US DEPARTMENT OF STATE 
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING #8: 

                         DEPARTMENT OF STATE
                         DAILY PRESS BRIEFING

                                 DPC #8

                THURSDAY, JANUARY 14, 1993, 1:03 P.M.
                (ON THE RECORD UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED)


         MR. SNYDER:  Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.  I apologize
for the delay once again.  I've got a couple of announcements, and
I'll be happy to take your questions.

         First of all, I'd like to announce there will be no regular 
State
Department Noon Briefing tomorrow.


         Q Why not?


         MR. SNYDER:  It's just not convenient.  We're not going to have 
a
briefing tomorrow.

         Q   How about Monday?

         MR. SNYDER:  Monday?  Sorry, of course.  Monday is a holiday 
and so there will be no briefing on Monday as well.

         Q  Tuesday is a day after the holiday.

         MR. SNYDER:  Tuesday, we're looking at having a briefing.

         Q   But Wednesday is Inauguration, so you might as well skip
 Wednesday.

         MR. SNYDER:  Wednesday, we will skip because it is a holiday.

         Q   Just go down to two days a week and just simplify it.

         MR. SNYDER:  We'll have a new Administration coming in.  The
statement that I have to make concerns the POW/MIA documents.

         We're today releasing more materials concerning U.S. efforts 
to account for Vietnam-era Prisoner of War and Missing In Action.
This is in addition to the documents previously released on January 
7 last week and on September 15, October 16, October 28, and 
December 1 of last year.  As in the previous instances, these 
documents are being released based on a request from the Senate Select 
Committee on POW/MIA Affairs and on the instructions of the President.

         This release consists of over 8,000 pages of documents
from the files of Frank Sieverts, who served as Special
Assistant for POW/MIA Affairs in the Department from '66 to '78.

         As before, because of the large reproduction involved,
we'll have just a single copy of the full set available after
the briefing today for you to look over.  We'll have a sign-up
sheet as before near the documents for those who would like a
copy of your own.  The sheet will come down at 5:00 this
evening.

         Please note, if you sign up, we would like you to cart
away a full set.  The individual sets will be made available as
soon as they can be reproduced.

         So, with that, I'll take your questions.

         Q    Joe, the attack on Iraq yesterday was described as
an "allied operation."  Who, if any -- which other countries, if
there are any besides Britain and France -- participated with
the U.S., please?

         MR. SNYDER:  The Pentagon yesterday -- General Hoar --
said that Britain and France participated in the attack.

         Q    It was an allied operation.  There was an allied
coalition against Kuwait.  I wonder why the Arabs -- were they
asked?  Did they decline?

         MR. SNYDER:  You'll have to ask the Arabs why they did
what they did do.  I really --

         Q    Can I ask the U.S. if they invited the Arabs to
participate in an attack on an Arab country?

         MR. SNYDER:  We've been in continuing contact with all
of our coalition partners, but I really would not like to get
into further details.

         Q    Were Saudi bases made available to the allies?

         MR. SNYDER:  You'll have to check with the Saudis.

         Q    But they were American planes.  Can we ask if
American planes flew out of a -- do we need the Saudis to tell
us if American planes flew out of Saudi Arabia?

         MR. SNYDER:  You should check with the Saudis.

         Q    Why is that?  Are they sensitive about American
planes flying out of Saudi Arabia?

         MR. SNYDER:  You should check with them.

         Q    But there are other allied planes that flew out
of Saudi Arabia?

         Q    From Saudi Arabia.  Is there any question about
that?

         MR. SNYDER:  You should ask other members of the
coalition about their participation in the operation.  As we
said, the aircraft were from the United States, Britain, and
France.

         Q    This isn't really an allied operation.  It's a
tripartite operation; the same three countries that imposed the
"no-fly" zone.

         MR. SNYDER:  You can describe it anyway you'd like.  It
was a coalition operation, and we have described which countries
provided aircraft.

