U.S. Department of State Daily Press Briefing #, 00-12-05
HR-Net News Distribution Manager
U.S. Department of State
Daily Press Briefing
_INDEX_
_Tuesday, December 5, 2000_
Briefer: RICHARD BOUCHER, SPOKESMAN_
----
_STATEMENTS_
1 Wassenaar Arrangement Agreement: Man-Portable Air Defense
Systems Export Controls; Russian Imposition of Visa Regime on
Georgia
_RUSSIA_
1 Examples of Russian Support for Rebels in Abkhazia
_DEPARTMENT_
1-2 Secretary's Response to Laptop Computer's Disappearance /
Establishment of Investigative Process / Proposed Disciplinary
Action Against Six Employees of Bureau of Intelligence and Research
/ Due Process for Employees in Discipline Matters / Secretary
Albright's Responsibility to Prepare Building for Transition
2-5,7 Ambassador Roy Leaving Current Position Today / Effect of
Ambassador Roy's Early Retirement on Workings of the Bureau /
Ambassador Roy's Discussions With Secretary Albright
4-7 Letters Sent by Office of Employee Relations to Employees
Concerning Proposed Disciplinary Action / Whether Secretary
Albright Sees and Approves Letters / Three Active Foreign Service
Officers With Rank of Career Ambassador / Disciplinary Action Taken
When Someone Walked out of Secretary's Suite With Classified
Documents / Whether Allen Locke and Nancy May Were Dismissed /
Missing Unclassified Laptops / Martin Indyk's Security Clearance
8-9 Bureau of Intelligence and Research's High-Quality Analysis /
Unknown Sources' Contact With Newspaper / Whether Secretary
Albright Spoke to Mr. Keyser / Reassignment of Mr. Keyser
10-11 Whether Mr. Carpenter Made Recommendation Concerning Disciplinary
Action / Mr. Carpenter's Efforts to Increase Security /
Disciplinary Action for Bugging Incident / Whether Ambassador Roy
Would Issue Statement
_EUROPE_
12 Whether U. S Changed Public Position on European Efforts to Build
New Security Force / Concern That European Security Force Might
Threaten NATO
_ISRAEL / PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY_
12 Ambassador Indyk's Speech Concerning Yasser Arafat's Pleas for
Internationalizing Conflict
_JORDAN_
12-13 U.S. Citizen Raed Hizazi Facing Death Penalty / Connection
With Cole Attack / Consular Visit / Circumstances of Arrest
_SOUTH KOREA_
13-14 South Korean Parliamentary Commission's Approval of Resolution
Questioning U.S. Resolve Concerning Nogun-ri Case
_TIBET / CHINA_
14-16 Dalai Lama Reestablishing Contact With China / Invitation to
Dalai Lama's Brother to Travel to Beijing / U.S. Woman Arrested in
China for Espionage
_AFRICA / EUROPE_
14-15 Secretary Albright's Itinerary / NATO Meetings in Brussels
_RUSSIA_
15 Visit to Edmond Pope / President Putin Backing Idea That Russia
Return to "Symbolic Past"
_VENEZUELA_
17 Independent Labor Unions
_TURKEY_
17 Problems in Turkish Economy / U.S. Government's Efforts to Help
Turkey
_IRAQ / JORDAN_
17 Jordanian Decision to Give Iraq Back Some Jets Impounded During
Gulf War
_U.S. PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION_
17-18 Secretary Albright's Contact With Vice President Gore / Number of
Schedule C Employees
----
_U.S.
DEPARTMENT OF STATE_
_DAILY
PRESS BRIEFING_
_DPB
#123_
_TUESDAY,
DECEMBER 5, 2000, 12:40 P.M._
_(ON THE
RECORD UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED)_
_MR.
BOUCHER_: Good afternoon, ladies
and gentlemen. I have two
statements. I'll give you the
abbreviated versions, and you can either ask questions or get the full versions
after the briefing.
The first one is to tell you that carrying out proposals that
the Secretary made in 1998 calling for the strict multilateral control on
Man-Portable Air Defense Systems, the Wassenaar Arrangement Agreement, has
adopted stringent controls on shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles. And that is something we have been working
on for two years. The Secretary called
for it in 1998, and this has been done and adopted at a meeting in Bratislava
in December 1st. So that is an
important step forward in terms of the comprehensiveness of the Wassenaar
controls.
Second of all was we have a statement today about the visa
regime that the Russian Federation has imposed on Georgia. Most Georgian citizens are now required to
hold a valid visa in order to travel to Russia; however, the Russian Government
decided to exempt residents of the breakaway Georgian regions of Abkhazia and
South Ossetia from the regimes.
Obviously states can establish their own visa regimes, but we do
find this of concern. The European
Union expressed its concerns on November 23rd.
Clearly it's a matter between Georgia and Russia, but we have concerns
about Russia's intentions to establish special privileges to residents of
separatist regions, and that runs counter to Russia's own policy of support for
Georgia's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and therefore wanted to speak
out.
Now, with those by way of introduction, I would be happy to take
your questions on these or other subjects.
