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DEPARTMENT OF STATE
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING
DPC #67
THURSDAY, MAY 6, 1993
(ON THE RECORD UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED)
MR. SNYDER: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. As you
know, all this week I've refrained from talking about the situation in
Bosnia and related events because of the Secretary's travel. However,
as you know, the Acting Secretary met this morning with Bosnian Foreign
Minister Haris Silajdzic, so I thought I would give you a rundown
because that did take place here.
The Minister was in town seeing a number of people this week.
The Acting Secretary met with him as part of our ongoing process of
consultations with the Bosnian Government about the situation in that
country. This was an opportunity for the Foreign Minister to present
the views of his government on the current situation, and the Acting
Secretary thanked the Minister for these views and said that we found
them very helpful. Dr. Wharton discussed the latest reports from the
region from the Administration's perspective.
I'll be happy to take your questions now.
Q When he came out, at least, the Foreign Minister talked
about a massacre of 40,000 people in Zepa, and he seemed to be appealing
for help. Did he appeal to the Secretary for help? And what, if
anything, did Wharton tell him?
MR. SNYDER: I don't really want to go into the details. The
President has just spoken about where we stand on the policy. I wanted
to give you a characterization of what happened in the meeting, and
that's what we've got to say about it.
Q What about a characterization of what the situation is on
the ground in Zepa?
MR. SNYDER: I don't have it. I didn't ask for it. That's the
kind of thing that I'm staying away from this week. I'm sorry, I don't
have it.
Q You don't say whether -- your phrase about discussing the
situation in Bosnia -- did he discuss with the Bosnian Foreign Minister
the political situation, or was the discussion limited to the situation
in Zepa?
MR. SNYDER: It was a more general discussion than that. Not
just a discussion of facts on the ground in Zepa. It was more general
than that, yes.
Q Presumably, they discussed the vote by the self-styled
Bosnian Serb parliament last night? Or did they discuss that?
MR. SNYDER: I really don't want to go into the details. I
don't know exactly all of the details as well. They discussed the
general situation and my guess is that's certainly one of the recent
developments and that was part of what they were discussing. One would
expect that to be in the discussion.
Q Did Secretary Wharton discuss with the Bosnian Foreign
Minister the Administration's view of next steps in Bosnia?
MR. SNYDER: He discussed the latest reports from the region,
and I'll just leave it at that.
Q Joe, could we get a little clarification? The President,
in expressing his reaction to events, said he was instructing Secretary
Christopher to continue his consultations. Does that imply that
Christopher might be staying out there longer than the original
schedule?
MR. SNYDER: Not that I've heard of, but I don't really want to
interpret what --
Q Setting aside what the President said, to your knowledge,
are there any plans for Christopher's trip to be extended?
MR. SNYDER: No. To my knowledge -- and I've not talked to the
party recently -- but my latest knowledge is that they were planning to
come back tomorrow as scheduled.
Q What is their scheduled time to return tomorrow?
MR. SNYDER: I don't have a time. The date was the originally
scheduled date, but I don't have a time.
Q What's new about what the President told him? He was
going to continue his consultations anyway, right?
MR. SNYDER: I'm not going to get into interpreting what the
President said, Jim, on this subject.
Q Regardless of what the President said, how will Secretary
of State Christopher continue his consultations with the allies? Will
he do that by phone? Will there be some personal meetings? Will he
invite allied representatives to come to Washington?
MR. SNYDER: I haven't had a chance to talk to the party,
Ralph. I really can't give you the details of what's going to happen.
That's the reason why we're sort of directing questions on this subject
out to the party. That's where the answers are.
Q New subject?
MR. SNYDER: Sure.
Q Can we try on this China business? Are you concerned that
the Chinese are selling the Pakistanis missiles in violation of the
MTCR? And how might that affect their chances for renewal of MFN?
