State Dept. Daily Press Briefing July 14, 2005
Daily Press Briefing
Tom Casey, Acting Spokesman
Washington, DC
July 14, 2005
INDEX:
IRAN
Imprisoned Journalist Akbar Ganji / Concern Over Brutality Towards
Peaceful Protestors / Importance of Freedom of the Press
ISRAEL/PALESTINIANS
Secretary Rice Conversation with President Abbas / Assistant
Secretary Welch Meeting with Abbas / Condemnation of Netanya
Attack / Steps to Ensure Success of Gaza Disengagement
Gaza Withdrawal / Ward and Wolfensohn / U.S. Engagement
Palestinian Authority's Obligation to Take Action on Terrorist Groups
Condemnation of Palestinian Rocket Attack
SYRIA
Concern over Harboring of Rejectionist Groups / Damaging to
Israeli/Palestinian Peace Process
U.S. Diplomatic Contact
INDIA
Upcoming Visit by Prime Minister Singh / Ongoing Dialogue
UNITED KINGDOM
London Bombings / Reaction of Arab and Muslim Communities
DEPARTMENT
Public Diplomacy Efforts / Embassy Monitoring of Public Opinion
KOSOVO
UN Review / Final Status Discussions
RUSSIA
Extradition Request
Base in Kyrgyzstan
TRANSCRIPT:
(12:45 p.m. EDT)
MR. CASEY: Afternoon, everyone. Welcome to the State Department briefing. I don't have any announcements or statements
for you, so let's go right to your questions.
QUESTION: I don't have any questions.
MR. CASEY: Oh, there you go. Okay.
QUESTION: Can I ask you about the case of Ganji, the journalist who's jailed in Iran? My question is, the Bush
Administration has made clear that they want him released and also has urged human rights group, the United Nations, to
try and sort of pressure on the case. Given all that's happened in the United States about journalism and the journalist
who has been jailed, does that kind of diminish your chances of persuading other people to do it? It's what they call
the copper calling the kettle black.
MR. CASEY: Well, first of all, let me just talk about that case, specific case, and then we can talk about some of the
other issues you've raised. The White House, I think most of you have seen, did put out a statement on Tuesday that
noted our concerns about the continued imprisonment of Akbar Ganji, who's a prominent Iranian political prisoner and
newspaper editor. He's been engaged in a hunger strike for the past month.
The President called for Mr. Ganji's immediate and unconditional release and urged all supporters of human rights and
freedom and the United Nations to take up this case.
I do want to add, too, that we're disturbed by reports of police brutality against peaceful protestors who were
demonstrating in Tehran on Tuesday to call attention to Mr. Ganji's case and we call on the Iranian regime to exercise
restraint and to permit the Iranian people to exercise their legitimate right to peaceful assembly and to free speech.
In terms of the other part of your question, I do think that in terms of press freedom, I'd put the United States
record up against any other country's. We have a long tradition here of a free and open press, a free and open society,
and it is unfortunate that in many countries of the world, particularly in the case we're dealing with here in Iran,
that journalists continue to be imprisoned simply for trying to inform people, for trying to report on the stories that
are there, and for trying to help them be able to participate in the life of their -- political life of their country.
QUESTION: And here sometimes for not revealing sources. I'll just throw in a little reference to the extent of press
freedom in this country.
QUESTION: Barry has a point. The Judith Miller -- my question is the Judith Miller case has been so high profile, I
wonder if there's been any pushback when you seek to promote press freedoms and you highlight a case abroad like this,
if people are dismissive, governments are dismissive of your attempts because of perceived problems in the United
States.
MR. CASEY: Well, frankly, I fail to see the comparison between --
QUESTION: No, I'm not making a comparison. I'm saying do they make it? Do they say there's perceived problems here and
therefore your diplomacy is slightly hampered?
MR. CASEY: I'm not aware of anyone who has changed their views on press freedom because of events domestically here in
the United States. And what I can say is, under any circumstances, what's happened in this case to Mr. Ganji, what's
happened to any number of other people who have been thrown in jail simply for the desire and the hope of peacefully
expressing their opinion and informing publics, is a far different issue. There's no excuse for it and it's not
something that the United States is going to stop speaking out on.
