US Department of State Daily Briefing #71:
Monday: 4/30/91
Tutwiler
Source: State Department Spokesman Margaret Tutwiler
Description: 12:15 PM, Washington, DC
Date: Apr 30, 19914/30/91
Category: Briefings
Region: MidEast/North Africa, South Asia, Eurasia
Country: Iraq, Kuwait, Israel, Turkey, Iran, Lebanon,
USSR (former), Bangladesh, Georgia
Subject: Terrorism, Democratization, State Department,
Environment, Regional/Civil Unrest,
Development/Relief Aid, Refugees
(ON THE RECORD UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED)
[Announcement: Terrorism Report Released]
MS. TUTWILER: The first thing I'd like to do is just announce
to you, if you don't already know, that the State Department's annual
terrorism report will be given to you at the end of this briefing.
I'll be honest and up front, I have not had an opportunity to read
this approximately 100-page report, so I'm not prepared to answer
any extensive type of questions you may have on this. Today the
Department --
Q What's the lead?
MS. TUTWILER: No. I just wanted to prepare you. I have not
read this.
One question I know you'll ask me, is Syria still in the report.
The answer is yes.
Today the Department of State submitted to Congress its annual
report, "Patterns of Global Terrorism 1990." The report was
prepared in compliance with Title 22 of the United States Code,
Section 2656f, which requires a full and complete annual report on
international terrorism each year.
The report is an historical record of international terrorism and
counter-terrorism activity for calendar year 1990. It does not
cover events that have taken place this year. As I said, copies of
the report -- I think we have about 100 -- are available
immediately after this briefing. The report is also available
electronically on the Computer Information Delivery Service, a new
computerized bulletin board to which many new services have
access.
This is the book. It's in the Press Office for you.
[Iraq: Refugee Update]
Could I do an update on refugees. It's kind of long, as they
have been every day -- so if you'd just bear with me. We divided it
again, which we think makes more sense, into Turkey, Iran and
southern Iraq and, in between there, what we're doing militarily.
Turkey and Iran
Turkey and northern Iraq: Relief officials now report
there are 19 refugee sites in southern Turkey, housing 486,000
Iraqi refugees and between 200,000 and 400,000 are located near
the border.
On "Operation Provide Comfort": The combined task
force "Provide Comfort" continues its massive supply and
building efforts to aid Iraqi refugees in southern Turkey and
northern Iraq. Medical and life sustaining services continue to
be the highest priority issues. The combined task force is
scaling back the number of fixed-wing air drops as more refugee
supplies are delivered by ground transportation and helicopter.
Up to this point, emphasis has been to deliver as much
food, water and supplies to the refugees as operationally
possible. With coalition forces' assessment teams now working
in all the border camps, the logistics infrastructure is being
enhanced and adjusted to meet specific refugee needs.
Air drop deliveries continue to supply a mix of bulk
food, including canned vegetables, fruit, meat, rice, flour and
cooking oil. As of April 29, yesterday, a total of 1,272
missions have air dropped over 10,000 tons of supplies to the
refugees in the mountains along the Turkish-Iraqi border.
Overland truck convoys continue to deliver much needed
supplies. Recently, a 65-truck convoy arrived in Silopi with
such items as food and water supplies, generators and an air
transportable 50-bed hospital and support personnel.
Total coalition forces supporting the operation
continue to grow, with over 13,000 military personnel from eight
countries now participating.
At Zakhu, coalition forces continue construction of the
temporary refugee site and repair of sanitation and water
delivery systems. These forces are now being helped by a
575-man refugee work party which recently arrived from Isikveren
to assist with erecting tents. As of yesterday, 1,238 tents
have been set up.
French, Canadian and Kurdish civilian medical teams
supporting operation "Provide Comfort" recently opened a 100-bed
hospital in Zakhu and have already treated over 300 refugees,
including some surgical patients.