MR. SNYDER: Ruth, the President has made this whole
proliferation issue a very high priority of this Administration. As
we've noted in the past, the United States Government is deeply
concerned about reports concerning missile proliferation that violates
Missile Technology Control Regime guidelines, as well as missile
proliferation generally. We continue to monitor closely and carefully
examine reports suggesting the Chinese are not abiding by their MTCR
commitments.
If the Administration concludes that China has engaged in
improper transfers, it will not hesitate to take the action required
under U.S. missile proliferation law.
Along with Chinese human rights and trade practices, China's
commitment to non-proliferation is one of the factors we take into
consideration in our deliberations on most-favored-nation status. We
continue to raise these issues at senior levels with the Chinese and to
monitor the situation closely.
As we announced yesterday, Assistant Secretary Winston Lord is
traveling to China later this month. He will be discussing our concerns
about proliferation with the Chinese.
Q I was just going to ask, what are the steps that you might
be able to take under the --
MR. SNYDER: As I understand it, there are certain kinds of
sanctions. We're dealing with missile proliferation and sanctions that
relate to those companies found to be engaged in the proliferation. But
I understand there are also broader sanctions as well. I don't have the
details of them here, but that's hypothetical at the moment.
Q Joe, when this issue has come up over the past year, the
State Department has always said that there is no evidence that China is
breaking the agreement that I believe was reached with Secretary Baker
in November 1991. You're no longer saying that; is that correct?
MR. SNYDER: I would go back and look at the record and see
what we've said. I'm not sure we've ever said there's is no evidence
that China is breaking it. It was that we haven't come to any
conclusions about China's behavior.
Q You said something very close to that, Joe. Basically,
you're assessment was that you had nothing to confirm those earlier
reports that China was, in fact, violating the Missile Technology
Control Regime.
MR. SNYDER: What I'm saying today is that we take reports
seriously. We're deeply concerned about them. We examine them
carefully. If we conclude that China is engaged in improper transfers,
we won't hesitate to take action required under our law.
Q Well, on the basis of what you know now, do you believe
it?
MR. SNYDER: I've really got nothing more to add to that.
Q Just a clarification on that. You keep referring to
reports that you take seriously, and so on. You're not speaking of
press reports there, are you? You would say "press reports," as you
often do, if they were press reports? These are U.S. Government reports
you're referring to; right?
MR. SNYDER: Reports that come to our attention. However they
come to our attention, we take them seriously.
Q They're not press reports you're talking about, are they?
MR. SNYDER: I'm saying whatever reports come to our attention,
we take them seriously and we examine them.
Q What I'm trying to get at, Joe, is, the United States
Government has information, some of which is developed by the United
States Government itself, some of which comes to the U.S. attention
through other governments; but these are not reports that -- these are
not specific -- I'm trying to get at whether you are referring to taking
the report in the Washington Post seriously, or whether you're talking
about taking reports that have governments and government resources
behind them seriously?
MR. SNYDER: Of course, Ralph, I'm not going to get into
intelligence matters. You know that.
Q I didn't ask you about intelligence.
MR. SNYDER: Well, reports, generally speaking -- you didn't,
but you were talking about internal U.S. Government reports which --
Q Not all of them are intelligence.
MR. SNYDER: -- normally refers to intelligence. In any case,
whatever reports we have, without discussing which ones we might or
might not have, we do take them seriously. I'm just not going to go
into what those reports are.
Q Will Assistant Secretary Lord take those -- you said he
will discuss with China the proliferation issue. Will he take up these
reports with the Government of China?
MR. SNYDER: He will take up our concerns with the Government
of China, certainly. We take reports that we might receive seriously.
He's going to take up the general issue. I'm not going to go into the
details of exactly how he's going to do that.
Q Have you warned them that they are at risk on their MFN
status if they do not cease and desist?
MR. SNYDER: We have discussed the issues. We discussed our
MFN concerns. We've discussed our proliferation concerns with the
Chinese, and commitment to non-proliferation is one of the issues that
we take into account with our MFN deliberations.
Q Did it come up in the meeting the other day with the
Chinese Ambassador here?
MR. SNYDER: "It" being what?
Q These reports.