_QUESTION_: Are there other examples of Russian support
for the rebels in Abkhazia?
_MR.
BOUCHER_: That is something I
would have to check on. I'll see what
we can say on that, George.
_QUESTION_: Can you talk about the Secretary's response
to the laptop computer's disappearance?
_MR.
BOUCHER_: Let me try to fill you
in on where we stand on all these things.
And I realize it's kind of complicated because there are several things
going on at once, but if you'll bear with me I'll try to explain them to you in
a sort of logical and separate fashion.
The disappearance of a laptop from INR, a laptop with classified
information on it, was a very serious matter.
And the Secretary made clear it was a very serious matter and she made
quite clear that there needed to be an investigation; there needed to be
accountability and responsibility for this disappearance.
Pursuant to that, an investigative process was established. That process was largely a bureaucratic
one. The Secretary is not directly
involved in decisions of defining responsibility or specifying
punishments. But that process proceeded
pursuant to her desire to see responsibility assigned, to see the matter
investigated thoroughly.
At this point, that process, following the inquiries done by the
Diplomatic Security Bureau, was turned over to the people in the Bureau of
Human Resources, where they have proposed disciplinary action against six
employees of the Bureau of Intelligence and Research in connection with the
disappearance of the laptop.
These proposed actions range from a letter of reprimand through
suspension to separation from service.
These are proposals. It is
important to remember the employees have due process in discipline
matters. They have a right to respond,
they have a right to a hearing before final action is taken, and they have the
right in the end to present a grievance over any final disciplinary
decision. So that is one process going
on.
Second of all, the Secretary has a responsibility to prepare
this building for transition. And
looking at the Bureau of Intelligence and Research, especially given the fact
that the Assistant Secretary indicated his intention to retire in January, she
had to consider how she wanted this Bureau to go through the transition, what
kind of leadership she wanted to leave this Bureau with. And she decided, in that context, to
reassign one of the senior people in the Bureau and to look for different
leadership.
The third thing that is going on is Ambassador Roy, the
Assistant Secretary for the Bureau, had originally intended to retire in
January. He decided to move up his
plans to retire, and he will leave his current position today, December 5th, in
order to prepare for an earlier retirement.
So those are the things that I want to describe to you that are
going on. I realize it's a great deal
of intersecting lines here, but essentially each one of these things has its
own reasons. Given the privacy and
other rights of the individuals involved, I have to say we are not able to
provide much more detailed information at this time. But that is the basic outline of what is going on with the
Intelligence and Research Bureau.
_QUESTION_: Well, you're calling Roy's departure an
early retirement, and he is calling a resignation in disgust.
_MR.
BOUCHER_: I don't think he
is. Don't believe what you read in the
newspapers, I have to say. He did not
describe it that way to me.
_QUESTION_: (Inaudible)?
_MR.
BOUCHER_: He did not describe it
that way to me.
_QUESTION_: Well, what is your understanding of his
feelings on this matter, then?
_MR.
BOUCHER_: Well, I'm not here to
describe everybody's feelings; I'm here to describe the facts. He had originally said he was going to
resign in January, and he decided that he would move up the date of his
retirement. And that is what he has
done.
_QUESTION_: Are you saying there is no relationship
whatsoever with the laptop?
_MR.
BOUCHER_: No, obviously there is
a relationship to everything that's going on in the Bureau. He felt now is the time for him to leave his
post and retire.
_QUESTION_: So you could say it was -- (inaudible) -- ?
_MR. BOUCHER_: No, I wouldn't because he did not describe
it that way to me.
_QUESTION_: How did he describe it to you?
_MR.
BOUCHER_: He decided, as a
decision he had made in light of everything that's going on in the Bureau.
_QUESTION_: Is it customary of an employee of Roy's
level to leave -- resign with a day's notice, or usually do they give a few
weeks, or because of security concerns do they have to leave the building right
away? I mean, is this kind of short
notice?
_MR.
BOUCHER_: No. I mean, yeah, it is short notice
certainly. He had planned on leaving in
January. You know, there is a whole
process of retirement that you go through that you have certain periods of time
on the payroll while you're in the process of retiring out. Normally he would have done that as he
continued in his present position. He
decided to leave his present position and he'll be nominally reassigned to the
Bureau of Personnel or somewhere while he goes through filing papers and carrying
out his retirement plans, which will take effect a bit earlier than they
otherwise would have.
_QUESTION_: Given all the changes in the Bureau in the
last -- of recent and his early retirement, how is this going to affect the
workings of the Bureau through the next administration?
_MR.
BOUCHER_: Well, as I said, one of
the considerations here for the Secretary was, given that Stapleton Roy was
planning on retiring in January and given the other events that are going on in
the Bureau, she felt it was important to have the right leadership for this
Bureau as we headed into the transition, and therefore that was one of -- that
was the reason why she decided one of the other senior people in the Bureau had
to be reassigned. And having made that
decision, then she is now looking at possible candidates to take the Bureau
through the transition in order to make sure that the new Secretary is well
served.
