the $20 million, exactly what is the status of that? Is that to be disbursed fairly soon or is it just --

MR. ERELI: Like the $11 million, it will be -- the 11 million additional, it will be disbursed to our missions and to local NGOs and other organizations as the need arises. The way to think of it is as a line of credit, frankly, that here is money available to be drawn upon to get equipment, to develop capacity, to provide supplies and relief to the people in need, as those needs are identified and as the institutions are identified that are capable of making use of the money. So think of it as a line of credit to be drawn down upon, as opposed to just a pot of money to be thrown out there.

QUESTION: Is it cash, credits and goods, or all three, or what?

MR. ERELI: I believe it's credit. It's basically money available to pay bills.

QUESTION: Okay.

QUESTION: Has that additional money now been finalized? I know it has a congressional notification process and AID was getting the paperwork in order today. I wasn't sure.

MR. ERELI: We are working on an expedited basis to take care of that kind of paperwork.

QUESTION: It's still not finalized, as far as you know?

MR. ERELI: I don't know the bureaucratic details of it, frankly.

QUESTION: But in the works today?

MR. ERELI: Yes.

QUESTION: And you would expect by the end of the day that --

MR. ERELI: I don't want to put a timeframe on it. As I said, we've identified an additional 20 million that we will be working to make available.

QUESTION: Okay.

QUESTION: Adam, what has the private response been to your call for donations, assistance, et cetera?

MR. ERELI: The number I gave you is a private organization, a nongovernmental organization. I'd refer you to them. I couldn't tell you what private citizens have been pledging or offering. I would note that I think America and Americans have a long and proud history of private charitable donations and I'd expect this case to be no different.

QUESTION: And will any of the money be allocated to help families transport bodies back to the States, if that's what the family chooses to do?

MR. ERELI: That's a consular function. There is assistance within established U.S. Government programs for that kind of -- for those kinds of needs, and that is handled through -- between the families and our consulates overseas.

QUESTION: Adam, yesterday the Secretary said that there was hundreds, several hundred not accounted for. Now you're using the word "missing" and I want to make sure we don't get caught in a nuance here. Is there some fear that there might be several hundred Americans who have been victims of this?

MR. ERELI: I don't mean to suggest anything different than what the Secretary said. There are hundreds of Americans who we don't know the status of, where are. We need to find out where they are, what their status is. I would not presume to tell you that the casualty figure we have today is final -- just don't know.

QUESTION: But the longer that they aren't accounted for, doesn't that presume that the death toll among Americans is going to go up significantly or not?

MR. ERELI: I don't have -- I don't want to get into presumptions. I will report to you what we know as the facts, and what we have today is what I've told you.

QUESTION: Well, are the numbers of those unaccounted for going down all the time, as consular officials are checking?

MR. ERELI: Frankly, I haven't had -- we haven't been able to determine a specific amount, specific number of those who are missing and unaccounted for, simply because it depends on who people report.

QUESTION: Right.

MR. ERELI: So -- and sometimes it depends on, you know, identifying someone as an American citizen. If they're a dual citizen, sometimes they may be American and we may not know it. So it's a very fuzzy number and it's one that's difficult for us to quantify in any detail.

QUESTION: But I'm not asking for the number. I'm saying, are you also finding people alive that would have been on the unaccounted list?

MR. ERELI: I don't know. I'll have to check.

QUESTION: Tom says yes.

MR. ERELI: I'll have to check.

QUESTION: You know, 24 hours ago, the Secretary said don't get -- you know, he was trying to relay concern, it's just a matter of -- it's probably just a matter of people didn't check in with the embassies, didn't say, I'm okay. Well, it's 24 hours. So I guess --

QUESTION: There has got to be some --

QUESTION: It sounds like maybe there is cause for a little nervousness, no?

MR. ERELI: Let me see what I can get for you on the response to -- or the effort to account for those that were unaccounted for.

QUESTION: Even without specific numbers, just, yes, but we're narrowing down the unaccounted numbers as well.

MR. ERELI: Yeah, sure. Mm-hmm, mm-hmm, sure.

QUESTION: Adam, of the 12 dead -- 7 Sri Lanka, 5 Thailand -- were they tourists? Were they Americans living in those countries? Do we know anything about that?

MR. ERELI: I do not have that kind of detail for you?

QUESTION: Do you know if there were children among the 12?

MR. ERELI: I do not have that kind of detail either.

QUESTION: Could we turn to something else? Yesterday, again, having had the Secretary here, he said the report that the large political party in Iraq was withdrawing from the election was not official yet. Well, today they withdrew. Do you take that as official, or do you still harbor hopes that they will turn around and help give you the -- you know, a kind of election you're looking for?

MR. ERELI: I'd leave it to them to speak for themselves. I don't want to sort of get into characterizing what's -- characterizing statements. What I would tell you is that what we are working for, what the Government of Iraq is working for is as inclusive an election as possible, both in terms of those running, as well as those voting. That's our goal, to have a Government of Iraq that's elected, a Transitional National Assembly that's elected, that is proudly representative of the Iraqi people, all of the Iraqi people.

We think the Transitional Administrative Law provides a very good framework for that, both in terms of timing, as well as guaranteeing -- guarantees for the rights of ethnic and religious minorities. And on that basis, we are working with the Government of Iraq to help bring about the conditions that will allow people to exercise their right to vote freely and to participate in the elections.

There are clearly some positive signs. The large number of slates that are available, the large number of choices that are available to the Iraqi people, the overwhelming desire of the Iraqi people, by their own admission, to participate and to vote on January 30th, and the, I think, strong commitment of the Independent Iraqi -- or the Independent Election Commission of Iraq -- to hold elections on January 30th, and the very dynamic preparations that are underway for those elections.

