US Department of State Daily Briefing #40:
Tuesday, 3/12/91
Boucher
Source: State Department Deputy Spokesman Richard
Boucher
Description: 12:26 PM, Washington, DC
Date: Mar 12, 19913/12/91
Category: Briefings
Region: MidEast/North Africa, Subsaharan Africa, E/C Europe,
Europe, South Asia
Country: Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Iraq, Kuwait,
Turkey, Albania, Libya, Chad, Kenya,
USSR (former), Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania
Subject: Regional/Civil Unrest, Terrorism, Travel,
POW/MIA Issues, Development/Relief Aid,
Human Rights, Democratization, Refugees
(ON THE RECORD UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED)
MR. BOUCHER: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. I
thought maybe I'd start out by running through a couple of
things. The first is to clear up what exactly it was that we
did yesterday on travel advisories. The second is to give you
an update on the unrest in Iraq, and the third is to tell you
about Albania, a subject I'm sure you're all most concerned
with.
[Travel Advisories: Update]
On travel advisories yesterday, I saw different
reporting about what we had done. I just wanted to run through
again where we are on travel advisories and terrorism for the
posts that we had authorized departure from.
The thing we did yesterday was that we issued new
advisories for the Middle East -- it was the Middle East, Africa
and South Asia -- in order to update people on the posts where
we have already authorized our employees or dependents,
depending on the case, to return to post. We also issued a new
advisory on the Persian Gulf -- northern Persian Gulf, which is
in effect the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and
Qatar -- where we have not authorized our dependents to go back.
The reasons for doing that now include the oil fires and, as
yet, the uncertain health effects of that. And that's the
reason that we didn't do it.
And third of all, we cancelled the worldwide travel
advisory that related to the hostilities -- to the war in the
Gulf -- because of the cessation of hostilities.
As for terrorism, we really didn't change our advice on
terrorism. Our latest advice on terrorism is the statement that
Margaret issued on March 4, where she said that while the
numbers of attacks and the overall threat of terrorism may have
lessened, that terrorism remains a serious concern. So that
remains our current advice on terrorism. And what we did
yesterday with travel advisories doesn't change that.
Q The matter in which that information was
transmitted to us yesterday made it somewhat difficult to
decipher, and I'd just make this appeal to make it a little more
comprehensible when you do issue these kinds of advisories.
MR. BOUCHER: O.K. We have tried. We've tried to put
a line on the bottom of every advisory to tell you what's new
and what's different. I guess that wasn't done with the
cancellation of the world wide advisory, but it was done in the
case of the other two.
[Iraq: Civil Unrest Update]
..............Unrest in Iraq: First of all, I need to emphasize that
the situation inside Iraq remains very fluid. This, plus the
limited information available to us, often make it difficult for
me to accurately characterize the situation in Iraq at any given
moment.
Cities and towns where unrest has been suppressed by
government forces often revert entirely or partly to control by
dissident elements once heavier forces depart to deal with the
unrest elsewhere. This has been taking place, for example, in
the cities of southern Iraq.
Here government forces appeared to be gaining greater
control over the situation yesterday, particularly in and around
the Shi'a holy cities of Najaf and Karbala but seem to be
dealing with considerable unrest in this general area today.
And in the Kurdish north, there continues to be high levels of
dissident activity.
Q On that, do you have anything about the military
deserters going over, rebels with mortars, anything like that?
MR. BOUCHER: No, I don't.
Q Have you heard or have any confirmation of reports
that the Iraqi forces are using napalm against some of these
cities?
MR. BOUCHER: That's not something that I can confirm
for you.
Q Nothing on CW?
MR. BOUCHER: At this point we have no confirmation
that they've used any CW.
Q You only had that one report.
MR. BOUCHER: What report?
Q Well, you told the other day about one press
report --
MR. BOUCHER: I don't think we referred to exactly what
kind of information we have on that, and I don't have anything
further to say, other than what the Secretary said last week --
that we had indications that they might use CW, and, therefore,
we had warned them.
Q Some in the Iraqi opposition are charging that
mosques have been shelled. Does the United States have anything
on that?
MR. BOUCHER: I don't have anything specific, but with
heavy fighting going on around the holy cities and with the
government using its heavy equipment that it has, you know, I
would assume that they are shelling some areas at least close to
mosques, if not mosques themselves.