_QUESTION_: I wanted to follow up on the other end. I had another question as well. You said that the Bureau of Human Resources
made recommendations. Did she in any of
her actions go beyond what they recommended, or in some cases did she take less
punitive action?
_MR.
BOUCHER_: Look, there are a lot
of things wrong in the newspapers. Let
me go through some of them, okay? There
are some of these things you have to correct, okay?
First of all, no disciplinary action has been taken, okay? Nothing is done, nothing is final. These people have gotten letters from the
Office of Employee Relations saying that we propose the following disciplinary
action with regard to you. Employees
have their rights: they have a right to
respond; they have a right to an oral hearing; they have a right even to grieve
a final decision that is taken.
Second of all, that is not an action that the Secretary
took. The Secretary has not fired
anybody or disciplined anybody. She
made quite clear at the outset that she wanted there to be investigations and
responsibility. So I'm not trying to distance
her, but just factually it's not correct to say that the Secretary did this,
the Secretary did that, because it's not her that does it; it is done pursuant
to instructions to investigate.
There is a security investigation that establishes who is
responsible in what fashion for the loss of the laptop, and then the Office of
Employee Relations takes that and says, okay, based on this kind of
responsibility, this is what we think ought to be the proposed disciplinary
action. And those letters go out from
the Bureau of Human Resources.
_QUESTION_: Before you go beyond that, though --
_MR.
BOUCHER_: So the action has not
been taken.
_QUESTION_: Does she see those letters, and does she
approve those letters?
_MR.
BOUCHER_: No, no, they just go
out.
_QUESTION_: Was she aware of those letters?
_MR.
BOUCHER_: I'm sure she probably
was, yes.
_QUESTION_: And so -- (inaudible) --
_MR.
BOUCHER_: What?
_QUESTION_: (Inaudible) -- says that Roy told Albright
he would resign in protest, he didn't have a face-to-face -- or he didn't have
a one-on-one conversation --
_MR.
BOUCHER_: Ambassador Roy talks to
Albright all the time.
_QUESTION_: About?
_MR.
BOUCHER_: About this? I don't know. They have talked about this.
They have talked about his intentions to retire. They have talked about the situation in the
Bureau, sure. They meet almost every
morning, frankly.
_QUESTION_: So he didn't tell her he was going to resign
in protest, as far as you know?
_MR.
BOUCHER_: As far as I know, I
have never head Ambassador Roy use "resign in protest." And I don't -- I mean, the Secretary hasn't
either, as far as I know.
_QUESTION_: What were some of the other mistakes?
_MR.
BOUCHER_: Okay. So there is no disciplinary action been
taken as proposed; it is not final.
Second of all, Mr. Keyser has not been suspended for 30 days
without pay. There is one proposal for
removal, separation from service, not two.
No one has been suspended at this stage and, as I pointed out before,
all the employees have a right to respond before any decision is made.
And, finally, Stapleton Roy is one of three, not two, active
Foreign Service officers with a rank of Career Ambassador. Tom Pickering and Mary Ryan are the other
two.
So the chief question, though, is this is disciplinary action
that is proposed. Remember, the laptop
loss was a very serious matter. I think
if we were up here saying, well, we found two or three low-level people and had
taken action against them because of the laptop, you would have said,
"What about higher-level responsibility?" Okay.
We're here to say that through the appropriate process we believe
we have identified six people who have some responsibility with regard to the
loss of the laptop, that we are taking -- proposing disciplinary action, and
that that is proceeding according to the normal process, including the due
process afforded to the people involved.
Second of all, we're up here saying that the Secretary is
concerned about the leadership of this Bureau as we go forward, and that she is
making certain decisions about who should lead the Bureau through transition in
order to ensure that it is in solid shape as we go through this turmoil and
proceed on to try to serve a new Secretary.
And third of all, I'm telling you that Stapleton Roy decided to
retire early.
_QUESTION_: My second is the complaint lodged by some
that, for example, when gentlemen unknown to anyone in the Secretary's private
suite came in and, as observed by more than one employee in her private suite,
put classified documents into a briefcase and walked out, all observed by
employees. As far as we know, there was
no disciplinary action taken against anyone in that instance.
_MR.
BOUCHER_: Well, let me check on
what happened in that situation, okay?
_QUESTION_: So is it fair for --
_MR.
BOUCHER_: Let me check on what
happened with that investigation. Now
--
_QUESTION_: Is it fair for some to suggest that the
Secretary has not penalized people closest to her when there have been security
breaches?
_MR.
BOUCHER_: First of all, I don't
think that is fair because I think the need to propose disciplinary actions for
infractions of a nature as serious as these, as the loss of the laptop, and
perhaps others, should be self-evident.
And you can't say that, well, he wasn't caught and therefore you
shouldn't be punished.
_QUESTION_: Can I just clear this up? Allen Locke and Nancy May, then, have not
been dismissed, or have they?
_MR.
BOUCHER_: I cannot talk in much
detail about specific individuals. But
there are proposals for disciplinary actions, including dismissals. But none of those have been implemented
until the employees have their right to respond.
