US Department of State Daily Briefing #69:
Friday, 4/26/91
Boucher
Source: State Department Deputy Spokesman Richard
Boucher
Description: 1:06 PM, Washington, DC
Date: Apr 26, 19914/26/91
Region: MidEast/North Africa, East Asia, Southeast Asia
Country: Iraq, Kuwait, Turkey, Iran, China, Cambodia
Subject: Regional/Civil Unrest, Development/Relief Aid,
Refugees, Arms Control, State Department,
Trade/Economics, International Organizations
(ON THE RECORD UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED)
MR. BOUCHER: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. I'm very
sorry I'm late. I hope I can make it up to you by answering all
your questions.
I'd like to do three things off the top. One is about Secretary
Baker, the second is about Mr. Kimmitt's travel plans, and the third
is the update on refugees.
[Announcement: Secretary Returns for Funeral]
All of us were saddened to hear that Secretary Baker's mother has
passed away. At this point the Secretary is returning to Washington
late this evening. He'll go to Houston tomorrow morning. The
funeral for his mother will probably take place on Monday. At this
point we don't have the date of his return to Washington, and I'm
sure you all join me in expressing our sympathy for Mr. Baker and
his family at this loss.
[Under Secretary Kimmitt to Visit China and G-7]
The next item concerns Mr. Kimmitt's travels. Under Secretary of
State for Political Affairs Robert M. Kimmitt will participate in a
G-7 political directors meeting that the U.K. is hosting in Hong
Kong next week. Prior to that meeting he will also meet with Hong
Kong government officials.
Following his meetings in Hong Kong, Under Secretary Kimmitt will
go to Beijing where he will hold discussions with Chinese
government officials on the full range of bilateral and global issues
of concern to our country.
In addition to briefing the Chinese government on the Secretary's
discussions in the Middle East and continuing our close dialogue on
the prospects for a Cambodian settlement, Mr. Kimmitt will raise
our concerns of human rights, nonproliferation and trade.
Before returning home, Mr. Kimmitt will visit Tokyo for
discussions with Japanese government officials and political
figures.
Q Can we ask questions on that?
MR. BOUCHER: You want me to take questions on that? Yes.
Q What are your concerns on human rights, missile
proliferation and trade?
MR. BOUCHER: They're the concerns that I think we've
often expressed from the podium here. The concerns on human
rights are the ones that have been raised in the past with the
Chinese by the Secretary and others and by Assistant Secretary
Schifter when he was in Beijing last December, and in the
dialogue that our Embassy has been having with the Chinese on
the subject of human rights.
On proliferation, I think we've spoken many times here
before about the need for global controls on the proliferation
of various items -- missiles, chemical weapons and other items
-- and this is certainly a high priority for U.S. foreign policy
and something that we want to discuss with the Chinese.
Q Well, what have they been proliferating?
MR. BOUCHER: Again, George, I think we've talked about
specific reports at times here to some extent, but I don't have
a rundown of Chinese sins, if you're asking for that. The
question will be that we believe that all countries have a very
common interest in not engaging in the proliferation of these
weapons that are dangerous, particularly in areas like the
Middle East, and we'll be talking to the Chinese about those
concerns.
Q It seems to me you exonerated them last week
concerning Algeria. I mean, are they doing anything wrong?
MR. BOUCHER: I don't have any such list for you now,
George.
Q And on trade?
MR. BOUCHER: I really don't have any specifics on
trade at this point. We've had delegations in China before
talking about intellectual property rights. That remains a
priority for the United States. And, of course, the issue of
open trade is of concern to the United States.
Q Do you have any reaction to the Foreign Ministry
spokesman who yesterday said the United States should butt out
of the human rights observations it makes toward China?
MR. BOUCHER: I believe those comments were in the
context of the process of MFN renewal that we go through in the
United States based on our law. I think I expressed our
viewpoint on that just the other day, so I'll stick with that.