Kurdish elders and members of the Pesh Merga have been
given the opportunity to review security measures at Zakhu and
are satisfied it is safe to begin the movement of families from
the mountains to the settlement at Zakhu. At our request, the
Pesh Merga has agreed to dismantle the checkpoints that they had
established to deter refugees from moving from the mountain
camps to the Zakhu area. According to DoD reports, the
checkpoints have been dismantled, and the refugees are moving
toward the temporary refugee site. As of this morning, over
1,000 refugees have moved into the refugee site at Zakhu.
UN Team Arrives at Zakhu
The United Nations announced yesterday that in
accordance with the agreement signed in Baghdad on April 18,
1991, by Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan, the U.N. would establish the
first U.N. humanitarian center in Zakhu today. The U.N. office
will be located adjacent to the refugee site.
This is the first important step in the process as the
U.N. prepares to take over the management of the refugee sites
inside Iraq. Task force military personnel are currently
assessing the security requirements of the second temporary
refugee site near al-Amadiyah. Construction of this refugee
site, which will accommodate 20,000-25,000 refugees, will begin
within a couple of days.
Iran
On Iran: Iranian relief officials report that there
are now 1.1 million Iraqi refugees in Iran, and that several
hundred thousand are located near the border.
On camp conditions: Though over a million Iraqi
refugees have fled to Iran and the situation is seriously taxing
the resources of the Government of Iran, the Iranian Red
Crescent Society and the international and private voluntary
relief organizations working there, we do not believe that the
conditions in the camps in Iran are worse than those in Turkey.
The Government of Iran has mobilized its resources, as
we have pointed out a number of times, very effectively. Prior
to the refugee influx, the Government of Iran had the logistical
systems in place and the infrastructure to deliver assistance to
the refugees.
In addition, the International Committee of the Red
Cross and the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees were already
working in Iran, making preparations to assist this needy
population. The United States and the international community
are providing relief assistance for Iran through U.N. and
international relief organizations. The Governments of Belgium,
Canada, Germany, the U.K. and the E.C. are providing massive
amounts of relief supplies.
The E.C. has directed that 70 percent of its
$180 million contribution for Iraqi refugee assistance be used
for refugees in Iran.
US Relief Flights
On the United States' relief flights or possible future
flights for Iran, as Richard reported yesterday, the United
States' relief flight carrying over 31,000 pounds of blankets
arrived in Iran on Saturday. We are in the process today of
offering a second relief mission which would fly into Iran with
medical supplies. Further details I'm not going to be able to
get into at this briefing concerning arrangements and when and
if and actually how this will all work out.
I have a brief update for you on southern Iraq, and
then I'm through.
U.S. military forces continue to move, via military air
transport, refugees from the Safwan area who voluntarily chose
to leave Iraq and go to the temporary refugee camp in Saudi
Arabia. In addition, refugees who were staying at the Saudi
refugee camp in Iraq near Rafha who want to leave Iraq are being
moved by bus to the new Saudi camp.
As of this morning's briefing, we do not have
information concerning the number of refugees who have been
moved to the new camp in Saudi Arabia. We will provide that
information as soon as we can. The Pentagon briefs today, and
they may, by the time of their briefing, have a number for you.
In addition, 2,118 refugees from southern Iraq have
been moved by the International Organization for Migration from
southern Iraq to Iran. Refugees who do not want to leave Iraq
will be provided water and a final ration of foodstuffs
sufficient for one week. All refugees are completely free to,
obviously, make their own choices.
Thanks for bearing with that, but there's a lot of
information.
[Israel: Secretary Baker's Peace Initiative]
Q Margaret, is the Secretary back? Has he spoken to
the President about -- apart from that call they had from
Jerusalem?
MS. TUTWILER: No. He is not back, and to my
knowledge, Barry, I'm not aware that while he's been at Houston
for his mother's funeral that he has spoken to the President or,
to be honest with you, any other government officials concerning
normal State Department business.