Peter.
QUESTION: Saul's done?
QUESTION: Yeah. No, that's fine.
QUESTION: Just three questions on the Middle East. One is that -- what can you tell us about the Secretary's
conversation with President Abbas? Second, can you just give us an update on Assistant Secretary of State David Welch's
meanderings in the region, who he's seen and where, what he's doing? And then I'll have a follow-up after that. Okay?
MR. CASEY: Okay, well, let me try the first two and then we'll go for a trifecta later.
QUESTION: Thank you.
MR. CASEY: Okay. On the first two, the Secretary did speak with Palestinian Authority President Abbas yesterday and
Assistant Secretary Welch met with him yesterday afternoon as well. In both those conversations the Secretary reiterated
her message, as to the Assistant Secretary Welch, that the Palestinian leadership needs to take immediate actions to
find those who were responsible for the recent bombing in Israel and bring them to justice.
And while we welcome President Abbas's condemnation of this heinous attack, we now are looking to the Palestinian
Authority to take some concrete steps to bring those who planned and supported this attack to justice.
In Assistant Secretary Welch's meeting with the President, they did also cover a broad range of other topics that
included discussions on the steps by both -- the steps that both parties need to take to ensure the success of the Gaza
disengagement as well as, again, the broader need for the Palestinian Authority to take action to end violence and
terror.
QUESTION: Is he also meeting with the Israelis or has he met with the Israelis?
MR. CASEY: He's had a variety of other meetings. I don't actually have a current schedule for him. I believe he was due
to leave Tel Aviv today.
QUESTION: Okay, and just one more.
MR. CASEY: Sorry, go ahead, Barry.
QUESTION: Did the Secretary remind Mr. Abbas that under the roadmap's first stage he's compelled to dismantle all
terror groups? Take steps -- I mean, Arafat took steps. He arrested people and they left jail after some time. What the
U.S. is committed to is dismantling terror groups. Did she explicitly ask Abbas to carry out that -- implement that
requirement of the roadmap?
MR. CASEY: Barry, again, I think what she did was reiterate the message she had in her statement. We're looking for
concrete actions by the Palestinian Authority, both to find and bring to justice those responsible for this specific
act, as well as the broader question of dealing with overall issues of violence and terror. Palestinians certainly have
commitments to do that under the roadmap. We're looking at both parties to meet their commitments and that's part of
every conversation we have.
QUESTION: Can I go for the trifecta?
MR. CASEY: Go for your trifecta.
QUESTION: Okay. Fine. Just on a broader plane, we have the Gaza withdrawal coming up in just about a month now. Several
weeks ago, both the Secretary and the Quartet were talking about the urgent need to accelerate discussions on
coordination for this eventuality. Are we now entering a period of accelerated diplomacy? Are you satisfied that
everything is on track to have in place for coordination for the Gaza withdrawal?
MR. CASEY: Well, I think everyone's taking action to move forward on this. Mr. Wolfensohn and General Ward are out in
the region now, as I understand it. They are continuing their work with the parties. Obviously, there is still a lot to
be done and we want to make sure that the process proceeds as successfully as it can. Again, we believe this is an
important opportunity for both sides to make progress and move forward.
Elise. Sorry, we'll go back to you, Peter.
QUESTION: The Secretary's conversation, phone conversation. You said yesterday -- was it on the plane or after she got
back? Or do you know?
MR. CASEY: I honestly don't know the exact timing of it, Barry, whether it was before or after. I think it may have
been on the plane.
QUESTION: In the conversation, did --
QUESTION: Is Wolf --
QUESTION: Sorry, this is not a free-for-all. (Inaudible)?
MR. CASEY: Let's do this. Let's go over -- Elise was next, then Peter, then we'll go over to Saul.
QUESTION: Is Wolfensohn in charge of kind of reaching out to Arab states and other countries to secure money for the
Gaza withdrawal for the Palestinians? Is he approaching countries or is that done by, you know, the Quartet itself or
the Administration?