_QUESTION_: And can I also ask about the Mort Halperin
laptop which was mentioned in The Washington Post article? Is that correct, that that laptop there --
an unclassified laptop went missing and no action was taken?
_MR.
BOUCHER_: Well, again, we have to
look at that situation as well. In some
of these situations you can figure out what happened, and some you can't. The laptop in the Bureau of Policy Planning
was unclassified, and that is a question of accountable property and not a
question of a nation's secrets. The
classified laptop that was lost from INR was a very serious security matter.
_QUESTION_: On a topic related to that, there were many
missing unclassified laptops. And were
these decisions -- were these suggestions for changes taking in the totality of
the problems that became evident at the time that the classified laptop was
missing that we found out that many unclassified were missing? There had obviously been many breaches.
Were these actions taken with a mind to lessening all of those
incidents, or just --
_MR.
BOUCHER_: No, this situation that
the six proposed -- the six disciplinary actions relates to the loss of the
classified laptop from the Bureau of Intelligence and Research. Loss of another laptop, an unclassified
laptop or a chair or a computer or a lamp or whatever else, that gets disposed
of in a different manner, somewhat similar but not exactly the same way. When classified information is not involved
it is considerably different.
_QUESTION_: This is slightly related, but does Martin
Indyk -- does he still have his security clearance?
_MR.
BOUCHER_: Yes, he does.
_QUESTION_: I mean, do you see any -- can you kind of go
into Martin Indyk's security breaches versus the security breaches involving
the INR laptop and how they are similar or different?
_MR.
BOUCHER_: No.
_QUESTION_: Can you say whether or not there is
disciplinary action pending against him?
_MR.
BOUCHER_: As far I know, the
investigation regarding Ambassador Indyk continues, and so there is no outcome,
there is no conclusion, there is no proposal at this point. What we are telling you here is that with
regard to the INR laptop, obviously the overall investigation of the
disappearance of the laptop remains in terms of responsibility within this
building and within this Bureau for the loss, for the fact that the machine
disappeared. We have come to certain
conclusions from the investigation and we have proposed certain disciplinary
actions. We will see as we go through
the process what happens in the final analysis.
_QUESTION_: Mr. Roy's early retirement, as you described
it, does he incur financial loss due to that?
Is he going to retire with less money?
Is he going to lose -- you know, if he had stayed through January would
he get six weeks of vacation? Is he
losing something?
_MR.
BOUCHER_: No, I would be
virtually certain that he is not.
_QUESTION_: But you're not sure?
_MR.
BOUCHER_: I'm not absolutely
certain.
_QUESTION_: Can you find that out?
_MR.
BOUCHER_: Let me say, no, he
won't lose anything. And then if it
turns out I'm wrong I'll be very surprised but I'll tell you.
_QUESTION_: Can you talk about what this means now for
some of the policy planning, given that both Mr. Keyser and Mr. Roy are
considered very top --
_MR.
BOUCHER_: For Intelligence and
Research?
_QUESTION_: Intelligence and Research. I meant policy planning with low p's, little
p's. Just in general the situation in
the Bureau.
_MR.
BOUCHER_: I think there is a
number of things to say. First of all,
our Bureau of Intelligence and Research is a top-flight analytical shop. They have experts of many kinds on subjects
throughout the world. They produce
high-quality analysis that is respected in this building and I think throughout
the intelligence community.
The questions that have arisen with regard to the Bureau of
Intelligence and Research have really been in regard to the security
procedures, the loss of the laptop being the most prominent, and then there was
the issue of, okay, who's in charge of certain classified material; should they
be their own administrators of security or should Diplomatic Security be in
charge. And it was decided to place
that responsibility with Diplomatic Security with regard to that.
But in terms of the sort of ongoing work and the process of
producing good analysis for policymakers, I think we all feel that INR is first
rate and continues to be first rate. In
consideration of that, it is the Secretary's desire to make sure that continues
and therefore to make sure the Bureau has the right leadership as we head into
the transition.
_QUESTION_: A couple things I want to clarify from the
article. First of all, is it your
understanding that the Post was contacted to be told of the early retirement? Did Roy let them know of his --
_MR.
BOUCHER_: They didn't tell me who
their sources were.
_QUESTION_: Did he tell you?
_MR.
BOUCHER_: They just called up
asking me questions.
_QUESTION_: Okay.
_MR.
BOUCHER_: I think as far as the
individuals involved, I don't think any of them talked to the newspapers.
_QUESTION_: Well --
_MR.
BOUCHER_: Somebody else did?
_QUESTION_: Okay.
_MR.
BOUCHER_: If you know who their
sources are, you can tell me.
(Laughter.)
_QUESTION_: Did the Secretary say to Keyser that she had
lost confidence in him?
_MR.
BOUCHER_: I don't know that the
Secretary had a direct conversation with Mr. Keyser. She asked through appropriate procedures and Bureau personnel
that he be reassigned from that job.
_QUESTION_: Is it a lower-ranking position than he had?
_MR.
BOUCHER_: I suppose you would
have to say the jury is still out on that.