Q There's some very new allegations on Chinese human
rights -- that they are using labor camps to produce products,
particularly for the American market, and that these are being
imported into the United States. Do you have any comment on
that?
MR. BOUCHER: I addressed that the same day that I
addressed our attitude towards MFN renewal. We'll get that for
you from the transcript.
Q Richard, what officials will Mr. Kimmitt be
meeting with? Do you have --
MR. BOUCHER: At this point I don't have a list.
Q Do you know when he will be arriving in Beijing?
MR. BOUCHER: Let me see if I can get the dates for
you.
Q Will Kimmitt be discussing this report on the use
of slave labor?
MR. BOUCHER: I don't know.
Q Does this mean that Reginald Bartholomew's planned
trip is off?
MR. BOUCHER: No. Bartholomew's trip is still pending.
The Secretary and Foreign Minister Qian, in their meetings last
fall, discussed the value of the series of exchanges on subjects
of special concern and visits to China by Under Secretary
Kimmitt and Under Secretary Bartholomew that we thought would
be useful in that regard. But the Bartholomew trip hasn't been
scheduled at this point.
[Iraq: Refugee Update]
Moving on? O.K. The rundown on the refugees and the
efforts we're making on their behalf.
Turkey
The number of refugees in Turkey and the border area
appear to have stabilized. There are now 453,000 refugees in
Turkey, and the number near the border remains at 400,000. The
situation at 15 refugee camps in Turkey and near the border has
improved. This is due primarily to implementation of relief
programs, especially the establishment of delivery systems and
improved medical facilities, as well as improved weather
conditions.
As one example -- and this is not comprehensive for the
whole area -- but relief officials from the Office of the U.N.
High Commissioner for Refugees who are working at Isikveren in
the Isikveren area of Turkey report that they believe the death
rate in that location has declined from about 50 per day at the
beginning to about 35 per day a week ago, and to 16 to 19 a day
at present. Of course, all these efforts that we're making are
devoted to bringing that number down to as small as possible.
I don't have any new information concerning death rates
at other locations -- at any of the other camps, so I can't give
you a broad generalization at this point.
The main problem remains the availability of safe and
adequate water supplies. I think we put up an answer yesterday
that told you that cholera is not seen as an immediate threat in
that area. However, Center for Disease Control representatives
working in the area report that the possibility exists of a
measles epidemic, and that's of particular concern. UNICEF and
the International Committee of the Red Cross will shortly begin
a measles immunization program to counter this threat.
Illnesses related to contaminated water supplies
continue to be the main problem. Malaria is also endemic in the
area. It's not thought to be a problem for the Iraqis.
However, refugee workers will need to take proper precautions.
U.S. and multinational military forces are currently
using 29 drop zones or landing zones for the delivery of relief
supplies to encampments on or near the border. Yesterday
military air drops delivered 817.9 tons of relief supplies to
refugees on both sides of the Turkish border. Since April 7,
7,388.1 tons of relief assistance has been delivered to refugee
sites.
The Defense Department reports that multinational
forces continue to work in the area of northern Iraq around
Zakhu, setting up the first of the temporary refugee centers.
It's expected that refugees will start moving to the village in
the next few days. Yesterday I think I reported on the
identification of a second site where they'll be working.
Based on our request, the Iraqis have informed us that
the 300 police are being withdrawn from Zakhu. There are
reports that this withdrawal has already begun. The Iraqis
asked, and we agreed, that 50 indigenous police be allowed to
remain in Zakhu to maintain order. The police force will be
selected from local and neighboring regular police. The Defense
Department reports that the combined "Operation Provide Comfort"
task force will monitor the withdrawal to ensure that Iraqi
forces are complying with that request.
Iran
In Iran: The refugee and displaced person population
in Iran and near the border also appears to have stabilized now.