         Q    But, Joe, "coalition" to anybody with any memory
of the war against Iraq involves a coalition involving Arab
countries as well as European countries and America and Canada.
So I'm just puzzled why this was done by three countries alone.
It could be because they're the three countries that declared
the "no-fly" zone.  The U.N. never did, although this is
described as enforcing a U.N. resolution --

         MR. SNYDER:  That's right.

         Q    -- which is a whole other matter, why it's
described that way.

         I don't know.  There's a serious issue here whether
Arab countries support continuing hammering of Saddam Hussein,
or if it's now a Western project?

         MR. SNYDER:  Well, again, I think you'll have to ask
other countries about their role, their participation in the
operation.

         Q    Joe, Saudi Arabia --

         MR. SNYDER:  Connie. Sorry.

         Q    Do you have a diplomatic assessment of the mission
one way or the other?  What was the diplomatic fallout of this
mission?

         MR. SNYDER:  The diplomatic fallout?  What I'd like to
say is, we're encouraged by the broad support of the mission by
our allies and friends.

         Q    Who are those?

         Q    Has the U.S. received any objections to the
operation from any of its allies or friends?

         MR. SNYDER:  Not that I'm aware of.

         Q    You would call Britain and France broad support?

         MR. SNYDER:  We've got generally broad support from a
lot of people in the public statements that many countries have
made.

         Q    Can you enumerate any of them?

         MR. SNYDER:  I don't have a list, no.  Press reports
are out there.  You all have seen them.

         Q    Can I try again on the airplanes?  Air Force
planes were involved in the raid yesterday.  Isn't that correct?

         MR. SNYDER:  Air Force, Navy, other planes; yes.

         Q    Where did the Air Force planes take off from?

         MR. SNYDER:  Well, check with the Pentagon on the
operational matters.  I'm just not going to be able to get in to
discussing the --

         Q    Well, did they take off from the United States and
refuel a 147 times on the way over there, or --

         MR. SNYDER:  It sounds like an operational --

         Q    -- did they fly from a country nearby?  Why won't
you say where they took off from?  What's the matter?  Are we
embarrassed to say that the Saudis allowed us to use the bases
which we built there and largely supplied?  Is that the
situation, as far as the State Department is concerned?

         MR. SNYDER:  Various countries which have taken part in
this operation have chosen to discuss their participation
themselves, and we leave it up to the various countries who
participated to discuss their own participation.

         Q    Why won't the United States say where the United
States planes took off from?

         MR. SNYDER:  We are leaving it up to other countries
who participated to discuss that -- discuss what role they
played.

         Q    Excuse me, you're saying there were other
countries that participated in some way besides Britain and
France?  You said various countries?

         MR. SNYDER: Yes.

         Q    Yes.  Some countries.  Well, it's not entirely
operational because for the longest of time, as we all know,
Saudi Arabia refused to be identified with the United States in
any military operation, and Mr. Baker and Mr. Bush got
considerable mileage.  It was considered a crowning achievement
to get the Saudis to defend themselves by allowing some
coalition with the United States; the Syrians as well.

         So now we're wondering why the Saudis have gone
underground and why the U.S. Government is helping them by
refusing to say whether Saudi Arabia was involved in any way.

         You know, you're not defending Minneapolis.  You're
defending the Persian Gulf, where they get their oil riches
from, and we wonder if they lift a finger to help themselves
every now and then.

         MR. SNYDER:  What we're doing is ensuring that Iraq
abides by U.N. resolutions.  That was the purpose of this.  The
purpose of the operation was described in detail by the White
House, and that was the goal of what we were doing.

         Q    Can you tell us where the AWACS planes, which took
part in the raid, took off from?

         MR. SNYDER:  Again, that's an operational question.  I
refer you to the Pentagon.

         Q    In your eloquent statement about the friends and
allies, how did they express this support, this broad support?

         MR. SNYDER:  Most of them have expressed it publicly.
I don't really have a list of individual sort of private
communications that we've had, but there's been very broad
public support.

         Q    You're talking about their statements?