So this latest development of one slate saying they're not going to participate, that's one slate. I think it's obviously noteworthy. Whether it's the final word on things, I wouldn't presume to tell you. But the point I would make is that we, the Iraqi Government and others in Iraq, continue to work for as full and broad participation in this process as possible.

QUESTION: Is Mr. Armitage's trip -- as I understand, that it's Turkey and Jordan and Syria. Is that trip related to Iraq? What can you tell us about the trip? It sounds like I've been doing this for four years, trying to pierce the mystery of the Deputy Secretary of State's travels. But what the heck, we only have another month to do this. Where is he going? Why is he going? Could you flesh it out at all? There's a little bit of interest in this.

MR. ERELI: There's really no mystery here. The United States has -- well, Deputy Secretary -- first of all, Deputy Secretary Armitage travels fairly regularly to the region, so I wouldn't read this as a unique event, number one. Number two, our involvement with, coordination and discussion with each of these countries is important in -- both in a common way to regional development, as well as individually to important bilateral issues. So in each country there are both country specific issues that we need to talk about, and I could go into, I think -- we can talk about individual ones if you want to talk about it -- as well as regional issues.

I think one of the points the Secretary has made, has been making fairly consistently, made today, is we think it's important for Iraq's neighbors, especially those with large Sunni populations, to try to encourage as broad a participation by all constituencies in Iraq in the election -- that will certainly be a key message we're reiterating -- as well as the importance of contributing to a -- doing what each country can to contribute to a prosperous and stable Iraq.

QUESTION: Are those the correct countries, and when is he leaving, and in what sequence?

MR. ERELI: He'll be leaving later this week and coming back next week. I don't have specific timing or itinerary for you. We'll put out -- I expect we'll put something out on it tomorrow.

QUESTION: But the countries that we mentioned, are they the ones he's going to?

MR. ERELI: We'll put something out tomorrow.

QUESTION: Oh, the mystery deepens.

MR. ERELI: Not really.

QUESTION: One of the countries on the list --

QUESTION: So to speak.

QUESTION: So to speak, right, is Turkey.

MR. ERELI: Mm-hmm.

QUESTION: Are there concerns Turkey just signed apparently some sort of free trade agreement with Syria? Are there concerns about Turkey getting closer to Syria at a time when the United States is rattling the cage?

MR. ERELI: Turkey is free to have the kind of bilateral relationships that it wants with the countries of the region. It's not our position to comment on that. If the subject of Syria is raised -- and I'm not saying that it will -- but if it does come up, certainly I don't think that's a focus of the visit. Let me put it that way. You raise it. If the subject were raised, we would obviously reiterate our position on Syria and on both insofar as it relates to Iraq as well as it relates to other countries in the region. But those are positions, I think, which you know very well, which we've been very candid about. We're candid about it with Syria. We're candid about it with others, if they ask.

But again, there's no mystery there. And as far as what Turkey does with Syria, that's between Turkey and Syria.

QUESTION: Well, what's the situation currently, if you have it, so far as Syria permitting or looking the other way or not trying hard enough -- pick your description -- of fighters getting into Iraq? Is the problem getting worse or --

MR. ERELI: I would say no change. Our characterization of that -- our characterization of what Syria is and isn't doing with respect to helping to contribute to the security and stability of Iraq remains the same, that they have done some things with respect to the border and working with the Iraqis to control the border. Certainly more needs to be done.

At the same time, the continued presence of former regime elements in Syria who are working, we believe, to the detriment of Iraq and in support of the insurgency is a problem, and it's a problem that we think Syria needs to act to stop. And that is a point that we make at every appropriate time.

Yes.

QUESTION: Change of subject? Ukraine?

MR. ERELI: Change of -- I'm sorry.

QUESTION: Is Ambassador Burns going with Mr. Armitage?

MR. ERELI: On the stops in the Middle East, yes.

QUESTION: Ukraine?

MR. ERELI: Ukraine?

QUESTION: Yeah. Yanukovich -- anything new on Yanukovich not accepting election results? Not that they're final yet, but anyway, saying he won't?

MR. ERELI: Mr. Yanukovich, as we understand it, has said that he plans to challenge the results of the December 26th election in court. That's his prerogative under Ukrainian law. We certainly believe the appropriate Ukrainian electoral and judicial authorities are competent to hear this, hear these complaints. We would expect that they would conduct a fair, transparent and legal review that results in an outcome that reflects the will of the Ukrainian people.

As we've consistently said, we do not have a preferred candidate in this process; rather, we want to see a process that is credible and that results in the will of the people being freely expressed and duly respected. I would note that in the aftermath of the latest vote on Sunday, most observers, both Ukrainian and foreign, assessed the election to be considerably more -- assessed this election far more favorably than the previous two rounds, and they concluded that any violations that did occur would not have affected the outcome, the final outcome of the vote.

But as you mentioned, the final outcome has not yet been officially announced or declared by the Ukrainian authorities empowered to do so. And until it is we're not going to, I think, pronounce on -- or have any pronouncements to make.

QUESTION: Okay. Thank you, I guess.

MR. ERELI: Thank you.

* * *

MR. ERELI: Let me give you just something on the record on this consular stuff, okay? Can we add this to the transcript?

MR. CASEY: Sure.

QUESTION: Please do.

MR. ERELI: We've received thousands of inquiries through the task force and embassies regarding whereabouts of missing American citizens. A large number of those who people have inquired about have been located and found safe; however, there remain several hundred that are still unaccounted for. It's not always easy to pin down this kind of information.
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(end transcript)

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