The numbers are as before -- about one million Iraqi refugees
who have entered Iran and about 500,000 near the border. The
Iranian Red Crescent Society is providing assistance for about
500,000 refugees in 50 camps. That's up from 29 camps and
250,000 refugees about a week ago.
International organizations working in Iran are
assisting with the relief effort. The International Committee
of the Red Cross is now constructing camps in Iran. Their
objective is to provide shelter, relief supplies and medical
assistance for up to 200,000 refugees.
The International Committee of the Red Cross is also
providing assistance at many of the affected border villages
whose populations have more than doubled. The Red Cross is
working to improve sanitation infrastructures in these areas in
particular.
It's our understanding that the Iranian Red Crescent
Society and international organizations are providing some
assistance to those in the border area, as opposed to those who
have already cross into Iran.
We don't have any information concerning the news
reports that there are cases of hepatitis among the refugee
population in Bakhtaran Province. However, as we have said
previously, water-borne illnesses are one of the major problems
affecting this population. International relief agencies have
made the provision of safe water supplies a priority for their
relief assistance programs.
USAF Flights
On flights, a U.S. Air Force C-141 departed from
Andrews Air Force Base at 11:39 a.m. today, carrying 145,000
pounds of blankets donated by U.S. humanitarian organizations.*
The flight is scheduled to arrive at Meherabad Airport in Tehran
on Saturday. This represents the first direct U.S. relief
flight into Iran to support that country's efforts in aiding
refugees from Iraq.
As I said, this is the first flight. There is the
possibility of more. I don't have any details for you at this
point. The items will be delivered at Tehran airport to the
International Committee of the Red Cross and to the Iranian
relief authorities with whom they are working. We also expect
that representatives of our protecting power, the Swiss
government, will be at the airport as well.
In southern Iraq: U.S. military forces continue to
provide assistance and security for refugees and displaced
persons in the demilitarized zone. Cholera is evident in
southern Iraq. We don't have any information concerning the
prevalence of other diseases among people living in this area.
The Saudi government has announced that it will permit
up to 25,000 displaced persons from the demilitarized zone to
enter Saudi Arabia. This is being done to provide protection
for this group of people. U.S. military personnel have been
working in Saudi Arabia to construct a refugee camp to house
refugees and displaced persons currently in the demilitarized
zone. We understand that people may begin moving to the new
facility as early as this weekend.
Overall, the United States has contributed in cash and
in kind $123.3 million to the relief effort for Iraqi refugees
and displaced persons. In addition, over 30 nations have
pledged in cash and in kind $652.5 million.
*Defense Department subsequently corrected total weight of this
shipment to 31,125 lbs.
And that's the overview. I'd be glad to take
questions. George.
Q On Iran, I heard about an hour ago that the frozen
assets talks normally held in The Hague were the subject of a
discussion involving the U.S. and Iran in Tehran last week. Do
you know anything about that?
MR. BOUCHER: No.
Q Could you take the question?
MR. BOUCHER: I'll take the question and see where we
stand.
Q Also on Iran, did I understand you to say that the
plane from Andrews was just carrying things from private U.S.
humanitarian organizations, as opposed to the U.S. Government?
MR. BOUCHER: That's my understanding, that at least
this shipment of blankets was based on donated supplies from
U.S. humanitarian organizations. I'll check and see if we have
a more complete breakdown of what's on the plane and where it
came from.
Q Are there plans for assistance from the U.S.
Government, or would you consider the flight itself to be a
contribution?
MR. BOUCHER: The flight itself, of course, is a
contribution. As for the further flights and what exactly will
be on them and where it will come from, some of those details
are not pinned down at this point, so I don't have them for you.
Q What's the estimated time of arrival?
MR. BOUCHER: I don't have that. Tomorrow.
Q There's a report -- can you talk about the
dissolvement of the Popular Army militia that we've been hearing
about?
MR. BOUCHER: We just saw the reports this morning. We
really don't have any information on that. We'll just have to
see.
