Came sooner than I anticipated:
Date: Mon, 14 Apr 2003 12:45:46 -0400
From: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Remarks with Kuwaiti Foreign Minister
Mohammed Al-Sabah
To: [log in to unmask]
Remarks Kuwaiti Minister of State for Foreign Affairs
Mohammed Al-Sabah after Their Meeting
Secretary Colin L. Powell
C Street Entrance
Washington, DC
April 14, 2003
(10:15 a.m. EDT)
SECRETARY POWELL: Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.
I just had an excellent conversation with my colleague
Dr. Mohammed, and in our conversation I had the
opportunity to express the sincere thanks of President
Bush and all of my colleagues in the administration
and the American people, and, of course, General Tommy
Franks for the absolutely superb support that Kuwait
has provided to Operation Iraqi Freedom. Without that
support, I'm not sure the operation could have been
conducted. Kuwait understood the threat, was willing
to step forward, and we are deeply appreciative of all
they have done.
And I am especially appreciative of the fact that the
Minister and I spent most of our time not on the
military campaign, but on the future, the humanitarian
aid that will be required, the reconstruction activity
that will be needed, and our commitment to make sure
that the new Iraqi government is based on democratic
principles, that it is prepared to live in peace with
its neighbors.
And we also discussed how these developments in recent
weeks open up new opportunities with respect to peace
in the Middle East and greater cooperation among
members of the Gulf Cooperation Council and the Arab
League.
We also discussed the meetings that will be taking
place in Nasiriya tomorrow that begins the formation
of the new political system for the new Iraqi
government, and how it must respect, as we go forward,
the territorial integrity of Iraq -- this process --
and how we are hopeful that these conversations
beginning tomorrow and going on into the future in
many different places throughout Iraq will be able to
take into account the interests and equities of all
the people of Iraq and give an opportunity to
participate in the political process, both for those
who have been outside of Iraq struggling for these
many long years to bring about this change, as well as
those inside Iraq who are now free of this dictatorial
regime.
In our discussions, we also talked about Syria, and
hopeful that Syria will understand its obligations in
this new environment.
And I also made a point of mentioning to the Minister
that we were concerned about some of the looting that
took place in the museum in Baghdad, one of the great
museums in the world, and the United States will be
working with a number of individuals and organizations
to not only secure the facility but to recover that
which has been taken, and also to participate in
restoring that which has been broken.
I have been in touch with the European Union
Presidency this morning, Foreign Minister Papandreou,
who has experience in such matters. We are also
in conversations with UNESCO. But the United States
understands its obligations and will be taking a
leading role with respect to antiquities in general,
but this museum in particular.
Mr. Minister, it's a great pleasure to have you here,
and again, thank you for all you have done.
MINISTER AL-SABAH: Thank you, Mr. Secretary. I
expressed today Kuwait's appreciation for the work
that the United States is doing in liberating the
Iraqi people from their ordeal. I also discussed with
the Secretary, in addition to the points that he just
mentioned, also discussed with im ways of more intense
cooperation between our forces and agencies to find
the Kuwaiti POWs who are still unaccounted for in
Iraq. One out of every 1,000 Kuwaitis is still
unaccounted for in Iraq, and this is something that
the Secretary has indicated the United States' utmost
concern about, and we agreed to expedite and
strengthen our cooperation on this issue.
We also discussed the elements of stability in the
region-wide area, and this is the Arab-Israeli
conflict and the need to get back and to put this
track on its proper registration.
We expressed our need to intensify our consultation
because the challenges ahead of us is now very, very
real, but we are all optimistic about the future.
Thank you.
QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, how serious is the border
problem with Syria? Are there many potential war
criminals getting across that border?
SECRETARY POWELL: I can't quantify how many might be
slipping across the border. The basic point is that
the card deck of 55, 53, plus others who have
knowledge about weapons of mass destruction
development activity over the years, plus those who
are in other senior political leadership positions in
the former regime or in the Baath Party, these are
the kinds of individuals who should not be allowed to
find safe haven in Syria. And this is a point that we
have made to the Syrians directly and will continue to
make the Syrians.
And as the President noted over the weekend, we are
concerned that Syria has been participating in the
development of weapons of mass destruction and, as
the President noted, specifically on chemical weapons.
And we believe, in light of this new environment, they
should review their actions and their behavior, not
only with respect to who gets haven in Syria and
weapons of mass destruction, but especially the
support of terrorist activity.
And so we have a new situation in the region and we
hope that all the nations in the region will now
review their past practices and behavior.
QUESTION: (In Arabic.)
MINISTER AL-SABAH: (In Arabic.)
QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, can you say, and can the
Foreign Minister also comment on this, whether you
have been in touch with the Syrian Government on
the question of chemical weapons and biological
recently, and whether you have asked them to return
people within their borders? And do you know if
the border is, indeed, closed, as they said it was
last week?
SECRETARY POWELL: Well, we are told the border is
closed, but, as you know, it's a rather porous border;
and so when you say it's closed, it might mean the
main roads are closed, but whether or not others are
able to get across the border is something that I
can't speak to. But once they get into Syria and
start heading to Damascus, I would expect that Syrian
authorities would do everything they could not to
provide these people safe haven.
Syria is well aware of our concerns with respect to
weapons of mass destruction and with respect to
terrorist activity. It is a subject of discussion
with the Syrian leadership whenever we meet with them.