         MR. SNYDER:  Pardon me?

         Q    You're talking about statements.  You're not
talking about actual physical, logistical, or other kind of
support?

         MR. SNYDER:  Well, I was asked about sort of a
diplomatic "fallout," I think was the word that was used.

         Q    The support that you're talking about is moral
rather than physical?

         MR. SNYDER:  The broad international support I was
talking about was the positive statements that came out of many
different countries; yes.

         Q    Have you noted the statement from Egypt, for
instance, which is a key ally in the Gulf War?

         MR. SNYDER:  Personally, no, I haven't.

         Q    You haven't noted a statement of regret from
Egypt?

         MR. SNYDER:  I didn't see the Egyptian statement.

         Q    Have you noted the statement from Syria?

         MR. SNYDER:  No, I haven't.

         Q    That was another -- well, you stand here talking
about statements and I point out two statements from two key
Gulf War allies and you say you haven't even noticed them.

         What exactly are you talking about?  Have you noticed a
statement from Turkey?

         MR. SNYDER:  Personally, no, I haven't seen a statement
from Turkey.

         Q    So when you say that there have been statements,
which statements do you note?  Tell me one?

         Q    John Major.

         MR. SNYDER:  The Japanese statement.  I have seen --
but, again, I don't have a list here.  I wouldn't try to do it
from memory.

         Q    Well, I think you're taking a very dodgie position
standing on the podium and telling us about statements when I
quote to you, cite to you two prominent statements and you say
you haven't even seen them.  They're out there on the record.
Perhaps you should prepare yourself more carefully before
briefing?

         MR. SNYDER:  Well, thank you for the advice, Alan.
I'll take it to heart.

         Q    Joe, on a related matter.  A few days ago this
Department was talking about the movement of missiles in the
south, in southern Iraq, in connection with the "no-fly" zone
there.  Eventually, the government also began talking about
movement of missiles in the north of the "no-fly" zone.

         As far as we know, anyway, all of yesterday's action
took place in the south.  What's the status of the missiles in
the north?  Are they still there?  Are they still operative at
this time?

         MR. SNYDER:  Ralph, I didn't check into that.
Generally speaking, on questions like that which relate to
military deployments, and so forth, the Pentagon has been doing
a readout on it.  I didn't look into it now.

         Q    Does the U.S. still think -- does the U.S. think
Iraq is continuing to violate the integrity of the "no-fly" zone
either in the north or in the south by virtue of having the
missiles in the north?  Is there a continuing violation going on
at this time?

         MR. SNYDER:  Again, that relates -- first of all, "Have
there been flights into the "no-fly" zone in either place?"  I'm
not aware of any.  That's one part of it.

         The second part is, "Is there a threat to allied forces
who are flying over that?"  Again, I didn't check on that.  I'll
see if I can get something for you, but, again, that's kind of a
Pentagon inquiry.

         Q    Well, would you take the question of whether --
the Pentagon issue is where the missiles are.  The State
Department question is whether the U.S. Government still
considers there to be a threat and/or violation of the various
U.N. requirements by virtue of the presence of surface-to-air
missiles in the north.

         A related question, then, is, if there is a continuing
threat, why was all of yesterday's action concentrated someplace
else?  Why did the U.S. and its allies choose not to --

         MR. SNYDER:  Let me just give you kind of a general
comment on what you're getting at.

         Let me first point out, we're dealing with a regime
that has repeatedly demonstrated that it is a continuing threat
to peace in the region, its neighbors, and, indeed, to its own
people.  This is what the Gulf War was all about.

         Since the Gulf War, the Saddam regime has attempted to
escape from the consequences of its actions and to erode the
U.N. Security Council resolutions which ended the war,
established conditions of the ceasefire, and set up U.N.
operations to ensure that Saddam could not again become a threat
to his neighbors or his own people.