Q Richard, do you have anything of Iranians coming
to this country for the G-7 meeting this weekend? Do Iranians
normally travel back and forth between this country? I mean,
like the head of their bank?
MR. BOUCHER: The G-7 is the G-7. It's not Iran.
Q No. I understand that. But there's a report that
they have come to town?
MR. BOUCHER: The G-7 meetings that Kimmitt is going to
are going to be in Hong Kong next week. You're talking about
the IMF and the World Bank; maybe the International Financial
Institutions?
Q It's IMF.
MR. BOUCHER: If these are having meetings next week?
I'll have to check on that. I don't know. We do have certain
responsibilities as hosts with international organizations like
that, the same way we do for the United Nations.
Q Richard, you've had some fairly optimistic
information. The death rate is down. The Iraqis have agreed to
back away from the relief camp. You had earlier the progress,
maybe, on Kurdish autonomy. Do you have anything broader to say
about the situation up there? Are things looking a little bit
better to the U.S. in terms of the Kurdish situation?
MR. BOUCHER: It's hard for me to give a
generalization. I think the President talked about it, to some
extent, this morning. The situation is that we said it would
require a massive relief effort. We see such a relief effort
going on. We are getting supplies to people who need them.
There are certainly many more things that need to be done and
are being done in terms of better organizing the effort, making
sure we get to everybody that needs it. But at least we've made
some progress in that regard, and we see things, at present, as
improving.
I'm not aware that the Iraqis have interfered in any
way with these efforts. We certainly think that the
humanitarian nature of the cause would require that they should
not do so.
Q I assume it is still considered a crisis. Are we
approaching a point where it may, in fact, be manageable and no
longer be of crisis proportions?
MR. BOUCHER: I think it's a crisis as long as you have
hundreds of thousands and millions of people who are displaced
from their homes, and we'll be continuing our efforts to make
sure that they get all the relief that they need as long as they
need it.
Q Richard, on the flight to Tehran, will there be
any American officials aboard that cargo plane?
MR. BOUCHER: Well, it's an Air Force airplane and the
pilots and others are U.S. Government people. You mean some
sort of high-level delegate or official like that? I don't
think there is any. I think it's just the people who handle the
airplane and handle the cargo.
Q Kimmitt is not on the flight, is he?
MR. BOUCHER: No, he is not on that flight.
[China: US Policy on Contacs]
Q Kimmitt is the most senior person to go to Beijing
since who and when?
Q Eagleburger-Scowcroft December '89.
MR. BOUCHER: There you go. I guess. I can't think of
anything different than that. Of course, you know the
Secretary's met on several occasions with the Chinese Foreign
Minister -- last fall in Cairo, New York, and Washington. He
met on several occasions.
Q So I guess the ban on high-level contacts is now
over since he's actually taking a trip to Beijing?
MR. BOUCHER: No, Chris. No, you got that one wrong.
Sorry.
Let me tell you one more thing. It has been consistent
U.S. policy to authorize occasional high-level contacts with the
Chinese when it's clearly in our interests to do so. For
example, Assistant Secretary Schifter visited Beijing last
December for an intensive discussion of human rights issues, and
Assistant Secretary Solomon went there last month to discuss
important regional issues such as Cambodia and the Gulf.
Q This is one of these bans that's more honored in
the breach than in the observing since --
MR. BOUCHER: Alan, I hate to have to say this to you,
but I think this is the same thing that we said right from the
beginning about what the policy was. There were certain
high-level ceremonial exchanges that did not take place, that
were cancelled. But we have said all along that when we had
issues of concern that we wanted to pursue, needed to pursue
with the Chinese, that we would have appropriate diplomatic
contacts to do that, and that's what we have been doing with
occasional high-level contacts.
Q Switching back to the refugees --
Q Can I ask one more on China? Do you have a list
there of the sanctions that are still in effect?
MR. BOUCHER: No, I don't. Nothing much has changed
recently.