Q Yes. I meant Jerusalem was the last known
contact, right?
MS. TUTWILER: That I'm aware of, but I'll be honest, I
have not bothered the Secretary while he has been with his
family at this particular time in Houston. And so if he has
talked to the President, I personally am unaware of it.
Q On that, does the State Department find itself in
agreement with the assessment made yesterday by Mr. Fitzwater
that the results of the trip were slim and somewhat
disappointing?
MS. TUTWILER: And also Mr. Fitzwater said that there
was some progress that had been made. So I don't find any
difference with Marlin's characterization yesterday and the
characterizations that the Secretary himself used throughout our
trip, and what we from the State Department have done.
That was a new adjective, yes, that Marlin used, but
it's just another adjective. Overall, he said that -- as I read
what he said and discussed with him this morning -- that there
is progress that had been made in some areas. The
Administration has not spelled out where that progress is, and
I'm not going to be able to today, but, as the Secretary
characterized himself on many stops, there's a long way to go,
and there is, obviously, more work to be done.
Q Remember, there were some questions that he hadn't
received answers to.
MS. TUTWILER: Yes.
Q Have these answers come through by chance in any
way from Israel through -- you know, through Ambassadors?
MS. TUTWILER: Not that I'm aware of, Barry. The
Secretary isn't here. I took the day off yesterday, and, if
something has come through, I have not heard a word about it
this morning, and I've been here since before 7:00.
Q Do we know when he's going to meet the President?
MS. TUTWILER: No.
Q Margaret, on Iraq, the IAEA has received a further
letter from Iraq on their nuclear stocks. Is this more
satisfactory to the United States than the previous one? Can
you elucidate some of the information in there?
MS. TUTWILER: I cannot elucidate some of the
information that is in there. But it is true that Iraq has
provided substantial further information to the IAEA in response
to the agency's request following Iraq's first incomplete reply
to Resolution 687.
The IAEA will make a determination as to the
completeness of this second Iraqi response and proceed
accordingly. I just don't have any further information on it
for you at this time other than to say, from what we know about
it at this moment, that it was substantial as far as providing
additional information.
Q Have they conveyed the information to you?
Because the first time -- I think you were not here, but the
State Department was very up-front in saying that the
information was unsatisfactory.
MS. TUTWILER: I believe that the words that Richard
used were "falls short."
Q Falls short of reality?
MS. TUTWILER: Correct. I just think, Alan, that this
is not something we've had time yet to make a determination on;
to characterize whether it, indeed, does still fall short. We
are saying, from what we know of it so far, that it is
substantial further information. Maybe tomorrow we'll be in a
better position to answer it.
Q Margaret, what is the United States position today
on allowing Iraq to sell a billion dollars in oil?
MS. TUTWILER: The President answered that yesterday.
The United Nations -- I believe it was the Sanctions Committee
-- was meeting this morning at 11:00. They're still meeting as
of this briefing, and I don't have anything to add to what the
President said yesterday. He answered it for us.
Q Margaret, have we made a determination of the
effects of continuing these sanctions on the well-being of the
Iraqi people?
MS. TUTWILER: I think that was encompassed in how the
President addressed the question yesterday afternoon. I believe
it was at a press conference he did with some agricultural
reporters. He said that we obviously are helping -- I'm
paraphrasing now; I'd refer you to the record -- in a massive
way on food and basic necessities, medicine, etc., but that we
were not going to, as I remember what he said, basically do
normal business as long as Saddam Hussein is there with the Iraqi
government.
Q We're helping the Kurds and we're helping the
defeated Shi'ites in the south, but how about the rest of the --
MS. TUTWILER: We're helping a lot of the Iraqis.
Q How about the rest of the Iraqi people? I don't
know the extent that we are helping those people overcome
difficulty.
MS. TUTWILER: You mean, are we delivering aid into
Baghdad, etc.?
Q Yes.
