Remarks With Qatari Amir Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani After Their Meeting
Secretary Colin L. Powell C Street Entrance Washington, DC May 9, 2003
(2:35 p.m. EDT)
SECRETARY POWELL: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. It's been my pleasure to receive the Amir of Qatar. We've had a
good conversation. I expressed to His Highness our deep appreciation and thanks for all the support he and his nation
have provided to us during these difficult times. They have been very good friends to the United States and very good
friends to the people of Iraq. As a result of the strong support they provided to our efforts, the Iraqi people are now
liberated, free and able to choose their own form of government.
As I expressed to His Highness our hopes that we would be able to cooperate more closely in the future as we go about
the reconstruction effort in Iraq. Our two nations have been close friends for a long time. I also expressed to His
Highness my admiration of the constitutional referendum that was held recently, and I look forward to an early
opportunity to visit Qatar and explore a strategic dialogue with them before the end of the year is out.
So, Your Highness, welcome. It's very good to have you here again. Would you like to say anything or just let the press
ask questions? Questions, yes?
AMIR KHALIFA AL THANI: (In Arabic.)
QUESTION: (Via Translator) (Inaudible), could you tell us about what happened in the meetings that you had today with
the Vice President and Secretary of State Colin Powell?
AMIR KHALIFA AL THANI: We have discussed the bilateral relationship between Qatar and the United States. We talked
about all kinds of relationship and especially the discussions with (inaudible).
QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, you just put forth a new UN resolution today. What do you think the prospects are for getting
a smooth passage of that, or are you going to be heading back up to New York every other week?
SECRETARY POWELL: Oh, I don't think it's going to take as much time as 1441 did. This resolution is straight to the
point. It's a resolution that will serve the Iraqi people. It's a resolution that will ultimately result in the lifting
of sanctions so that the world can again trade with Iraq. It also makes it clear that the coalition that is in Iraq now
will be responsible for the governance of the country until we can put the governance of the country into the hands of
the Iraqi people.
We plan to conduct governing activities through General Franks and his associates from other nations, as well as with
the work that's going to be done by Ambassador Jerry Bremer. We're going to do it in a way that is open, that is
transparent, that will also be working with an interim authority that we hope to create in the not too distant future
representing the Iraqi people.
What this resolution does is also give a role for the United Nations to play, for the Secretary General to have someone
more closely involved in all of the activities that are taking place in Iraq.
And most importantly, the resolution will help us deal with a very, very practical problem that we will be facing in
the near future, and that is, within the next couple of weeks, the oil fields will be producing a sufficient quantity of
oil that it will very shortly fill all of the storage capacity in the area. And so we have to begin moving this oil out
of these storage facilities for two reasons: one, in order to keep the refineries running. We don't want the refineries
to shut down because the refineries produce gasoline and cooking gas and the other things that are needed by the people
of Iraq. And the second reason we need to deal with this problem is that we don't want to deny the people of Iraq the
funds that would be available as a result of being able to sell the oil. So, for these two reasons, there is a sense of
urgency in order to get the United Nations to act so we can start to get economy flowing again through revenues that are
coming back into the country.
Even though the coalition provisional authority will be the government, we are anticipating that as a result of this
resolution a fund will be established, a fund that can receive money from the sale of oil that will have a board that
will supervise its activities, that will be completely open and transparent, and the funds that would be in that fund
would only be used to benefit the people of Iraq.
So this is a means by which we could rapidly begin to use the oil of Iraq to benefit the people of Iraq, and we hope
that our colleagues in the Security Council will see it in that light and will act quickly along with us to relieve the
burden of sanctions from the people of Iraq and allow us to use oil revenues to benefit the people of Iraq, as well.
QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, you're leaving this evening for your first trip to Israel in about a year. Sir, what will your
message be to the new Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas and to Prime Minister Sharon in the hopes of breaking the
deadlock?
For the Amir, Sir, if you could please respond whether or not you believe that the roadmap for peace has the necessary
ingredients to succeed where previous attempts at peace have failed.
SECRETARY POWELL: My message to the prime minister of the Palestinian Authority is that the United States wants to
support him in his efforts. He has committed himself to the roadmap and now the action he has to take is to speak to the
Palestinian people about the need to end violence and all acts of terror, bring under control those elements within the
Palestinian community that still practice those sorts of activities and -- terrorist activities and violence -- and we
will be there to help them.
We are committed to the roadmap as President Bush has said. I will also have discussions with Prime Minister Sharon
with respect to the obligations that Israel has under the roadmap and see if we can not get this process moving now that
we have new, transformed Palestinian leadership that has made a commitment as the prime minister of the Palestinian
Authority has made with respect to speaking out against violence, speaking out against terror. It's the first thing he
said after Prime Minister Abu Mazen was confirmed by the Palestinian legislature. So I'm encouraged that we may have a
fresh start. It's not going to be easy. We have seen things in the area in recent days that show us that it's not going
to be easy, but I'm anxious to get started and I'm anxious to see if we cannot make progress as rapidly as possible and
take advantage of the new strategic situation created by the end of the regime in Baghdad and the new strategic
situation created by the appointment of a Palestinian Prime Minister and the presentation of the roadmap.
AMIR KHALIFA AL THANI: (Via interpreter) Regarding the roadmap, we believe it is a good proposal, this roadmap if it is
accepted by the Palestinians and unlike what the media is trying to portray, we don't believe that this is going to be
easy to achieve and sacrifices must be made by all sides in order for peace to be achieved.
SECRETARY POWELL: Thank you.
(Secretary Powell escorts the Amir to his vehicle.)
QUESTION: Secretary Powell, one more question? Secretary Powell, as you know Prime Minister Sharon has not accepted the
roadmap and has probably asked for some amendments to it. How do you intend to handle the request that he's made for
changes in it and how do you intend to persuade him to accept it as it is now?
SECRETARY POWELL: Well, we've laid it down and we realize that both sides will have comments on it and we're prepared
to look at the comments. Really, it's important for both sides to talk to each other and let us not go into another
endless loop of discussions and negotiations, but I'm very anxious to see Prime Minister Sharon and get his reaction,
directly, and see if he has any additional comments. All of this will be dealt with in due course.
I really do have to go. [End]
Released on May 9, 2003