Our ambassadors have been making demarches. I've been
there twice. Ambassador Burns, Assistant Secretary
Burns, has also talked to the Syrians on a regular
basis about this. It is no secret to the Syrians about
our concern over these kinds of developments.
MINISTER AL-SABAH: Well, we have our own list of the
Iraqi war criminals and we are going to pursue them
all over the world wherever they are found.
QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, are you going to release the
roadmap --
SECRETARY POWELL: Excuse me. Let's do this gentleman.
QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, can you please tell us if you
have asked your Kuwaiti counterpart to intervene in
this message?
(In Arabic.)
SECRETARY POWELL: I will yield to him for that answer.
MINISTER AL-SABAH: (In Arabic.)
QUESTION: And for the English speakers?
SECRETARY POWELL: Yeah, would you?
MINISTER AL-SABAH: Well, I have not been given a
specific message to carry to Syria. The Secretary, he
can reach the Syrians directly, and I think
that Syria can play a constructive role in
establishing security and stability in the region.
QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, it means that you are soon
going to release the roadmap? How do you see Syria
under this regime as a partner for peace process?
SECRETARY POWELL: We'll be releasing the roadmap as
soon as Mr. Abu Mazen has been confirmed by a vote of
confidence as the Prime Minister of the Palestinian
Authority with his new cabinet.
Obviously, as we go down the road to peace, we want it
to be a comprehensive peace and, ultimately, of
course, that would have to include finding a way to
settle the outstanding issues with Syria, as well.
QUESTION: Secretary Powell, are you satisfied with the
way the meeting is developing in Nasiriya? There are
some complaints among some of the Iraqi exile
community that Chalabi is not being invited. Do you
think that there is going to be a lot of turmoil
amongst those Iraqi exiles, particularly outside the
country who maybe do not feel like they are
sufficiently involved at the moment?
And to the Kuwaiti Foreign Minister, can you confirm
whether Kuwaiti prisonersof war were, indeed, located
this morning in Baghdad? Thank you.
SECRETARY POWELL: With respect to the meetings that
begin in Nasiriya tomorrow, let's remember this is
just the first of many meetings that will be
held, and in order to get the process started it was
determined that we should have representatives of the
various groups at this meeting. And it will be
a fairly large gathering of individuals. It will be
chaired initially by Ambassador Khalilzad, the
President's Personal Representative. Of course, the
individuals have been invited by General Franks, and
then General Garner will address the group, and then
Ambassador Ryan Crocker will moderate the
proceedings.
So I think it's a good start, and I think most of the
groups outside the country in the resistance
understand the need for starting in this way, with a
modest beginning, so that we begin a dialogue. And so
I don't think there is much concern about this not
being a productive meeting, and also a meeting that
reflects the views of those who have been struggling
outside, as well as those who are now free inside.
MINISTER AL-SABAH: This is a breaking news story and I
don't have really any confirmation on it.
SECRETARY POWELL: Nor do I.
QUESTION: Secretary Powell, are you -- sir, are you
considering any measures against Syria in light of the
allegations that you've made, perhaps recalling the
U.S. Ambassador, downgrading U.S. relations --
anything along that?
And also, in addition, on the humanitarian front, many
nongovernmental organizations, the International Red
Cross and others, have complained that the security
situation is so bad on the ground that they can't get
the aid in there. Is there anything the U.S. is
considering to do to beef up security?
And for Dr. Mohammed, sir --
SECRETARY POWELL: That's two already, thank you.
With respect to Syria, of course we will examine
possible measures of a diplomatic, economic or other
nature as we move forward. We are in touch with
Syrian authorities. We have a very effective
Ambassador there, Ambassador Kattouf, who will stay in
touch with them and make them aware of our concerns.
And we'll see how things unfold as we move forward.
With respect to the humanitarian situation, it is
improving on a daily basis. Secretary Rumsfeld gave us
a report this morning of the various military civil
affairs units working with our combat troops to slowly
reestablish security and stability throughout the
various cities. We are starting to hire again police
forces in the south, and that will be expanded as we
move north. And there is a huge amount of humanitarian
equipment and supplies that are now moving in.
Hospital kits are moving in to reestablish healthcare.
Water is beginning to flow in the southern cities.
And there is a great deal that is going on, but the
campaign is not yet over and so I think, as you see,
day by day the situation will improve and the NGOs
and other humanitarian organizations and UN
organizations will be able to accomplish their work.
There is not a shortage of food. Food is adequate in
marketplaces, as well as food being brought in from
the outside. We want to go to work on the healthcare
system and the water system and getting the power on
throughout the country, which tends to affect the
water supply system, since you need power to run it
in the first place. So we're seized with the problem,
hard at work on the problem, and the situation will
improve day by day.
Thank you.
(The Secretary escorts the Minister to his car.)
QUESTION: Are you all going -- are you personally
going to be in touch with your counterpart in Syria to
discuss what the President said yesterday?
SECRETARY POWELL: I am sure we will be in touch in a
variety of diplomatic channels. And I usually don't
talk about my future phone calls until they become my
past phone calls -- or visits.
QUESTION: Who else have you talked to this morning?
What else have you been doing with respect to Iraq and
Syria?
SECRETARY POWELL: I have spoken to the Foreign
Minister of Greece on behalf -- and he's the
Presidency of the European Union, but otherwise I've
been in meetings and now I will go back to other
matters.
Thank you.
[End]
Released on April 14, 2003
***********************************************************
See http://www.state.gov/p/nea/ci/c3212.htm for
State Department information on Iraq
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