Q The Turks have reportedly met with Kurdish leaders
from Iraq. Any comment on that, and will that change the U.S.
approach to the Kurdish leadership?
MR. BOUCHER: I have no particular comment on that. We
haven't seen anything that would indicate that Turkey, for
example, had changed its policy on the territorial integrity of
Iraq. As you know and as we've said yesterday and in days
before, that we have met with Iraqi opposition figures. It's a
case-by-case decision.
The last time we met with Kurdish figures was on March
1 when we discussed with them things like their humanitarian
concerns and their legitimate cultural and political
aspirations, but we felt that political meetings with them,
particularly with groups that had traditionally advocated
independence, would not be appropriate for our policy at this
time.
Q Do you have anything on outside forces having
joined in the fighting?
MR. BOUCHER: No.
Q Richard, I understand what you're saying about the
situation being fluid, but how many cities in total have been
involved in these various activities?
MR. BOUCHER: That's both difficult to say, because the
situation remains fluid, and because it's not just cities.
We've referred in recent days to town, cities and outlying
areas. So clashes are occurring in various kinds of areas, and
it would be too hard to try to enumerate exactly how many of
those constitute cities and other things.
Q How about Baghdad itself?
MR. BOUCHER: There have been reports from sources --
from people outside Iraq, news reports and statements -- that
relate to unrest and things in Baghdad. At this point I don't
have anything I can confirm for you.
Q Anything about reports that Saddam sustained some
injury in an assassination attack?
MR. BOUCHER: No. I have no information on that.
Q Richard, how would the United States view the
confirmed use, if it were, of napalm against rebels?
MR. BOUCHER: I'm not sure I can refer directly to
napalm. We certainly see the suppression of dissent in Iraq and
the methods that Saddam has used in the past and has been using
now as being very brutal, as being entirely inappropriate. We
certainly think that the popular unrest shouldn't be put down
the way he's apparently trying to do it.
Q Would the United States consider air strikes
against any units that use napalm?
MR. BOUCHER: That's what we call a total hypothetical.
I'm not about to deal with that.
Q Does the United States consider napalm to be in
some way an illicit weapon like chemical weapons?
MR. BOUCHER: I'm afraid that's not a question I'm
prepared to deal with. I don't know. You might ask the
Pentagon if they have some categorization of the appropriate
uses of napalm.
Q Richard, in your explanation of what seems to be
going on in Iraq now, I detect sort of a change in tone; that
you indicate it's getting to be more like Afghanistan, or
something, where they -- where something is never really put
down, but it is -- government forces move in, secure a city, and
then they lave, and then things occur again. That suggests sort
of an ability by the rebels to operate over a large area that
they just don't go away when the government forces come in. Is
this what you're trying to --
MR. BOUCHER: That's pretty much what I've said, Chris.
I used different words, but that's pretty much what I said.
And it's something, again, that we've referred to before. We've
tried to describe things as fluid. We've tried to say that even
in cities at some points where it appeared the government was in
control, the clashes were continuing. This is perhaps a more
precise statement of that, to say that in fact the government
does appear to suppress the dissent, but then dissident elements
return after the heavier forces depart.
Q Richard, do you have a sense that the fighting is
spreading to a larger area, or is it still around the holy
cities and in the north?
MR. BOUCHER: We've described it in the past as being
in the north around the holy cities and in southern Iraq, which
is a pretty large area. I don't have any characterization of
how it's expanding or getting smaller.
Q Is it fair to extrapolate from your answer to
Chris that Saddam doesn't have enough forces that are loyal and
well armed enough to keep this from bubbling up and continue
moving down to the next town?
MR. BOUCHER: I can't extrapolate for you. I can't
make predictions like that.
Q Could I just ask a -- what are the largest weapons
the rebels have that you know of?
MR. BOUCHER: It's not something I can go into David.
I'm sorry.
Q Have you seen the report that Saddam Hussein's
Deputy, Mr. Ramadan, had been under attack or may have been
injured in the assassination attempt?
MR. BOUCHER: I guess that was part and parcel of these
reports that Saddam was wounded, right? No. I don't have
anything that I can confirm that with.
Q Can we do Albania?
MR. BOUCHER: Albania.
Q One last one on Iraq.