MR. CASEY: You know, I don't have anything specific for you on whether he's engaged in that or not. As you know, he has
a fairly serious mandate from the Quartet to try and help coordinate and work on particularly some of the economic
aspects of this. But I'll see if we have anything for you on that, Elise, but I just don't know if he's, in fact,
contacting other countries about --
QUESTION: Well, he's in charge of the economic of helping Palestinians prepare their economy, I mean, obviously, the
money is coming from somewhere, and --
MR. CASEY: Well, again, he's been in the region and he's working with the parties. I just don't know what specific
conversations he may or may not have had with other governments.
QUESTION: Is he traveling in the region or is he specifically staying in the territories and going to Israel?
MR. CASEY: No, he's -- I know he has various movements. I'm not sure what other places he's been visiting recently. I
honestly don't have an update on his schedule, either.
Let's go down to Peter and then Saul.
QUESTION: It was just to follow up between Assistant Secretary of State Welch's visit, the Secretary's conversation.
Now that we're coming down to the crunch in this, do you anticipate a period of more intensified U.S. diplomacy to get
this -- keep this thing or get this thing on track, including visits or anything by any other leaders or officials, U.S.
officials?
MR. CASEY: Well, I think, again, we've maintained a pretty steady and regular pace of engagement. I really don't have a
way of categorizing it for you, whether it will be more or less intense as we come closer to the actual start of the
withdrawal. Obviously, we're going to work as best we can and in all ways we can to be supportive of this process and
help it move forward.
Saul.
QUESTION: Excuse me. What he's -- what we're all looking for is whether -- we're talking about rhetoric and commitment
and zeal, or we're literally talking about trying to move along the roadmap. And if you're trying to move along the
roadmap, I again ask you how you can move past step one if the Palestinians haven't dismantled terror groups, which
they're compelled to do in the roadmap in step one? Or you're telling me that the process can be step three, step one,
step two and a half, step seven? But the main thing is, and Peter's question is well taken, we cannot figure out from
your exhorting the parties to stay with it and make progress whether you intend to go -- get them beyond Gaza now or
you're waiting out the Gaza withdrawal, for instance, which is, you know, a step?
MR. CASEY: Barry, I think, again, as we have always said, we're focused on what we can do and what specific steps we
can take now that'll advance this process and move it forward.
QUESTION: Yeah.
MR. CASEY: We believe the Gaza withdrawal presents a great opportunity to do so.
QUESTION: Yeah.
MR. CASEY: And we are engaging and have been engaging very directly in that process. That includes working with Ward
and Wolfensohn on their various duties.
QUESTION: Right.
MR. CASEY: It certainly includes the kind of things that we've seen in the last 24 hours. It includes the Secretary
talking to the Palestinian President about the commitments that he needs to make and the things he needs to do. It
includes Assistant Secretary Welch doing the same.
So I guess the best thing I can tell you is we're very much engaged, we're very much involved and we're trying to work
this forward and deal with the realities on the ground and make real progress that'll benefit both the Israelis and the
Palestinian people.
QUESTION: In the conversations with Abbas, when the issue of dealing with groups that are doing the violent acts or
espousing violence came up, presumably in the context of the attack yesterday, did the idea of Syria's backing for
groups come up?
MR. CASEY: Well, I don't know and I don't have that level of detail about the conversations. I do think that we've made
clear what our position is about Syrian support for rejectionist groups, and particularly Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
Again, though, as the Secretary's statement made clear, the Palestinian Authority also does have obligations and we're
looking to them, again, to take concrete steps to bring those to justice who carried out the terrible attack the other
day, as well as more broadly to take action to end violence and terror.
QUESTION: Is there an acknowledgement, at least, from the Bush Administration that the Palestinians' task is made more
difficult because another state is accused of sponsoring these groups?
MR. CASEY: Well, let me put it to you this way, Syria's role in supporting, harboring rejectionist elements is
certainly something that concerns us. It's a complicating factor and it's something -- and it's why the Secretary put
out a very clear statement, as we have in the past, calling on the Syrians to stop that support because we do believe it
is something that is damaging to the overall efforts of the Israelis and the Palestinians to achieve progress and to
ultimately achieve the President's vision of two states living side-by-side in peace.
QUESTION: One more, if I may on the Middle East.
MR. CASEY: The same thing Elise?
QUESTION: It's on Syria, but if Saul --
QUESTION: Okay, okay.