         In recent weeks, Baghdad has flouted its obligations
across the board.  It has posed obstacles to the work of UNSCOM
inspectors in their efforts to rid Iraq of dangerous weapons of
mass destruction.  It has breached its agreements with UNIKOM
and failed to respect the border with Kuwait.

         Iraq has imposed an economic blockade of the north and
attempted through bombing attacks to impede humanitarian relief
efforts to that region, thereby putting at risk the civilian
population during the harsh winter season, and it has failed to
adhere to the terms of the "no-fly" zone established to monitor
the implementation of Security Council Resolution 688, putting
coalition aircraft at risk.

         Yesterday's mission was limited to eliminating an
actual and potential military threat to coalition and U.N.
aircraft and pilots operating in the southern "no-fly" zone.
But we've made it abundantly clear that we intend to hold
Saddam's regime to his obligations to implement fully all U.N.
Security Council resolutions as well as relevant agreements and
requirements of U.N. agencies and the coalition.

         Saddam has again misjudged the strength and will of the
coalition and the United Nations.  The coalition's actions
yesterday sent a clear message of our resolve and determination
which Saddam will ignore at his own risk.

         Q    Joe, you're referring -- that statement swiftly
moves from the north to the south.  You speak of an actual and
potential violation.

         Marlin did not provide a straight answer yesterday, I
think for obvious reasons.  He was asked, so let me ask here:
Were the -- did the Iraqis have SAM missiles in the "no-fly"
zone, or intimidating overflights of the "no-fly" zone in the
south when the U.S. attacked the Iraqis?  Because only a few
days earlier the Administration was triumphantly declaring it
had brow-beaten the Iraqis into removing the missiles.  So now
do you attack them for potentially doing something or do you
attack them for actually doing something?

         MR. SNYDER:  There was an actual threat as well as a
potential threat, and I'm not going to get into anymore details
on what they were doing.

         Q    Well, you've got to get into one more detail.
There either were missiles there or there weren't.  Can you say
if the Iraqis had left missiles where they violated this
three-country decision that it's a "no-fly" zone, or had they
moved them already and you attacked them anyhow just to make a
point?

         MR. SNYDER:  Again, on operational questions, on
questions of what the military situation was like, I'm going to
have to leave that to the Pentagon.  I just can't do it.

         Q    Is there an actual, potential threat in the north
"no-fly" zone?  You obviously have the answer with regard to the
south as to where it was yesterday.

         MR. SNYDER:  Let me see if there's something I can say
about it.  I'm not sure.  I'll look into it.

         Q    Joe, can we take you to another aspect of this
thing --

         MR. SNYDER:  Sure.

         Q    -- and that is the question of whether the Iraqis
are actually allowing the U.N. inspector flights now into Iraq,
which they said they were going to, which Tariq Aziz has
promised publicly today?  Can you confirm that?

         MR. SNYDER:  Let me tell you where it stands.  The U.N.
Special Commission informed Iraq this morning in Baghdad of its
intent to fly an UNSCOM aircraft into Baghdad tomorrow.  We
understand that UNSCOM intends to transport the Chemical
Destruction Team and some UNSCOM staff into Baghdad on this
flight.

         Iraq is obliged to allow the flight into Baghdad and
not to interfere with it in any way.  We expect this obligation
to be met.

         We are unaware, at this point, of any Iraqi response to
date on UNSCOM's latest plans to fly its aircraft into Iraq.

         Q    Barrie's reference to a public statement -- his
statement doesn't take as --

         MR. SNYDER:  We are not aware that UNSCOM has been
given an answer to its specific -- it's not a request.  They
informed Iraq of their intent to fly in the aircraft tomorrow,
and we're not aware that they've gotten any response -- whether
UNSCOM's gotten a response to its communication with the
Government of Iraq.

         Q    Can I ask you something.  Their Ambassador at the
U.N. says that on two matters they will comply.  That is, the
cross-border raids and allowing U.N. flight.  Do we now consider
that they are -- given that the missiles have been knocked out,
do we now consider that they are in compliance with the --

         MR. SNYDER:  Well, we don't have a flight going in.
We'll see what happens with the UNSCOM flight.  The notification
has been made.  There isn't a response yet.  We'll have to wait
until tomorrow and see if the flight goes in.