MR. BOUCHER: We can always go back to it.
Q In terms of air space, any reports of any movement
or change in policy vis-a-vis the planes that had been taken to
Iran during the conflict? And, second, as kind of an extension
of that, is the U.S. still doing any extensive monitoring or
policing in any way of the air space in and around -- over and
around Iraq?
MR. BOUCHER: I think those are questions better asked
at the Pentagon. I'm not aware of any change with either of
those situations.
[Albania: US to Resume Diplomatic Relations]
O.K. On Albania. The United States and Albania have
agreed to re-establish diplomatic relations this week, following
a hiatus of nearly five decades. A senior Albanian official --
that is, the Foreign Minister, Mr. Kapllani -- will be traveling
to Washington to formalize the re-establishment of diplomatic
ties on Friday. We also intend to receive leaders of the main
Albanian opposition party, the democratic party, this week.
We view the re-establishment of diplomatic relations
with Albania as an opportunity to support democratic reform in
that country, and to encourage Albania to play a constructive
role in Europe. I would also note that leaders of the
democratic opposition in Albania have urged the United States to
proceed with the resumption of relations as soon as possible in
order to show our support for the process of reform.
Q Last time this came up, you had said that the
United States would want to wait til the elections were held --
I think the last day of this month. Can you explain why that's
been moved up?
MR. BOUCHER: I don't remember precisely saying that.
I may have. (Laughter) Basically, I think that our view of the
situation -- we've had a number of meetings with the Albanians.
The first one was on May 1, 1990. There were six meetings since
then; the latest one was on February 26.
In these meetings, we have emphasized the importance of
increased respect for human rights. We've also noted the
elections coming up on March 31, and we believe that it's
important for Western countries to support and encourage the
process of reform in Albania. We believe that this now argues
for greater engagement, not less.
On the elections, let me note also that the recent wave
of refugees in our mind has highlighted the terrible conditions
in Albania, and this calls for further change. This is in fact
recognized in Albania by the calling of democratic elections for
March 31. There will be several U.S. groups in Albania to
observe those elections.
Q Can you spell the name of the Prime Minister,
please?
MR. BOUCHER: Kapllani.
Q Richard, what's the methodology? Once he comes
here and he signs whatever he needs to sign, what happens next?
What do you do about consulates and ambassadors? How does the
housekeeping get done?
MR. BOUCHER: You wouldn't accept the answer that "I'm
sure it will be handled in the usual manner."
Q What's the usual manner?
MR. BOUCHER: I don't quite know. We do expect to send
an initial group from the State Department out to Tirana. We're
hoping to get them there before the elections, to go out and
start setting up our presence.
Q Are they going to take the plywood off the Embassy
windows?
MR. BOUCHER: I'm afraid I didn't check whether we have
an embassy with plywood on it or anything like that. But you go
through a process of appointing ambassadors, of getting
teams out there to survey for sites, to look at facilities and
that sort of thing. You obtain facilities and you set yourself
up.
Often, as probably in this case, we'll send an initial
team of people out there to do the surveys and establish
contacts with the government on a formal level, and they might
work out of temporary facilities.
Q Exactly when were diplomatic relations with
Albania broken off?
MR. BOUCHER: I don't think I have the date. Five
decades ago. Let me try, if I can find out, what the date was.
Q How about the year?
MR. BOUCHER: No, I'm afraid I don't have that.
Q I don't think there have been any since Mussolini
took them over.
MR. BOUCHER: Some of the press reports indicated 1945,
but I would have to double-check.
Q '39.
MR. BOUCHER: OK. Well, let me double-check and see if
I can find the date.
Q You're saying you don't know if there's a U.S.
Embassy extant?
MR. BOUCHER: I don't know what the situation might be
as regards facilities.
Q Can you find out because the Albanians offered a
building a couple of months ago and there is, in fact, some plan
for the American Embassy to have a staff of 10 people, and it's
all pretty concrete? Could you get some details on that?
MR. BOUCHER: I'll see what more I can find out for
you. That sort of information may await the signing of the
Memorandum of Understanding that establishes the relationship
and that deals with many of these issues. That will take place
on Friday. But if there's something I can share with you today,
I'll do it.
Q Has the United States and Albania been using
protecting powers, or has it be a complete break?