QUESTION: How is your -- is this the only way your message is being delivered to the Syrians? I mean the Ambassador's
still not there. Are your public statements the only way or are you talking to the Syrians here in Washington? I mean,
how are you getting this message across?
MR. CASEY: Look, I think I've covered that about as much as I really have yesterday. The Syrians are well aware of what
our concerns are. They have been reiterated to them time and time again. The Secretary's statement was quite clear.
Again, what we're looking for them to do is take action.
QUESTION: Well, I mean, if I may.
MR. CASEY: Yeah.
QUESTION: I mean you say that they're clear, the messages have been reiterated, but I mean in the case of the
Palestinians, you know, they're well aware of what your message is but yet the Secretary took the time to call and speak
to the Palestinian President about what the U.S. expects. I mean, why is not the same kind of strategy being used to the
Syrians? Day-to-day diplomacy is probably more effective to get your message across.
MR. CASEY: Well, we're actively working with the Palestinian Authority in a positive process. We're trying to help move
forward with the Gaza disengagement and help them achieve their responsibilities.
In the case of the Syrians, what has happened is they have taken a number of steps, including their support for
rejectionist groups over time. We have in the past discussed this with them; we have discussed this with them at length.
There is no question in our minds that they understand our policy and know what they need to do and we want to see them
do it.
QUESTION: Do you have any diplomatic contact with the Syrian Government right now?
MR. CASEY: We have an Embassy in Damascus and, obviously, that's an operating entity, and we have diplomats out there
doing work all the time and obviously they have discussions from time to time.
Yeah, go ahead.
QUESTION: On another subject?
MR. CASEY: Oh, sorry, stay on the middle, Elise, and then we'll go back.
QUESTION: Just more current, more specific. Today, emergency rescue services said an Israeli was killed by a
Palestinian rocket in Gaza. Do you know about that? Do you have any reaction?
MR. CASEY: Yeah, I just saw that wire shortly before I came out here, and I really don't have anything detailed on it.
Obviously, we would condemn that attack and that violence. And, again, putting an end to these kinds of attacks and
taking action on violence is a part of the message that was conveyed both by the Secretary and by Assistant Secretary
Welch directly to President Abbas yesterday.
QUESTION: Even with the sequence of attacks, do you have any concern that the violence is building up ahead of the
withdrawal? Or do you just see this as part of a pattern that occasionally spikes?
MR. CASEY: Well, again, I think the seriousness with which we regard the responsibilities that the Palestinian
Authority has to deal with those that perpetrate acts of violence are all the things that the Secretary and David Welch
talked about. I'm really not in a position to speculate on what this may or may not mean in terms of the overall
political process.
Samir, did you have something?
QUESTION: The work that General Ward doing producing any results to make Abbas's security forces capable to take
actions?
MR. CASEY: I think it's part -- General Ward's work is part of an ongoing process. Ultimately, the proof and the
success of those efforts is how well the Palestinian Authority will be able to deal with security conditions on the
ground. But I don't have a handicap for you at this point.
QUESTION: One more.
MR. CASEY: Elise. Yeah, sure.
QUESTION: (Inaudible) talked about expanding his role to coordinate security cooperation between the Israelis and
Palestinians. Has that -- is he currently doing that?
MR. CASEY: I don't have anything that indicates his role has changed in any particular way. If we have something, I'll
get back to you on it.
Let's go to Goyel.
QUESTION: On Sunday Prime Minister of India Dr. Manmohan Singh will be in Washington on a three-day visit and guest of
the President of the White House. I know it is a White House show, but he will have a number of meetings, including with
Dr. Rice. My question is that, as far as State Department and Dr. Condoleezza Rice is concerned, where do we go from
here as far as the U.S.-India relations are concerned in the future? And what do we get from this visit as far as Dr.
Rice is concerned? And if you can just elaborate on this relationship?
MR. CASEY: I'll tell you what, as you correctly stated, while there will be meetings here with Dr. Rice, the most
important thing is this is an opportunity for the Prime Minister to meet with President Bush. And I, frankly, leave it
with the White House to describe those meetings. Obviously, our relationship with India is a very important one. India
is a significant and important country. We have an ongoing dialogue that's very active. As you know, Under Secretary
Burns was recently in India to further some of those discussions. Certainly look forward to the Prime Minister's visit
here, but beyond that I'd leave it to the White House to characterize the talks.