Q Military sales, high-level exchanges of a
ceremonial nature; there are others beyond that?
MR. BOUCHER: Yes. I don't have the full list in my
head, George. We've said it before and it hasn't changed. I
didn't bring it today. I'm sorry.
Q Would this be the first trip of a high level
official to Beijing since Solomon's visit last month?
MR. BOUCHER: Yes, since last month.
Q Anybody else who has gone since --
MR. BOUCHER: I'm not aware of anyone else.
Q Solomon, at his departing news conference,
mentioned the "concerns" that still remain between Beijing and
Washington on nuclear proliferation and sales to third
countries. What has changed between then and now that would
heighten your concern or be cause for Kimmitt to be going in
place of Bartholomew?
MR. BOUCHER: I didn't say that anything had changed
that had heightened our concerns. These are subjects of
continuing interest to our government. They are subjects that
we think are of continuing interest to the Chinese government,
and we want to pursue these issues with the Chinese. I'm not
saying that our concerns are any different than the ones that
we've always had on the issue of proliferation.
Q Is Kimmitt, because of his position at the State
Department -- his presence there, might be more convincing to
the Chinese?
MR. BOUCHER: I think I went through the purposes of
Mr. Kimmitt's visit. It has a number of purposes, a broad range
of issues that will be discussed. We have a number of common
interests with the Chinese we're pursuing right now such as
Cambodia. We also have a number of issues that we want to raise
with them.
Q Do you have anything new on the possibility of
sales of nuclear weaponry to Pakistan by China?
MR. BOUCHER: No. I don't think I have had anything
old on the subject either, Mark.
[Department: Ambassador Glaspie as Diplomat-in-Residence]
Q Do you have anything on Ambassador Glaspie leaving
the Department?
MR. BOUCHER: She's not leaving. I talked to her this
morning. She's not leaving the Foreign Service. She does
intend to spend a year as a diplomat-in-residence at a U.S.
university. This is a very common follow-on assignment for many
returning Ambassadors. For example, our Ambassador to Kuwait,
Nat Howell, is going to become a diplomat-in-residence at the
University of Virginia.
Q You said at an American university or American
University?
MR. BOUCHER: At a U.S. university. The final
arrangements with the university have not yet been settled, so
I'm not in a position to give you the name or the location.
Q Can you give us a flavor of the contacts you had
with the U.N. on the subject of them taking over the camps?
Perez de Cuellar has said this morning, he thinks this could be
done within days.
MR. BOUCHER: I saw the quotes from the Secretary
General on the wire. They are consistent with our discussions
in which the Secretary General and others have assured us that
the U.N. is prepared to take over the camps as quickly as
possible. Coalition and U.N. officials continue to consult
closely on this issue. There are some additional meetings
scheduled in Geneva early next week and our mission will be
talking to various U.N. organizations.
The Executive Delegate Sadruddin's representative in
Baghdad has sent a team to northern Iraq preparatory to bringing
in a U.N. convoy early next week. UNICEF representatives in the
convoy will also bring along medical supplies such as
rehydration salts and measles vaccine to Kurdish children.
Q On a somewhat related subject. U.N. Security
Council Resolution 687 -- our favorite resolution -- sets out a
procedure for the destruction of chemical weapons that Iraq has
and Iraq last week disclosed, a list of quite considerable
amounts of chemical weapons, amounting to thousands of tons, I
believe. Has any thought been given to how or where these will
be destroyed?
MR. BOUCHER: Some thought has been given to that
subject. As you know, it's a technically complicated issue. It
will be up to the -- I think the resolution says that it's up to
the Commission to determine how to do that in the best manner
possible.
The Commission is in the process of being formed. I
think the United Nations has announced the head and the deputy
for that Commission, and they have the deadlines in the U.N.
resolution to carry out their activities.
Q Is it envisaged that this material will be
destroyed on Iraqi territory, or will it be moved into the
territory of another nation?