MS. TUTWILER: Well, I believe that we are a full
member of the U.N, and I believe that the U.N. has been in
there, the International Committee of the Red Cross has been in
there and through our contributions, whatever they are doing in
there on water purification, on food, etc., is an indirect way
that the United States, through these organizations, is, indeed,
helping those people who are there.
Q So that not being able to get back into the oil
market is not having an effect, you don't think, on the
well-being of the Iraqi people?
MS. TUTWILER: Generally, generically speaking, at this
moment in time, I couldn't say that it was.
Q Margaret, as of yesterday the State Department
said it had no evidence -- this goes back to a British newspaper
story that the Washington Times led its paper with yesterday --
there was no evidence as of yesterday that Jordan is buying oil
from Iraq in defiance of the embargo. Is that still the case,
do you know?
MS. TUTWILER: To be honest, Barry, that's not
something that came up this morning. I'll look into it. I
don't know.
Q (Inaudible) yesterday, the whole story was pretty
much --
MS. TUTWILER: I'm sorry, I wasn't here, and this
morning it just didn't come up.
Q Margaret, there's a report from a Libyan would-be
defector who says that in addition to the chemical plant at
Rabta, the Libyans also have a previously unknown nuclear
research facility. Do you have anything on this?
MS. TUTWILER: I haven't heard about it. I'll be happy
to take your question.
[Lebanon: US Support]
Q Margaret, on Lebanon, do you have any comment on
reports about a Syrian-Iranian understanding concerning the
Hezbollah militia?
MS. TUTWILER: We can't confirm those reports. We've
seen the reports. I could restate, and will restate for you,
what our policy is. It hasn't changed. We have consistently
said that we support the extension of Lebanese government
authority over all of Lebanon, the withdrawal of all
non-Lebanese forces and the dismantlement of all armed militias.
We support the Lebanese government's announced plan to
disband all militias as called for in the framework of the Taif
Agreement. We just can't confirm the one report that I saw this
morning that's contained in your question. Also, I saw another
wire story right before I came to the briefing saying that one
of the largest militias there has, indeed, said they were going
to disband. So that brings that up, I believe, to two.
Q Will you be seeking any clarifications from either
the Lebanese government or the Syrian government?
MS. TUTWILER: Somebody may be checking out this
report. This morning, we knew nothing of it and have no
independent knowledge of it other than one report.
Q On Iraq. According to reports from Ankara, the
Turkish President, Turgut Ozal, last February proposed to a
Kurdish delegation a confederated state in northern Iraq among
Turkmans, Kurds, and Arabs, with American support.
I'm wondering if Mr. Ozal's proposal includes also the
12 to 15 million Kurds of Turkey along with the Kurdish
territory of Turkey?
MS. TUTWILER: Sir, I'm not familiar with President
Ozal's February proposal, and I think it would be more
appropriate to refer you to the Turkish Embassy here and maybe
they could be of help to you.
Q I'm referring it to you because it's with American
support, according to the Turkish reports.
The other question is, again, that Mr. Ozal the other
day proposed to the visiting Secretary of State, Mr. Baker, in
Ankara that Turkey could launch a military operation against
northern Iraq with the aim of establishing a safe haven zone.
I'm wondering, what was Mr. Baker's response?
MS. TUTWILER: I'm not aware of any such proposal that
President Ozal made to the Secretary of State. I'd be happy to
double-check myself, but I've never heard of such a proposal.
[USSR: Security at US Embassy]
Q Margaret, could I ask one question about the
Soviet Union? In light of a report that the KBG may have
infiltrated some people as firefighters during the Moscow
Embassy fire, is the United States still satisfied that there
was no security breach during that time?
MS. TUTWILER: What I can say for you on this is at
this point the Department, as you may or may not know, currently
has a security assessment team in Moscow evaluating the damage
caused by the fire and related access by Soviet firefighters.
It would be premature of me to comment on possible
breaches of security until their evaluation has been completed.