QUESTION: Do we expect any major breakthrough in relations or signing of any major arguments?
MR. CASEY: I'll leave it to the White House to talk about major breakthroughs or signing of any agreements.
QUESTION: Can I go another --
MR. CASEY: You want to try again, sorry.
QUESTION: A different one. As for bombings in London is concerned now we know that who did it and who they were, where
they get -- their backgrounds and all that. And yesterday the Secretary of Homeland Security also spoke on the terrorism
and gave a major speech. Now, as far London, we have terrorists among us here also -- those people that we think that
the ideology have changed but it has not changed, the ideology of their thinking, and they are doing the same thing in
the name of religion or Islam. So where do we go from here? I mean what lesson we learned from London as far as security
in the U.S. is concerned because we are still living under the threats and we are not secure today?
MR. CASEY: Well, I think in terms of the security of the homeland, as you pointed out, Secretary Chertoff talked fairly
extensively about these issues yesterday, and I'll leave it to his Department to talk about that.
In terms of the London bombing, you know, I think I'll just make the point I also made yesterday, that one of the
things that's important to remember is what a tiny minority of the Muslim community this represents. And I think if you
look in your country, in London, in many others, there have been a tremendous number of Arab and Muslim scholars and
religious leaders and political figures who have and are speaking out both against the attack in London and the kind of
heinous attacks that occurred in Iraq that involve killing of innocent people, including women and children. And it's
important, I think, for us to remember and to make sure that we always continue the dialogue with all those out there
who are willing to stand up and oppose those terrorists and those individuals that would twist Islam or any other
religion for these kinds of terrible purposes.
QUESTION: Let me try one more in --
MR. CASEY: I'll let you try one more, and then we've got to go to Mr. Lambros, whose arm is getting tired back there.
QUESTION: As far as diplomacy is concerned by Ms. Karen Hughes and Dr. Rice, which they together announced, where do we
stand now as far as this diplomacy is concerned to defeat this ideology and to educate those who are going to harm or
are harming the innocent and after the democracy and freedom-loving people?
MR. CASEY: Well, our embassies are engaged every day, as we are here in the Department, in trying to reach out to all
those people who oppose terror, who stand with us in support of efforts to bring peace and bring prosperity to places
like Iraq, to places like Afghanistan. Our public diplomacy efforts are certainly ongoing. We are very pleased to have
Deputy Under Secretary Dina Powell start work with us here this week, very much look forward to the upcoming hearings
for Under Secretary-designate Hughes and we'll certainly look forward to seeing additional work and expansion of the
efforts we're already doing under their leadership.
QUESTION: Do American embassies make an effort to measure public opinion to see if Muslim attacks or fundamentalist
attacks resonate favorably among, I hate to say it, the man on the street or the woman in the street? Because you speak
of a minority and I think you're speaking against a background of leaders saying things, but what about the populace
itself? I don't know how you know it's a minority unless you go out and do some digging. Does the embassy -- do the
embassies try to measure sentiment?
MR. CASEY: Well, Barry, I think all our embassies, as part of their regular duties, try and understand and track trends
in public opinion. But I just want to take issue with one of -- the premise of the question, I guess, in that I don't
think it requires a lot of measurement to understand that the average person anywhere in the world does not support the
killing of innocents, does not support the use of terrorism and certainly does not support the use of terrorism in the
name of one of the great religions in the world.
QUESTION: You know, we just saw a bombing in Iraq, people who carried out the attack knew there were children there and
didn't stop them. They went on and killed them. And you could say, well, they're a very tiny minority. Let's hope so.
But I wondered if, since your whole calculus is that what is going on is frowned upon by the rest of the world, if you
go out and look around and make sure you're right.
MR. CASEY: Barry, again, as part of what embassies regularly do, they look at, monitor and track public opinion. That
includes local polling that's available on a broad range of issues and other resources that are available to them. But
again, I would just contend that regardless of looking at any individual numbers that it's clear to anyone in the region
that the average person, whether it's in Iraq or Afghanistan or Pakistan or any part of the Arab and Muslim world,
absolutely opposes these kinds of tactics.