MR. BOUCHER: I can't answer that question for you at
this point.
Q Do you have anything on CFE?
MR. BOUCHER: I have what the Secretary said yesterday
and what the President said this morning.
Q I heard there might have been some
misrepresentation about whatever was said?
MR. BOUCHER: I'll tell you exactly what it was the
Secretary said on the subject of CFE. He said that some of the
important issues that were still unresolved have been resolved.
They have not all been resolved, and we look forward to
receiving the response of the Soviet Union to President Bush.
The President said this morning -- I think he described
the arms control progress as "modest progress."
Q Could you give me more information about Mr.
Kimmitt's speech in Tokyo? And what kind of talks will he have
with Japanese officials?
MR. BOUCHER: He'll be discussing with Japanese
officials a whole broad range of issues, I'm sure, including the
current relief efforts in Iraq, U.N. activities, the common
interest we have in regional issues. I'm sure it will be quite
a broad range of topics.
Q Including the Vietnam issue?
MR. BOUCHER: I'm sorry?
Q The Vietnam issue, or recent Japanese efforts to
set up a better relationship with the Soviet Union?
MR. BOUCHER: I'm sure those are likely issues. I
really don't have a complete agenda for you.
Q Richard, there was a report earlier this week that
the Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping had threatened to flood
neighboring countries with hundreds and millions of Chinese
refugees if the West continues to press Beijing on its human
rights abuses. If that report is true, the situation could be
very serious.
Through the State Department's telecommunications with
your Embassy in Beijing, have you seen any report about such a
threat?
MR. BOUCHER: I have not personally seen anything like
that. I'll see if there is somebody that has something, but I
have not seen anything like that.
Q Richard, there are reports of heavily armed
Kurdish insurgents returning to the Zakhu area. Can you confirm
these reports and tell us what the U.S. policy is on their
presence there?
MR. BOUCHER: No, I hadn't seen those reports, so I
obviously can't confirm them. I think we've explained many
times that our presence is for humanitarian assistance to
refugees and people who need it. The President expressed again
this morning the fact that we were not going to get involved in
the fighting inside Iraq. The internal fighting has been going
on for many, many years. Those are the basic guidelines of our
actions.
How exactly the Defense Department will handle security
in terms of people who may have arms who are coming to that
area, I think I better leave it to them.
Q I'd like to clarify one point. You mentioned 50
indigenous policemen can stay around there. Does that mean
they're Kurds or they're from Zakhu?
MR. BOUCHER: That means they're from Zakhu and
neighboring areas, I think was the way I put it.
[Cambodia: Ceasefire Agreement Reached]
Q Do you have any comment on the ceasefire agreement
by the Cambodian parties there?
MR. BOUCHER: The process -- the proposal, shall I say,
was one put out by the U.N. Secretary General and the
co-chairmen of the Paris-Cambodia Conference, France and
Indonesia.
Earlier this week, both the non-Communist forces of
Prince Sihanouk and the Phnom Penh regime accepted the truce.
Vietnam has also endorsed the truce and this morning there are,
of course, reports that the Khmer Rough has accepted it as well.
It is a truce that would begin on May 1, and would
continue through the next meeting of the Cambodian Supreme
National Council which is scheduled in Jakarta tentatively in
mid-May.
Let me remind you, last August the United States and
other members of the Perm Five called on the Cambodian parties
to exercise maximum self-restraint to create the peaceful
climate required to facilitate the achievement and the
implementation of a comprehensive political settlement. That
remains our position. We favor such self-restraint, including a
ceasefire as well as other voluntary steps to improve the
climate in which negotiations are being held.
As a practical matter, a ceasefire and other temporary
steps will be most meaningful to the extent that they lead to a
comprehensive settlement agreement, and we hope that the
upcoming Supreme National Council meeting will make progress
towards achieving that settlement.
Q Thank you.
(Press briefing concluded at 1:36 p.m.)