When you are reassigned from a senior job like this, you usually get
attached to the Bureau of Human Resources or the Director General's Office, and
then pending further reassignment.
Obviously all of us that serve in senior positions serve at the request
and the -- can I say the good graces of the Secretary and the President. If they should decide they want us
reassigned, we get reassigned.
_QUESTION_: Does Keyser's letter say that he would be
suspended without pay for 30 days?
Because that's a pretty glaring discrepancy.
_MR.
BOUCHER_: I think the point that
I'm making on these is I can't go into any individual and what proposed
disciplinary action might have been proposed.
I just want to make the point for the sake of these individuals and for
the sake of the due process that there are proposed actions but they haven't
been taken at this stage, and that therefore nobody is suspended yet.
_QUESTION_: Well, but if that is reported and it needs
to be corrected, is it accurate to say that that's pending?
_MR.
BOUCHER_: I can tell you in some
cases what's not true without telling you what exactly -- without being able to
say what disciplinary action has been proposed against a specific
individual. But the key there is to say
it's proposed.
_QUESTION_: Would you care to share your views of one of
the opinions expressed in one of these articles, which is that the reason this
has happened is because Secretary Albright wants to show that she is tough?
_MR.
BOUCHER_: First of all, I don't
think Secretary Albright has any need to demonstrate that she is tough. She has got four years of record in the
world and in this building to show that she considers foreign policy a serious
business, that she has taken swift and resolute action throughout the
world. She has been tough in the fight
for resources for this building. She
has been tough in fighting with Congress to get the money we need to do our
jobs. And she has been tough on issues
like security, where she said quite clearly that being a professional Foreign
Service officer means being professional about security.
So none of this is being done to prove anything. This is being done because the loss of the
laptop was a very serious matter, and it is very important to her and should be
to all of us in this building who believe in good security that we investigate
and assign responsibility to those who have some responsibility for the loss.
_QUESTION_: Did Mrs. Albright know that -- before the
letters went out that Mr. Roy would take an early retirement as a result?
_MR.
BOUCHER_: No, I'm not exactly
sure how much she knew about when the letters went out or when they went out,
but I'm pretty sure she did know that disciplinary action was being proposed in
this situation. But I think it was
subsequent to that that Ambassador Roy decided to move up his retirement.
_QUESTION_: And did Mr. Carpenter, the head of
Diplomatic Security, did he make a recommendation as to what action should be
taken against these people?
_MR.
BOUCHER_: As I understand the
process, is that the Bureau of Diplomatic Security defines the circumstances of
the loss in terms of saying these people should have been watching; these
people should have been escorting; these people should have had responsibility
for making sure security procedures were properly followed. And then it is in the Bureau of Human
Resources where they say, okay, somebody with that degree of responsibility, we
propose this disciplinary action. So as
far as I understand the process, Diplomatic Security doesn't actually propose
the penalties, as it were; they just assign a certain degree of responsibility.
_QUESTION_: How have Mr. Carpenter's other efforts fared
as far as his efforts to increase security?
I mean, are you satisfied that you have plugged all the leaks?
_MR.
BOUCHER_: "All" is a
big word. I think what you do see in
this building is a much greater attention to security; certainly a much greater
degree of personal attention by people who work here, career people in the
Foreign Service and Civil Service, because there is greater accountability,
there is greater awareness, there is greater training. We have retrained, given refresher courses,
to virtually everybody who works for us, or at least most of the people. We have improved physical security in a
variety of ways and, as you know, we have talked in the past about how we're
looking at other ways that would cost more money to do things.
And so I think we are safer and more secure now than we were six
months ago and than we were a year ago.
Is there more to be done? Yes,
obviously there is more to be done.
There is never perfect security, and it is an ongoing business and an
ongoing effort.
_QUESTION_: And one final question. Does Mr. Carpenter still view reporters as a
threat to security? (Laughter.)
_MR.
BOUCHER_: If you will remember,
that was not his view at the time, despite the quotes, and that does not --
that is not his view at this moment, either.
_QUESTION_: Okay.
Are you any closer --
_MR.
BOUCHER_: Where are we going?
_QUESTION_: Well, this is on the bugging. Has there been any disciplinary action taken
against anyone because of the bugging?
_MR.
BOUCHER_: I have to say, having
been immersed in this one issue, I didn't check on where we stand with regard
to the bugging and the man in the tweed coat, and whatever else it was -- oh,
the laptop, the unclassified laptop. So
let me check on those.
_QUESTION_: Are you any closer to finding the laptop?
_MR.
BOUCHER_: At this point, I
understand the investigation remains open.
_QUESTION_: Have there been any leads, and have the
people to whom these letters have been issued been able to provide any
information?
_MR.
BOUCHER_: Once again, I don't
think I can go beyond saying the investigation remains open. But I'm not -- I don't think there is
anything to report to you in that regard.
_QUESTION_: Richard, since you seem to have --
Ambassador Roy is here, and since there is some confusion about the
circumstances of his premature departure from the State Department, do you
suppose you could ask him to issue a brief statement, a public statement, about
-- to refute what was said in the paper this morning?