         In terms of the incursions, let me tell you about that.
 There are no reports of incursions today.  We understand that
Baghdad submitted a request to UNIKOM for further retrieval in
accordance with U.N. guidelines, but we don't know the results
of that request today.

         Q    Retrieve what?

         MR. SNYDER:  They retrieve the materials --

         Q    Which is in dispute.

         MR. SNYDER:  There's never been a question of dispute
about --

         Q    Retrieving what's theirs.

         MR. SNYDER:  -- the right of the Iraqis to get material
which belongs to them --

         Q    Right.

         MR. SNYDER:  -- in the zone.  The problem that we've
had over the last few days has been their going in without
asking -- without any prior notification, without asking for
permission, without following the guidelines that have been laid
down in a very clear --

         Q    Joe, what do we consider taking things --

         Q    Joe, what are we prepared to do if Iraq doesn't
let this U.N. flight go in or shoots it down or --

         MR. SNYDER:  I'm not going to get into what we might or
might not do.  If you --

         Q    Well, what precautions are we taking to guard
these people's lives as they fly into a war zone?

         MR. SNYDER:  I'm sure the UNSCOM is not going to move
until it is convinced that it's safe to do so; that it's got
assurances from the Iraqi Government that it's safe to fly in.
You're talking about the UNSCOM flight?

         Q    Right.

         MR. SNYDER:  Yes.  Precautions that we're taking --
UNSCOM is going to make those decisions itself.

         Q    So the flights won't go in until they get a green
light from Iraq, is that what you're saying?

         MR. SNYDER:  Well, of course.  I mean, they're not
going to force the flights in, no.

         Q    Were these two things in the ultimatum, by the
way?  I can't remember.

         MR. SNYDER:  The UNSCOM flights and the incursions were
both in the Security Council President's statement of January
11.

         Q    But not in the piece of paper.

         Q    Because they happened afterwards.

         Q    Because they happened afterwards.

         MR. SNYDER:  The January 6 --

         Q    The piece of paper, the demarche.

         MR. SNYDER:  -- paper, demarche, was -- dealt strictly
with the question of the safety of the aircraft in the "no-fly"
zone.

         Q    What about renewal of humanitarian supplies to the
Kurds in the north, which I understand are still suspended?

         MR. SNYDER:  My understanding -- and I haven't looked
into it in the last couple of days; probably should have, now
that you mention it -- the last time we looked into it last week
the trucks were rolling -- they were moving in.  Not in the
numbers that we'd seen in the past, but they were moving.

         I'll see what I can get for you on what's happening up
in the north.

         Q    Let me take you back -- I'm sorry --

         Q    By the way, the other day on the people who were
-- the 500 people, or the 200 people one day and several hundred
other days that the U.S. said were in civilian clothing -- did
you ever have any explanation as to why there was no question
about what kind of clothing they were wearing?

         MR. SNYDER:  We put it out.  They were in civilian
clothing, but we sort of made a judgment based on the way they
were operating, the sort of degree of organization they had, and
so forth, it was hard to believe that this was not being done
with military direction.  We put that out if you want the exact
words.

         Q    Joe, could I take you back to your statement of a
moment ago?  You said that Saddam Hussein was a threat to his
own people, and then you went on to say "that's what the Gulf
War was all about."  Is that correct?  Did I mishear you?

         MR. SNYDER:  Well, let me get exactly what I said.

         Q    Maybe you could just repeat that one little
passage.

         MR. SNYDER:  Sure.  We're dealing with a regime that
has repeatedly demonstrated that it is a continuing threat to
peace in the region, to its neighbors and indeed to its own
people.  That's what the Gulf War was about.

         Q    O.K.  Then in which way did the Gulf War -- I
understood at the time that the Gulf War was to liberate Kuwait,
but now you tell me it was because of this threat to his own
people.  How did the Gulf War alleviate that threat?