Yeah.
QUESTION: The coalition forces in Iraq announced today the arrest of the person who said they in charge of killing the
Egyptian Ambassador. Can you confirm that?
MR. CASEY: I hadn't actually seen that. I think you'd have to check both with the Iraqi officials on the ground and, if
there was involvement from the multinational force, with the multinational force in Baghdad as well. But I don't have
any information on that, Samir. Sorry.
Mr. Lambros.
QUESTION: On FYROM. Any comment on the gunmen attack the other day against a police station in western FYROM for which
the press in Skopje blames the Albanians?
MR. CASEY: I really don't have any information about that, Mr. Lambros. I have seen those reports. I understand that
the authorities in Macedonia are looking into it and I'd refer you to them for comment.
QUESTION: One more, a follow-up?
MR. CASEY: All right, I'll give you one more.
QUESTION: The Prime Minister of FYROM, who warned that any agreement on the Kosovo's future must respect FYROM's
borders. I'm wondering if you're taking his concern into consideration since America is involved, too, for the status of
Kosovo and Under Secretary Nicholas Burns stated many, many times recently that 2005 is the year of the final status of
Kosovo?
MR. CASEY: Well, I believe, if you look at the testimony and other remarks that Under Secretary Burns has given, he
noted that, starting very soon, there will be a review conducted by the UN to see whether Kosovo has met some of the
goals -- the standards that are required. And, if after that review is concluded, the international community believes,
at that point, that those standards have been appropriately met, then we might be in a position, or then we would be in
a position, to move to the beginning of final status discussions.
Certainly, we hope that whatever the result of final status of discussions when they occur, what we're looking for is a
Balkan region that's free and at peace and that's ready to take its place in Euro-Atlantic institutions.
Let's go down here.
QUESTION: Yeah, can we go to Russia?
MR. CASEY: Sure.
QUESTION: Russia asked the U.S. the extradition of former official of Yukos, Mr. Nevzlin. Can you confirm that? And I
have another question.
MR. CASEY: Okay, well, let's start with that one. I think your colleagues, who have covered the building longer, will
not be surprised, and you probably will not be surprised to know that all I can tell you is that we don't comment on
extradition requests. What I can tell you, though, is that there is not an extradition treaty with Russia or between
Russia and the United States.
We'd refer you over to the Department of Justice, though, for any more information about it.
QUESTION: Okay, and about, well --
MR. CASEY: Saul, did you have something on this?
QUESTION: Just one, yeah -- you say you don't comment on extradition requests, but sometimes you choose to. And the
reason you give when you do, is that the other side has gone public, notably in the case of Venezuela recently. Russia
says it made a request, our only -- our question is, can you confirm that, yes, a request was received, even if there
isn't an extradition treaty, did you receive a request?
MR. CASEY: At this point, Saul, I can't. All I can do is just tell you what I've already said. Sorry.
QUESTION: Can you say whether or not Mr. Nevzlin is still in the country?
MR. CASEY: I honestly don't know his status.
Sorry, do you want to go to your second one?
QUESTION: Yes, about -- still about Russia. Russia announced yesterday that it will double the size of its base in the
Kyrgyzstan. It comes after the new President stated the American base over there is not really necessary anymore. So
does it mean you are losing ground in Central Asia?
MR. CASEY: I looked into this issue a little bit before I came out here. My understanding is that the arrangements that
the Russians are making are simply finalizing longstanding plans that they had. So I really don't think there's anything
particularly new in that report.
QUESTION: So it's not linked with the Shanghai group decision?
MR. CASEY: Not as far as I know. You can ask the Russians about whether it's linked to it or not.
QUESTION: And also, still in the same region, we -- apparently, according to a Russian newspaper, the Bank of New York
decided to close a line of credit to Uzbekistan. Is it something they decided by themselves or something you asked them
to do?
MR. CASEY: I honestly don't have any information about that. I would assume that that's a private banking matter --
that that would be something between the bank and the government. If it involved a law enforcement issue, you'd have to
check with other buildings about that.
QUESTION: Okay.
MR. CASEY: Thank you.
DPB # 121
(The briefing was concluded at 1:15 p.m.)
Released on July 14, 2005
ENDS