_MR.
BOUCHER_: I'll ask him if he
wants to say anything. As I say, he
certainly had the opportunity to talk to reporters, and I'm not sure he's -- I
don't think he has taken advantage of that opportunity yet. So if he wants to say something, he can say
it.
_QUESTION_: Just one question. His deputy was disciplined, received a disciplinary letter; he
announced early retirement; and you're saying that the early retirement was
completely independent?
_MR.
BOUCHER_: No, I didn't. I said specifically in response to a
question, I said obviously it's related.
_QUESTION_: Okay.
_MR.
BOUCHER_: He is concerned about
the situation in the Bureau, he is concerned about where things are going, and
he decided he was going to retire now.
_QUESTION_: Can I move on to a new subject?
_MR.
BOUCHER_: Please.
_QUESTION_: I was just wondering if the United States
had changed its public position on European efforts to build a new security
force, given that Secretary Cohen said in a speech in Brussels earlier today
that NATO could become "a relic of the past."
_MR.
BOUCHER_: I am sure that is a
quote taken out of context.
_QUESTION_: Well, I can give you more, if you like.
_MR.
BOUCHER_: I would have to read
the whole speech. I think the best
statement of our position is an editorial opinion piece that the Secretary and
Foreign Secretary Robin Cook wrote about a week ago in The Observer. Do you remember where it was? I think it was The Observer. And we would be glad to get you that. That is the best possible statement of our
position on this force. And it's
generally -- it's specifically supportive of the idea of having an European
force that can act on behalf of Europe, but as a complement to NATO's
capabilities and in coordination with NATO.
_QUESTION_: So is it fair to say the US is not at all
concerned that this European security force might actually end up acting
independently of NATO and might threaten NATO in any way?
_MR.
BOUCHER_: Our position all along,
and stated with great eloquence by the Secretary and Foreign Secretary Cook,
has been for many years that we are in favor of this; this is a good thing;
let's just all make sure we do it in the right way and that we do it
coordinated with all our allies.
_QUESTION_: Could you spell out what the right way is?
_MR.
BOUCHER_: Well, I can give you
the article on that.
_QUESTION_: On Sunday, Ambassador Indyk addressed a
group in Baltimore, where he said that he thought that Yasser Arafat's pleas
for internationalizing the conflict were trying to force the United States to
choose between Israel and the international community. Is he freelancing here? I mean --
_MR.
BOUCHER_: I don't have the full
text of his speech yet. I guess we sort
of saw various other quotes in the newspapers, but I hadn't tried to deal with
that one.
I don't -- that one doesn't strike me as too odd, frankly. All the quotes that have been said on this
point that people have called us about all sound like fairly standard
iterations of our policy. So I don't
want to particularly jump on one or the other.
But it strikes me that everything Ambassador Indyk says is consistent
with our policy.
_QUESTION_: Do you have any contact with Mr. Raed
Hijazi, the US citizen who is facing the death penalty in Jordan? And do you still believe he has no
connection with the COLE attack?
_MR.
BOUCHER_: Let me tell you what I
can about that situation, if I can.
First, on the question of the COLE, we are really not in a
position to speculate about who may or may not have been responsible for
that. It is a matter under
investigation and, as with all such investigations, we are really not in a
position to say there is or is not a connection.
The question of Mr. Hijazi is also something that we can't
really speculate about. We are
certainly following his situation closely.
We have had a consular visit in Jordan, where he currently is, because
he is an American citizen. But beyond
that, I can't say much.
_QUESTION_: Can you flesh out a little bit about what
was discussed during the consular visit?
_MR.
BOUCHER_: No. I mean, normally a consular visit has to do
with how are you being treated, how are you feeling, do you need anything, can
we get you a toothbrush, do you want something to read, are there people we
should contact on your behalf. You
know, that sort of stuff.
_QUESTION_: And how is he doing? That was one of the questions?
_MR.
BOUCHER_: I think he is okay.
_QUESTION_: Considering he was arrested for events that
might have harmed US citizens or interests in Jordan in some way, did this go
past a normal consular visit where you asked him if he needed a toothbrush?
_MR.
BOUCHER_: Well, I think I would
have to differentiate a normal consular visit from an interrogation or an
evidentiary type of hearing or asking-for-testimony kind of situation. I'm not sure to what extent that might have
been discussed. Sometimes people
discuss their situations voluntarily.
But, again, it was a consular visit and I wouldn't ascribe it -- I
wouldn't make it part of the investigative process.
_QUESTION_: Do you have information on the circumstances
of Hijazi's arrest? There have been
some reports from the region that he was actually arrested for something else
in Syria, and I don't know if you all have any clarification on that.
_MR.
BOUCHER_: I'm not sure I do. I'll check and see.
_QUESTION_: Richard, this may be Pentagon -- the South
Korean Parliamentary Commission has approved a resolution questioning the
resolve of the United States to get to the bottom of the Nogun-ri case. Do you have anything?
_MR.