         MR. SNYDER:  How did the Gulf War alleviate the threat
to his own people?

         Q    Yes.  How did it alleviate the threat, given that
after the Gulf War he brutally crushed revolts in both the north
and the south?

         MR. SNYDER:  I didn't say that the Gulf War was about
alleviating the threat.

         Q    Oh.

         MR. SNYDER:  It was about dealing with a regime which
behaves the way that this regime does.

         Q    Did the threat to his own people diminish after
the Gulf War?

         MR. SNYDER:  In some cases they -- the threats to his
own people went up.  There's no question about that.  But a
number of the Iraqi people are -- have had the threat diminished
since then.

         Q    Joe, on the incursions, even with permission does
the Iraqi right to go into that DMZ, or whatever it's called,
end at midnight tonight?

         MR. SNYDER:  I understand it was kind of an
administrative arrangement between the U.N. and the Iraqis in
terms of dismantling.  You'd have to ask the U.N.  I mean,
that's a question between the UNIKOM and the Iraqis, and I don't
have all the details on that.

         Q    Joe, this Army battalion that we're now sending
in, what is their mission going to be?

         MR. SNYDER:  I think that's another question for the
Pentagon.

         Q    It's a diplomatic question.  We're sending troops
into a foreign country.  What is their mission?

         MR. SNYDER:  We're sending them in with the cooperation
of the Kuwaiti Government, and exactly what their mission is --
I think is very definitely an operational question for the
Defense Department.

         Q    Well, what did we tell the Kuwaitis their mission
would be?

         MR. SNYDER:  I'll see if I can get something for you.

         Q    Joe, we've got about one more briefing left before
the new Administration moves in.  Is it time to ask for a frank
admission that -- speaking of resolve, that this Administration
will not enforce the "no-fly" zone over Bosnia?

         MR. SNYDER:  We are continuing to work on it.

         Q    Is it impossible?

         Q    You've got about six days left and two briefings,
one President, one Secretary of State, four days at Camp David.
Are you going to get this done before it's over, do you think?

         MR. SNYDER:  I don't want to make predictions about the
time, Barry.

         Q    Could we ask what's holding it up?

         MR. SNYDER:  You can ask, and I can give you the same
answer that I've told you before:  We're trying to work out a
number of problems that -- again that Secretary Eagleburger
described in some detail on his travels related to the security
of the forces which are there and various operational matters,
command questions, and we're continuing to work on it.  And we
-- I'm just not going to predict when it's going to come out.

         Q    The Iraqis are either moving missiles or not
moving missiles.  The Serbs are killing, you know, thousands of
Bosnians, Muslims, and it doesn't seem like this Administration
has a whole lot of resolve in that area.  Maybe it's not as --

         MR. SNYDER:  Well, it's your interpretation.

         Q    Well, what else is there?  I mean --

         MR. SNYDER:  We have been working at it, and we haven't
gotten it yet, and we continue to work at it.  We're working on
it actively.  We're working on it in NATO.  We're working on it
in New York.  And we want to get it as soon as we can, but I'm
not going to stand up here and set a deadline, because I don't
know when it's going to be eventually fixed.

         Q    Joe, The Washington Post yesterday published a
graphic story about one specific town in Bosnia where the 29,000
people were eating the bark of pear trees, have no clothes.  Not
a single relief convoy had reached there since April, and there
was a danger of cannibalism.  Is the United States and its
allies going to do anything for that specific one town?

         MR. SNYDER:  There is a United Nations High Commission
for Refugees convoy scheduled to leave to Zepa today.  There is
a convoy that they're trying to get in right now.

         Q    There have been a couple of others that tried to
get in and apparently were unable to.  Beyond the ground convoys
from that Commission, the partners who have been authorized to
do so with all necessary means are not taking -- planning to
take any other action, is that correct?

         MR. SNYDER:  They're trying to get a convoy in.  We'll
see if we can get it in.  But they're working on it.