MR. SNYDER: Our proliferation concerns were discussed. I
don't know specifically whether any reports might have or not.
Q Also, you mentioned it would be consideration in judging
whether they continue to get MFN. Is that automatic now? Or are you
talking about if the Pelosi-Mitchell bill would be approved by Congress?
MR. SNYDER: It's our whole approach to the question of what
we're going to be doing about renewal of MFN, without going into any
details of how we're going to do it. Decisions have not been made yet
on that.
Q It's not automatic? It is a matter of judgment for this
Administration to make?
MR. SNYDER: What is a matter of judgment for the
Administration?
Q Whether their MFN will be lost if these reports turn out
to be true?
MR. SNYDER: Certainly, our whole approach to MFN, yes, is a
matter of our judgment; yes.
Q Joe, is it correct that the Chinese are not signatories to
that MTCR, but that they have given us a unilateral promise that they
will not violate it?
MR. SNYDER: Barrie, China is not a partner in the Missile
Technology Control Regime. But China is one of several countries that
have committed unilaterally to adhering to the export guidelines of the
regime.
Q My question is: Given the fact that they are not
signatories to this agreement, does the law -- which you say you would
not hesitate to take steps which are required -- would that law apply to
them?
MR. SNYDER: Yes, it would. The law relates to -- as I recall,
the law describes trade and certain kinds of missiles and missile
technology, in the law stands by itself. As I recall, it's unrelated to
whether or not a country is adhering to the MTCR.
As I recall, we've discussed it as applying to North Korea,
which does not adhered to the MTCR.
Q Joe, in the U.S. view, what is the state of play now? Is
it up to the Chinese? From the U.S. point of view, is it up to the
Chinese to somehow present evidence or persuade the United States that
China is not violating these Missile Technology Control guidelines, or
is it a situation that the U.S. is going to ask the Chinese for more
information about these reports, or is the U.S. going to do any
investigating of its own? Aside from taking them seriously, which you
said you were going to do.
MR. SNYDER: We take them seriously. We look into them. We
investigate them. We talk to the Chinese. I think all of the things
that you've mentioned are parts of making any decisions that we have to
make.
Q Does talking to the Chinese mean asking them to persuade
the United States that they are not violating the guidelines?
MR. SNYDER: It's part of our determining what the facts are in
talking to them.
Q Are you also taking it up with the Pakistanis?
MR. SNYDER: Yes.
Q When and how?
MR. SNYDER: I don't have that specifically. Let me see if I
can -- we've talked -- actually, we've talked to both governments fairly
continuously on this subject. Reports have been around for a long time.
I don't know when the last discussion with the Pakistanis was, but it's
a continuous process.
Q Are you saying that this is -- that missile technology
transfers -- or that MFN renewal would be affected directly and
assuredly by any missile technology transfers?
MR. SNYDER: I'm saying -- I'll repeat what I said, and this is
what the policy is: Along with Chinese human rights and trade
practices, China's commitment to non-proliferation is one of the factors
we take into consideration in our deliberations on most-favored-nation
status.
Q So it's plausible that you could have found out that they
were transferring these missiles and still grant them MFN?
MR. SNYDER: I don't really want to elaborate on what I said.
Q Just in reading the -- your interpretation or the
government's interpretation, is that accurate?
MR. SNYDER: I really don't want to sort of parse out what I
said any further.
Q Joe, as near as I understand it, the Chinese claim that
the M-11 missile, at least, does not violate the MTCR because it's below
the threshold. Is that something you take into account in your
assessment of whether they have violated the MTCR, or you just have
determined that it is and that's it?
MR. SNYDER: Let me check. I don't know. That's kind of a
technical question, and I don't know the background myself.
Q The FBI official disclosed yesterday before the U.S. Court
in Alexandria that the Greek Government was spying [on] the U.S.
Government through the illegal services of your former employee Steve
Lalas. Could you please comment on the issue, on the implication of the
Greek-U.S. relations, and if you plan to lodge a protest to Athens?