MR. BOUCHER: No. A complete break.
Q Did they have a building here?
MR. BOUCHER: Again, I don't know.
Q Who will join the Albanian Foreign Minister for
the U.S. side?
MR. BOUCHER: You mean, who's going to sign on the U.S.
side? I don't know precisely at this point. It depends on some
travel plans and things, so we'll have to see on Friday.
Q Where is Eagleburger?
Q It will be here in the State Department?
MR. BOUCHER: Yes.
Q Open to press coverage?
MR. BOUCHER: I'll take that under advisement. I
assume so but I'll have to check.
Q Is Eagleburger out of town?
MR. BOUCHER: Uh --
Q I take it that's a "yes."
MR. BOUCHER: Let's talk about it afterwards.
Q Could I ask you about the meetings that were held
before, the series of meetings you mentioned?
MR. BOUCHER: Yes.
Q Were those, the latest ones, in the United States?
And has the Albanian Foreign Minister attended any of them
before? Has he been to the United States before?
MR. BOUCHER: I don't think he has. Those meetings
were held up in New York with their United Nations
representative. Curt Kamman went up from our side. They were
with representatives from the U.N. Mission up in New York.
Q Wasn't the last one here in Washington?
MR. BOUCHER: I guess that's right. One of them was
here in Washington.
Q Richard, you referred to the terrible conditions
in Albania. Is that possibly a prelude to the United States
offering some form of humanitarian aid?
MR. BOUCHER: I don't have anything like that at this
time.
Q Have they asked for anything like that?
MR. BOUCHER: I'm not aware that they have. Let me
check on that.
Q New subject?
MR. BOUCHER: Yes.
[Libya/Chad: Former POWs Resettled as Refugees]
Q What can you tell us about these Libyan former
prisoners of war who are claimed to have been disbursed all over
Africa?
MR. BOUCHER: They've been interviewed by the
International Committee of the Red Cross. They were interviewed
after they left Chad and some of them decided to return to
Libya. Presently, the rest of them are being accommodated as
refugees at a camp in Kenya where the U.N. High Commissioner for
Refugees is processing them for permanent resettlement
elsewhere.
The Government of Kenya is providing transit facilities
to these individuals in cooperation with the Red Cross and the
UNHCR. The arrangements for the resettlement of these
individuals are being handled by the ICRC and the UNHCR in
accordance with the prevailing international laws and
conventions.
Q Was there an intention to train them as commandos?
MR. BOUCHER: That gets back to articles that appeared
in the past. And as much as we've had to say is what I'll say
again today, which is after the fall of the Habre regime in Chad
last December, some of the Libyan ex-POWs who were in Chad were
unwilling to return to Libya. And as a humanitarian gesture,
the United States provided transportation out of Chad for a
number of them.
Q At the time you didn't say transportation to
where. Was it transportation to Kenya or was it transportation
to a variety of places?
MR. BOUCHER: It was transportation to an intermediate
point. I don't think I'm in a position to tell you that, but
let me check if we're able to do that.
Q What I'm getting at is, we had the impression that
they were sort of disbursed somehow but now we seem to get the
impression that they had a long and winding road that went to
Kenya as a unit, as a group.
MR. BOUCHER: Let me see what more I can get you on how
they travelled.
Q And is their current processing and resettlement
being done as a group? Will they be processed and resettled as
a group or are they all going off to different places?
MR. BOUCHER: Well, that's really in the hands of the
Red Cross and, more important, the UNHCR which is interviewing
them and which helps makes arrangements for permanent
resettlement for refugees. So individuals are reviewed on an
individual basis. Whether a number of them end up in one
country together, I can't say at this point. That's really for
the UNHCR to address.
Q Did they have an extended stay in a military base
in Zaire?
MR. BOUCHER: As I said, I'll look into their
intermediate travel -- itinerary -- and see if I can get you
something on it.
[Kenya: US Military Aid and Human Rights
Conditions]
Q Is there any connection, as has been alleged
today, between their being accepted by Kenya and our releasing
of the military aid to Kenya despite the confines about the
human rights situation?
MR. BOUCHER: I guess, as I would characterize it,
perhaps a partial and indirect one. The reasons that we
released the $5 million in 1990 security assistance for Kenya,
were basically two-fold. We did this in February.