         Q    Will they use any means other than just driving up
there?  Is there something else being done in this regard to
assure that that convoy gets through?

         MR. SNYDER:  I don't know.  The UNPROFOR -- of course,
you know that the UNPROFOR was expanded greatly as a means of
trying to get these convoys in, and it has helped get convoys
in.  The number of convoys throughout the country has increased.
 There's a better flow of food throughout the country.  It's not
into every particular place.  I don't know specifically whether
they're going to be using armed guards on this.  I can check and
see if they're going to do it.

         Q    How large --

         Q    President Bush made a commitment to the President
of Bosnia that the humanitarian supplies would go in, no matter
what it takes.  In the last -- I have two questions.  Do you
think that the Bush Administration has fulfilled that pledge up
til now, and does it intend to fulfill it in the remaining days
of its tenure?

         MR. SNYDER:  Alan, we've worked hard at it.  We've done
a lot to try to get the relief in.

         Q    Have you done whatever it takes?

         MR. SNYDER:  Again, it's like the question you asked
the other day.  To the extent that we haven't been able to save
every life that might otherwise have been saved, we haven't been
fully successful.  We have been working hard at it.  The
obstacle is, of course, the intransigence of the people who are
involved there -- the Serbs and the others -- and we are doing
our best.

         Q    Joe, on something else -- I don't know if you'd
have it at hand, but maybe we could ask -- Senator Lugar
yesterday said that those long-range warheads in the four
nuclear nations in what used to be the Soviet Union were aimed
at the United States.  He also had some suggestions about
dealing with the problem.

         He didn't ask Mr. Christopher an answer on that.  I
thought I remembered the United States saying they had a promise
from Moscow -- I don't know if it was the Soviets or the
Russians -- to stop targeting the United States.

         Could I ask if -- I'm sorry.  Were you --

         MR. SNYDER:  Well, I think what we -- what was out
there was that the Russians or the Soviets -- and again I agree
with you, I don't remember the timing -- had made statements to
that effect.  And what we did was -- when asked about that, was
to refer you to them.  We're not -- we're basically not talking
about it.

         Q    But are we asking -- is -- not "we," is -- you --
are "you," the U.S. -- is the U.S. asking the Russians and the
others to stop targeting the United States?

         MR. SNYDER:  I don't think we particularly would like
to be the object of their affections with their nuclear weapons.
 Are we asking them specifically?  I don't know.  It's pretty
clear that they know we don't like it.

         Q    Are we still targeting them?

         Q    Are we still targeted by their missiles?

         MR. SNYDER:  Pardon me?

         Q    Are we still targeted by their missiles?

         MR. SNYDER:  And as we've said before when that
question was asked, either in the active voice or the passive
voice, ask them.

         Q    We don't know, or we just don't want to say?

         MR. SNYDER:  We're not going to talk about it.  Ask
them.

         Q    Joe, another question related to the Gulf, not
particularly to Iraq.  There was apparently a publication from
Iran, a newspaper publication, last week which made reference to
historical claims on the territory of Bahrain.

         I asked whether the State Department had taken note of
that at all, and in light of Iran's comments about the Tunb
Islands earlier and the U.S. had had some comments about those,
does the U.S. fear some additional attempt to gather territory
by the Iranians at this point?

         MR. SNYDER:  Your first question is we've taken note of
that.  I personally haven't.  I'm sure someone has.  It hasn't
been brought to my attention.  The Iranian claim to Bahrain is a
longstanding claim.  It's been out there for decades.

         Q    That was also -- in the case with the Tunb Islands
-- it hadn't been reasserted until recently.  I guess I'm
wondering whether the U.S. feels the reassertion of it now
constitutes some kind of clear and present threat to Bahrain or
to the GCC for that matter.

         MR. SNYDER:  Well, I think we've spoken very clearly
about what we consider to be Iran's ambitions and Iran's acting
as a kind of destabilizing force in the region.  I'll find out
if we've got any specific comment about this.