MR. SNYDER: The case of Mr. Lalas is now under adjudication by
our legal system. I really have no further comment than what we have
said about it already.
Q Have you been in touch with any other governments besides
Turkey -- or excuse me, besides Greece since the other day regarding
this matter?
MR. SNYDER: I don't believe so. I asked people to let me know
if we had, since we put up the statement that we had not been in touch
with other governments. I think that's still the case.
Q You didn't say you hadn't been in touch in that taken
question. All you said was that you had been in touch with the Greek
Government. You didn't say you hadn't been in touch with others.
Q There was another --
MR. SNYDER: No. I think it said we have not been in touch
with others. I mean, it was the way the question was phrased and the
way it was answered, but the meaning was we had been in touch with the
Greek Government and not with others.
Q In other words, you are giving only legal dimensions?
What about the political ones? It's official disclosure. It's not
something from the street. So that's why I would like to know your
position.
MR. SNYDER: It is a question for the courts to decide what
happened, whether a man is guilty, and I'm not going to comment about it
any further.
Q Aside from the legal aspect of it, has the Greek
Government offered any kind of explanation, or to put it less
diplomatically, apology or anything of that sort to the United States?
MR. SNYDER: Ralph, I'm just not going to get into it. It's
now a legal matter. The indictment has been opened. I gave you some
facts of the man's employment. I'm happy to repeat those facts, but I'm
not going to go any further.
Q But the relationship between the U.S. and Greece is not
under adjudication in the courts at this point, or are you suggesting
that that is somehow also part of this case?
MR. SNYDER: I just haven't got anything else to say.
Q Can I ask another one about Yugoslavia for just a second?
MR. SNYDER: Sure.
Q This is sort of off the point today, but the peacekeeping
-- the contingency planning that NATO has been engaging in with the U.S.
on a peacekeeping operation, has there been any discussion of the
financing of that operation? Obviously, you need to sort of lay the
groundwork of that before it goes into effect, so you couldn't spend the
money without having it.
What is the financing going to be? How's the U.S. going to
deal with that?
MR. SNYDER: I don't know. Again, I haven't looked into
questions like that for the reasons that I've been explaining all week.
I don't know the answer, and I'm probably not going to be able to get
into it.
Q Could you just, at least, ask whether there's something on
that subject that you might be able to take?
MR. SNYDER: I'll ask whether there's something that we might
be able to do -- see if we can do it, but no promises.
Q Do you have anything on an attempted coup in Peru this
morning?
MR. SNYDER: I saw something on the wires literally about 30
seconds before I walked in, and that's all. I saw it. I don't have
anything.
Q You don't have anything on the general who orchestrated it
seeking asylum in the U.S. Embassy?
MR. SNYDER: No, I don't. I didn't know a thing about it until
30 seconds before I came in.
Q Can you take that?
MR. SNYDER: Sure. I'll see if there's anything we've got to
say about it.
Q Also on Latin America, have you been watching the episode
in Venezuela involving the President and his possibly stepping down from
office, and do you have any observations on it?
MR. SNYDER: I saw some references to it, and I don't have any
observations, any particular observations. I saw something that said
there were some rumors, and he hasn't stepped down, but nothing more to
say.
Q Would the U.S. Government be in favor of it ending that
way?
MR. SNYDER: The elected President of Venezuela stepping down?
Q Yes.
MR. SNYDER: He's an elected leader of a democratic country,
but we don't have any particular views on how he should conduct himself
as a democratic leader.
Q Joe, do you have anything new on the oil worker who was
arrested by Iraq?
MR. SNYDER: I've got a little bit. Mr. Kenneth Beaty is an
American citizen --
Q Spelling?
MR. SNYDER: B-e-a-t-y. He was working for an an oil company,
the Kuwait-Santa Fe Company in Kuwait, living in Kuwait with his family.
He disappeared on April 25 near the Iraqi-Kuwaiti border. The
circumstances of his disappearance are not known.
However, we've been in touch with Polish authorities who are
the protecting power for the United States on this, as well as directly
with the Iraqi Government, both here and in New York.