The first was to acknowledge limited steps that had
occurred in the area of human rights; and, second, was to
recognize the Kenyan government's helpfulness in several areas
that were important to us.
On the human rights side, we noted that following
hearings on party reform, Kenya's ruling party abolished
queue-voting and reinstated secret balloting in primary
elections. It ended the practice of expelling dissidents from a
party. The government also limited the President's authority to
dismiss judges, restoring some independence to the judiciary in
Kenya.
Of course, we do remain concerned about other human
rights abuses, including detentions without charge in Kenya, and
we urge the government to move promptly towards greater respect
for human rights.
On the other side, Kenya has recently been very helpful
in key areas important to us. As examples, I would cite that
they provided access and support when we had to evacuate
Americans and others from neighboring embassies. The Kenyan
government cooperated closely with us against the threat of
Iraqi-sponsored terrorism. And, finally, it did give temporary
refuge to these Libyan ex-POWs who had to flee Chad when the
Habre regime fell.
Q How many ex-POWs are you talking about here?
MR. BOUCHER: I have to check and see if I can give you
a number.
Q Are there hundreds?
MR. BOUCHER: Several hundred now.
Q Richard, do you have any comment on the new report
about these people who were apparently killed in Syria after
what has been reported as being a mistaken leak through the
United States of information to the Syrian government?
MR. BOUCHER: No, I don't have any new comment. This
is an article that appeared before. I'm not sure if it was the
same article, but a story --
Q There are several new elements.
MR. BOUCHER: -- that appeared before. Margaret
addressed it in her briefing, I believe, on February 8. She had
a very specific and detailed statement that she had used with
the New York Times that I think was quoted in the original
article. I can give you a copy of that again if you want it.
Q Should I ask you questions about the new elements
such as -- now they're saying --
MR. BOUCHER: I'm really not prepared to go beyond what
we said before, but, sure, you can ask.
Q OK. Maybe I'd better. For example, the article
says that these were Jordanian agents?
MR. BOUCHER: Again, I don't think that's something we
would comment on. In any case, but I'm not prepared to go
beyond what we said before.
Q Could we go back to eastern Europe, and three
countries that I have in mind? Any comment on the independence
demonstrations in Slovakia?
MR. BOUCHER: No.
Q Any comment on the draft law in Romania to
imprison journalists for up to 5 years if they criticize the
government or its policies in print too excessively?
MR. BOUCHER: I hadn't seen that. I'm not familiar
with that. Let me check on it.
Q And maybe you'll have something on this one.
Lithuania's first anniversary of their declaration of
independence was yesterday. A year later they seem to be in a
worse position than they were when they made it. Any comment on
the situation?
MR. BOUCHER: I don't think I can really characterize
the situation the way you have. I think our principles and what
we stood for all along has been very clear. In fact, yesterday,
Ray Seitz met with the Lithuanian Charge d'Affaires
in Washington. Stasys Lozoraitis thanked Ray for the -- thanked
the United States for all the support that we've given to the
Lithuanian cause. Mr. Seitz said that U.S. support for
Lithuanian efforts to achieve self-determination would continue
and that the United States looks forward to working with the
Lithuanians as they move towards their clearly expressed goal of
independence.
Q Can I go back to Albania for a second?
MR. BOUCHER: Sure.
Q By recognizing Albania at this time, can't you be
accused of giving legitimacy to a communist government instead
of waiting until after the democratic elections?
MR. BOUCHER: As I said, the step is intended to
encourage reform. They have set democratic elections for the
end of the month, and we are in close touch with the democratic
opposition in Albania. These people have also encouraged us to
open relations with the government in order to further encourage
this progress towards reform.
Q Richard, anything on the latest moves in Thailand
to appoint more military men to a new national assembly?
MR. BOUCHER: No.
Q Richard, back on Europe for a minute. Do you know
anything about a CSCE meeting planned for Berlin, I think, next
month or May? Do you know what that's all about?
MR. BOUCHER: Nothing rings a bell. Let me check.
Q Richard, do you have anything on Solomon's visit
to China?
MR. BOUCHER: He gave an extensive press conference
this morning in Beijing. I think we'd be better off just
getting you a copy of that.
Q Thank you.
(Press briefing concluded at 12:21 p.m.) (###)