         Q    About Bahrain.

         MR. SNYDER:  About the Bahrain claim.  Yes.

         Q    Joe, what is the U.S. policy toward a Haitian boat
person picked up at sea?  How do you handle him?  Under what --

         MR. SNYDER:  Those who are picked up at -- in
international waters are carried back to Haiti.  Those who are
picked up in United States waters are brought in to U.S.
territory, and their claims to asylum are adjudicated in the
United States.

         Q    Joe, the President-elect said -- apparently just
before we came in here, the wires carried a story that he has
told the Haitians that he will continue to return boat people to
Haiti temporarily.

         Is that the policy which has been worked out with this
Administration?  It was, news accounts say, "under negotiation"
with this Administration as to what the policy would be.  Are
you ready to announce some new policy on Haiti or some
continuation of the policy or a policy change?

         MR. SNYDER:  The only thing I've got to say is that our
policy remains -- the policy of this Administration remains as
it has been since last spring, I believe.  There has been no
change to our policy.

         Q    And has anything been done to try to restore
President Aristide?  Can you bring us up to date on that
situation?

         MR. SNYDER:  Sure.  As we said last week -- and this
was in the joint statement -- we're working with the U.N., the
OAS and the incoming Administration to promote a peaceful
negotiated solution to Haiti's crisis.  There is a small
civilian mission in Haiti now with the -- from the Organization
of American States.  There are some Americans on that mission.

         We've long supported a larger international presence to
safeguard human rights, promote economic development and help
foster a political settlement.  We would welcome a United
Nations role in that.

         Q    Anything more positive than that?  A network that
isn't present today reported yesterday on television, I think,
that the U.S. is pretty confident now that they can get Aristide
returned to power.

         MR. SNYDER:  We're in close contact with President
Aristide.  We're in close contact with all the other people who
are working on it.  Again, I don't want to make predictions, but
there's a process that's moving forward, and we'd like -- we
support that process, and we're working closely with it.

         Q    Joe, on Somalia, before Operation Restore Hope
began, there was some talk about the United States participation
being contingent on getting credit -- financial credit on other
peacekeeping accounts, I think.

         Anyway, the question is have we worked out the
financial arrangements behind this Somalia operation, and do you
have a current estimate of how much we've put into that?

         MR. SNYDER:  I don't have an estimate on the money.
The arrangements for paying is that we were going to pay our own
way.  There was no question of credit towards peacekeeping
assessments or anything like that.  We said we would pay our
expenses in this operation.

         Q    Joe, on another matter completely, it hadn't
occurred to me until you talked about the cancellation of
briefings in the next few days that this ought to be asked
immediately.

         Does the State Department intend -- this
Administration's State Department intend in anyway to wrap up
the Inspector General's investigation of the Clinton passport
files matter before this Administration passes into history?
When he issued his report the last time, the Department said
that was it, and then within almost a matter of hours, it became
obvious that that wasn't it, and that there was an ongoing
investigation.

         Is there some intention to wrap it up, to have a report
from the Inspector General that concludes whatever he was able
to determine about White House involvement?

         MR. SNYDER:  Ralph, I don't know.  I'll check.

         Q    Could you look into that?

         MR. SNYDER:  The investigation does continue, as I
understand it, but I don't know what the time frame is.  We
certainly haven't set a time frame on it in the past.

         Q    No, but there's now one set, at least for this
Administration anyway, that this Administration can't change.
So I wondered whether you intended to do anything about it.

         MR. SNYDER:  O.K.  I'll check and see if I can tell you
anything about that.

         Q    Joe, one thing on your POW announcement.  Is that
-- is that it, now that the POW Committee has closed business?

         MR. SNYDER:  No.  We're continuing to work,
declassifying other materials.

         Q    So you have more stuff.

         MR. SNYDER:  I'm told there will be -- very likely be
more.  The work continues on it.

         Q    Thank you, Joe.  We're outta here.

         (The briefing concluded at 1:37 p.m.)

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