Polish authorities visited Mr. Beaty on Monday at the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs. He was charged with illegal entry and espionage.
He was tried on Monday; found guilty only of the illegal entry charge,
and he was sentenced to eight years. His Iraqi lawyer has appealed the
sentence.
We have, as I said, made demarches, both through the Poles and
directly with the Iraqis. They have not yet formally responded to our
demarches, nor have they responded to a request, I understand, that the
International Committee for the Red Cross has made, requesting that he
be released on humanitarian grounds.
We remain in contact with the Iraqis directly and through the
Poles, with a view towards affecting his immediate release.
Q Joe, is there going to be any other opportunity for the
Poles to see him again?
MR. SNYDER: Yes. They expect to visit him later this week.
Q I'm afraid I didn't follow the chronology as well as I
should have. You said -- I think you said the Polish authorities
visited him on Monday, is that correct?
MR. SNYDER: Yes.
Q And the trial also took place on Monday?
MR. SNYDER: The trial took place on Monday, yes.
Q And his disappearance occurred on the 25th. I don't have
a calendar, so I don't know what day that was, but was he allowed to be
visited at all prior to his trial?
MR. SNYDER: No. As I understand it, the first visit was on
Monday.
Q And was that before or after trial, do you know?
MR. SNYDER: I don't know. Let me find out specifically.
Q Joe, do you know how long it was after he disappeared that
we were notified that he had disappeared, that we knew he was gone?
MR. SNYDER: I don't know that we were notified. Let me get a
little bit more on the chronology of that. He disappeared on the 25th,
and what I don't know is when we were informed, for instance, by his
family that he disappeared, and we don't keep track of all individuals.
Let me find out a little bit more about the chronology of the
disappearance -- our contacts with the Poles and the Iraqis.
Q Do you have an age, or did you already say his age?
MR. SNYDER: He was born in Texas in 1947.
Q Do you have his hometown?
MR. SNYDER: No. As I say, he was born in Texas. His passport
was issued in California, but I don't have a hometown.
Q Did he have any other employer, other than the Kuwait-
Santa Fe Company, like the U.S. Government maybe or --
MR. SNYDER: I don't have any reason to believe that he did,
no.
Q Joe, would you take the question of whether he was an
employee of the U.S. Government?
MR. SNYDER: Well, he was an -- sure.
Q I mean --
MR. SNYDER: I asked who employed him --
Q Presumably you can say no.
MR. SNYDER: When I asked who employed him, they told me it was
the Kuwait-Santa Fe Company.
Q Some people work more than one place.
Q Was he picked up in an area that is in any sense a
disputed border area?
MR. SNYDER: The circumstances of his disappearance at the
border are unclear to us right now.
Q But might he have been in an area which Kuwait claims and
which the Iraqis also claim, that kind of thing?
MR. SNYDER: I don't know. We don't know where he was. He
disappeared on that date, and we do not have details of circumstances
surrounding his disappearance.
Q Is the family still in Kuwait?
MR. SNYDER: Yes, I guess they are. We're in close touch with
the family and employer, both in Kuwait and the United States, and he
was living with his family. I'll check. If they're not still there,
we'll put something up.
Q Is this company headquartered in Santa Fe?
MR. SNYDER: I don't know. It's an American -- well, I don't
even know that it's an American company, to tell you the truth.
Q No. It's been bought by Kuwait.
MR. SNYDER: It's the Kuwait-Santa Fe Company, and he's an
American citizen. But I don't know where the company is headquartered.
Q Could I just follow up Barrie's much earlier question for
just a second. I've forgotten how we left it. Would you get back to us
if there is any change in the Secretary's plans for his European trip?
As we leave things now, there's no change in his plans. His trip is not
being extended.
If it turns out -- you said you hadn't been in touch with the
party recently. If it turns out after you do get in touch with the
party that that's not the case, would you please advise us promptly?
MR. SNYDER: Sure, I will.
Q Thank you. (###)