BOUCHER_: I think basically what
we want to say is that we are conducting a comprehensive review of the facts
concerning the Nogun-ri incident. The
review is ongoing, and so it is premature to discuss any kinds of
conclusions. But it is still in
progress. We believe strongly in the
integrity of the review, and we want to see it continue and reach appropriate
conclusions. So it is ongoing. It hasn't finished, but it is a serious
review. And, again, you can ask the
Pentagon if they have any more details at this point.
_QUESTION_: Which Bureau here is involved in that?
_MR.
BOUCHER_: Certainly our East Asia
Bureau is somewhat involved, but the lead on this is over at the Pentagon. The Department of Defense is running the
investigation.
_QUESTION_: VOA put out a report late last night about
-- saying that the Dalai Lama had reestablished contact with China, but the
context of the story was a little bit strange.
Have you guys checked that out at all?
_MR.
BOUCHER_: Not only checked it
out, but we checked it out twice, I guess.
That's why I have a revised piece of paper here.
Yes, there have been articles, I guess, or reports in the press
that says China has invited the Dalai Lama's brother to travel to Beijing, or
had invited his brother to travel to Beijing earlier this year. I am not in a position to give you any facts
or details about this. You would have
to get that from the Dalai Lama or his representatives.
I would point out that we have urged the Chinese leadership to
reengage in a substantive dialogue with the Dalai Lama or with his
representatives. I remember that was a
feature of the press conferences that President Jiang and President Clinton did
together. We do believe that a solution
to Tibet issues will contribute to the unity and prosperity of China, and we
welcome any prospects of renewed dialogue.
But as for the facts, you will have to get them from them.
_QUESTION_: So you don't have -- you don't know whether
it's true that the Dalai Lama has spoken with Chinese authorities?
_MR.
BOUCHER_: We don't have the
facts. We think it would be a good
idea, but we don't know.
_QUESTION_: Do you have anything more you can tell us
about the Secretary's itinerary post-Africa?
_MR.
BOUCHER_: Itinerary post-Africa.
_QUESTION_: Yes.
Or more details on Africa?
Perhaps we've missed a stop somewhere.
_MR.
BOUCHER_: I don't think we
did. I think we got all the stops,
although someone in a news story said that we had missed a stop. But I've gone over the schedule, and I
didn't see it.
Anyway, no, we don't have any more details today on the stops in
Africa, or on the post-Africa especially.
So it's basically you've got three countries in Africa; you've got
Europe generally, the NATO meetings in Brussels, obviously fixed and scheduled;
and then pieces being filled in around that.
_QUESTION_: Were you all able to visit Edmond Pope
today?
_MR.
BOUCHER_: Yes, we did, and his
wife as well. Let me get the facts
here. Mrs. Pope visited her husband in
prison today. She was accompanied by a
consular officer from the Embassy in Moscow.
Mr. Pope is, as we mentioned, expected to make his statement to the
court tomorrow. Congressman Peterson,
who has been very interested in this case, has also arrived now in Moscow
yesterday.
We have requested access and understand that we may gain access
to the trial tomorrow for Mrs. Pope, Congressman Peterson and officials from
our Embassy. But we don't have further
details yet on who will be allowed access, nor do we know for sure that we will
get it.
_QUESTION_: One more on Russia?
_QUESTION_: How was he?
_MR.
BOUCHER_: I think we continue to
have concerns about his health is the way to describe it. We believe his health has deteriorated
during the nearly ten months that he has been in prison. We continue to be concerned about his
health, and we think it is past time for him to be released to his family.
_QUESTION_: President Putin yesterday backed the idea
that Russia should return to its "symbolic past" and reintroduced the
Soviet-era anthem, the coat of arms and flag.
Is the US worried that this support is more than symbolic, especially in
light of cases like what we have seen with Pope and other high-profile rule of
law cases?
_MR.
BOUCHER_: I think that is an
internal matter that we will leave to the Russians.
_QUESTION_: Back to China for a second. Did you ever get anything on this US woman
arrested in China for arranging a meeting with members of the Falun Gong and
foreign journalists on espionage?
_MR.
BOUCHER_: The woman's name is
Teng Chunyan. She is a legal permanent
resident of the United States. She is a
Falun Gong adherent. She was tried in
Beijing Number One Intermediate Court on November 23rd on charges of
espionage. She is married to an
American citizen.
She was reportedly tried because she publicized the
incarceration of Falun Gong practitioners in a mental hospital. We understand that the court has not yet
issued a verdict nor imposed a sentence, but we find the trial itself deeply
disturbing. We urge the Chinese
authorities to release Ms. Teng, and to permit her to return to the United
States.
We have raised this case with Chinese authorities, both in
Beijing and in Washington. Once again,
we would urge China to end the crackdown on Falun Gong, uphold the
internationally recognized right of its citizens to engage in peaceful,
spiritual pursuits.
_QUESTION_: Has she been given consular access? Are there US consular visits?
_MR.
BOUCHER_: Well, she is not a US
citizen so we don't have a right to consular access.