Q Any idea of when the State Department's Global
Terrorism Report will be out?
MS. TUTWILER: Yes. You came a little late. It's in
the Press Room for you at the end of the briefing.
Q Margaret, is there any screening of the
firefighters as they go in?
MS. TUTWILER: Is there any what?
Q This will be a post mortem, but are there any
procedures for access? Do you fingerprint firemen as they go in
with their hoses? We can't get into the building without
putting this through. (Indicating State Department building
pass)
MS. TUTWILER: Barry, I'm not sure what the security
arrangements are at post for when there's a fire. I don't know
if they stop people. Honestly, it's never come up. I don't
know what they do.
Q I never would have thought it would come up --
MS. TUTWILER: I wouldn't think it would either.
Q -- but there it is in the paper today.
MS. TUTWILER: I know. I saw the same thing.
[USSR: Help for Earthquake Victims]
Q Margaret, also on the Soviet Union. Have the
Soviets asked for any help after the Georgian earthquake?
MS. TUTWILER: Our Embassy has been in contact with
Soviet and Georgian officials and have told them, or expressed
to them, that we would like to be helpful in any way that we
appropriately could be. The Georgians have expressed an
interest in receiving United States assistance.
We are in the process right now of continuing to gather
information on the extent of the damage and assessing the needs.
We understand from the Georgian government this morning that
the death toll is about 100 and that there have been
approximately 250 people injured, but there are many homeless in
the affected area.
Q If I could follow that. Do I understand you
correctly that the U.S. Government is dealing on this question
with the provincial government, or the Republic of Georgia
government rather than the Central Soviet government?
MS. TUTWILER: No. I said that our Embassy had been in
contact with Soviet and Georgian officials.
Q Right. But you are in direct touch -- this
government is in direct touch with --
MS. TUTWILER: Sure. Secretary Baker had dinner with
the President of Georgia four weeks ago.
Q Right. I know. That's what I'm saying. On an
operational matter like this, you are now in touch with the
Georgian government?
MS. TUTWILER: Yes. I don't know what's so unusual
about that. I believe in the Armenian earthquake, we were in
touch with the people on the ground there who have the best
knowledge of what their needs are and what is going on.
We are also talking, as I said, with the appropriate
Soviet officials in Moscow. But it's only natural that you
would speak to officials on the ground of what the situation is.
[Bangladesh: US Offers Assistance]
Q Anything on help for Bangladesh?
MS. TUTWILER: Help for Bangladesh? We have offered
it. Our Ambassador is, in fact I believe, flying out today -- I
think it's today -- to make an assessment of the needs and to
see what we can do. Again, we're in the same position of
offering our assistance. They are getting back to us on what
assistance they may need.
We only have preliminary reports right now. The
information is kind of scarce on how devastating this cyclone
has been.
Q Has the United States been talking to Ethiopian
President Mengistu about the possibility of him receiving a safe
haven somewhere in Europe?
MS. TUTWILER: No.
Q How about somewhere else?
MS. TUTWILER: No, not at all. Excuse me. I knew
there was one other part on this, George. This is Bangladesh.
Our Ambassador has announced he is using his discretionary fund
for assistance to the victims of this disaster. It's tomorrow
when he will be travelling to the most affected areas.
Q Margaret, a follow-up on Bangladesh. The
Bangladeshi Finance Minister was here to see Mr. McCormack
yesterday. Earlier, the Administration gave debt relief to
Bangladesh. Is there some sort of new aid being considered for
Bangladesh?
MS. TUTWILER: Not that I personally am aware of, but I
don't want to rule anything in or out. As I said, it's my
understanding it very recently happened. Our Ambassador is
there on the ground assessing it.
We have made our, or his -- each Ambassador, as you
know, has discretionary funds available. At this point, that's
all I have on the situation there.
Q Thank you.
MS. TUTWILER: Thank you all.
(Press briefing concluded at 12:37 p.m.)