_QUESTION_: Is it your understanding that the Falun Gong
detainees are being sent to mental hospitals?
_MR.
BOUCHER_: I am not sure we are in
a position to provide any more information than she already has. She has talked to -- this woman has talked
to foreign journalists, and I think shown them some instances where that
occurred.
_QUESTION_: Can I ask you about Venezuela?
_QUESTION_: Can you just spell her name for us, please?
_MR.
BOUCHER_: T-e-n-g is the last
name.
_QUESTION_: T-e-n-g?
_MR.
BOUCHER_: First name is
C-h-u-n-y-a-n.
_QUESTION_: Thank you.
_QUESTION_: On Falun Gong, is it the opinion of the US
Government that Falun Gong is in fact a religion?
_MR.
BOUCHER_: I'm not sure it does
much good to try to define it. I
described it as a spiritual pursuit, that we see this as a matter of people
trying to engage in peaceful, spiritual pursuits.
_QUESTION_: And how many people does the US believe the
Chinese have actually imprisoned or sent away to labor -- or reform through
labor camps?
_MR.
BOUCHER_: Do you mean total, or
because of Falun Gong?
_QUESTION_: I don't know if you have any kind of --
well, no, no, no. Because of Falun
Gong.
_MR.
BOUCHER_: We have numbers like
that in our Human Rights Report, as best they could be reconstructed. Now, clearly last year's report is getting a
bit outdated, but we will have a new report coming out soon.
_QUESTION_: Have you noticed what the Venezuelan
Government is doing vis-'-vis independent labor unions? Basically they are dealing with them the way
totalitarian states deal with them.
_MR.
BOUCHER_: We have noticed; we
have paid attention to the situation down there. I think more important than that, the international labor
community and the International Labor Organization have noticed and have
expressed concern. So we certainly
believe that that is a situation that bears watching and that the concerns of the
international community need to be taken into account.
_QUESTION_: There are some problems in the Turkish
economy these days, and the IMF team and the Assistant Secretary of the
Treasury are still in Ankara. So my
question is, do we have anything about that, and is there anything that the US Government
involved to help Turkey?
_MR.
BOUCHER_: First of all, we are
paying close attention to the financial situation in Turkey and, as you said,
we have people out there working with the Turkish Government now. We certainly fully support Turkey's economic
reform program. We want Turkey to
succeed; we want this program to succeed.
And we encourage the International Monetary Fund to provide the maximum
assistance possible to help Turkey take necessary steps to stabilize the
financial situation.
_QUESTION_: On Iraq, do you have any response to the
Jordanian decision to give Iraq back some of its jets impounded during the Gulf
War?
_MR.
BOUCHER_: I don't have anything
for you immediately, except to say that we had better check the facts very
carefully before we write about that.
I'll get you something if I can.
_QUESTION_: So you're saying that maybe they didn't send
these jets back?
_MR.
BOUCHER_: I'm not exactly sure
what the situation is. We'll have to
check.
_QUESTION_: Do you know if Secretary Albright has spoken
to Vice President Gore, and has she issued him any words of encouragement or
any advice, or does she think he should hang in there? Has she been watching? Does she pay attention to the court
rulings? Any --
_MR.
BOUCHER_: Any? (Laughter.)
_QUESTION_: Any.
_MR.
BOUCHER_: I think the answer to
"any" is obviously she knows what's going on in the world, including
parts of the world to the south of here.
But as you know, she is not involved in the political process at this
point; she is Secretary of State.
_QUESTION_: Come on -- it's a good way to distract us
from the laptop. Has she talked to him
at all? (Laughter.)
_MR.
BOUCHER_: I would love to, but I
think that would get me into something that I don't want to get into.
_QUESTION_: On a related matter --
_MR.
BOUCHER_: No, I don't know
whether they have talked or not. But
she is not involved in the political process, and she is paying attention like
most citizens are.
_QUESTION_: On a related matter, how many -- I think
you called them Schedule C appointees -- are there in the State
Department? So how many people would be
turned -- would be dismissed or lose their jobs if --
_MR.
BOUCHER_: Would be turned loose?
_QUESTION_: Turned loose. (Laughter.) Go to the
early retirement, whatever -- (inaudible) -- if George Bush wins?
_MR.
BOUCHER_: I don't know.
_QUESTION_: You don't know how many Schedule C employees
there are?
_MR.
BOUCHER_: I can probably check
for you, but I would have to check. I
don't know off the top of my head.
_QUESTION_: Okay.
_QUESTION_: Thank you.
_MR.
BOUCHER_: Thank you.
(The briefing was concluded at 1:20 P.M.)
[end of document]
_
_
This is an for
information on the WWW. Inclusion of non-U.S. Government links does not imply
endorsement of contents.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
This mailing list is hosted on SAE (Symboylio Apodimoy
Ellhnismou). Visit our www server: http://www.sae.gr
To subscribe/unsubscribe please send mail to li...@sae.gr
issuing "subscribe/unsubscribe news" in the message body.
This list is also posted in Usenet newsgroup sae.lists.news
More information on http://lists.sae.gr