MR. MCCORMACK: Good afternoon, everybody. How are you?

I have one opening statement and then we can get right into your questions. This is a statement by Secretary Rice and we will release in paper form right after the briefing. The title of it is:   U.S. Recognizes Montenegro as an Independent State.

"The United States has formally recognized the Republic of Montenegro as a sovereign and independent state, following the request of its government and consistent with the provisions of the Constitutional Charter which established the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro. This Charter explicitly provided means by which the people of Montenegro could express their will with respect to independence.

We congratulate the people of Montenegro for the peaceful and democratic manner in which they conducted their May 21 vote on independence.

The honor of being counted among the free and independent states of the world brings with it the challenge of protecting and advancing the freedom, rights and prosperity of all the people of Montenegro, and the responsibility to make a positive contribution to the community of nations.

The United States will be considering in the coming days Montenegro’s proposal to begin a process of establishing diplomatic relations. We look forward to continued friendship and cooperation with the people of Montenegro."

QUESTION: Any reaction to the statement just now from the apparent successor to Zarqawi challenging what appears to be U.S. and opponents in Iraq?

MR. MCCORMACK: I haven't seen the text of any --

QUESTION: Vowed a crusade against Shiites and infidels or something like that.

MR. MCCORMACK: I think the President talked a little about this yesterday when he said that the "successor" to Zarqawi would be on the list of those individuals that would be brought to justice. I think you look at President Bush's trip to Baghdad today and what it does is underlines a couple of things. One, it underlines the fact that the United States is standing by the Iraqi people as they build up their capabilities to take control of their own destiny. And you have in Prime Minister Maliki somebody who is very committed to the idea of Iraqis assuming greater and greater responsibility for all aspects of Iraqi governance from the security side to electricity to oil and to other sectors.

I think that President Bush's visit there underlines that fact. I think that their joint appearance underlines the partnership that exists, but it also highlights the fact that there is a permanent Iraqi Government in place now that has the responsibilities of governing and delivering for the Iraqi people. And part of delivering for the Iraqi people is fighting terrorism and fighting those foreign terrorist who would try to stop the advance of democracy and the advancement of the Iraqi people.

QUESTION: What does it say about the U.S. assessment of the security situation in Iraq, though, that Maliki himself didn't know that Bush was coming until five minutes ahead of time?

MR. MCCORMACK: Well, there -- look, there are real security concerns anytime the President of the United States travels overseas and in particular to Iraq. We all are well aware of the security situation there. Secretary Rice, when she travels there travels with -- travels under heavy security. And many of you in this room have traveled along with her.

As for the details of the arrangements with the Iraqis and with our Embassy, I would refer you over to the White House to answer those questions.

QUESTION: Are you able to say how long Secretary Rice has known about the President's trip?

MR. MCCORMACK: Well, for some time. I don't know exactly how long, but she has known about it for some time.

QUESTION: Was she in on the initial planning of it?

MR. MCCORMACK: I don't know exactly when she was in on the planning, but she's known for some time about it.

QUESTION: Where is she now? She'll still in Camp David?

MR. MCCORMACK: No, she just arrived back in Washington.

QUESTION: What is her mission on the Hill this afternoon with Secretary Rumsfeld?

MR. MCCORMACK: She's going to be briefing members of Congress about not only discussions at Camp David but where we stand in Iraq, and she will obviously be prepared to answer whatever questions they may have for her about the conditions on the ground and what U.S. plans are to support the Iraqi Government and the Iraqi people as they take greater and greater control over their day-to-day destiny.

It's a pretty quiet group today. Yes, Lambros.

QUESTION: Another question. After Montenegro, what about Kosovo? Do you have anything to say about --

MR. MCCORMACK: Nothing new for you on that. It is a question that is being examined quite closely by Mr. Ahtisaari, by ourselves as well. Ambassador Wisner is our point person working with Mr. Ahtisaari and it is something that is under active consideration. I expect that towards the end of the year that there will be some recommendations with respect to what will happen in Kosovo and its particular status, but I'm not going to prejudge any outcomes at this point. We still have several months to go.

QUESTION: On Cyprus. Turkey concluded yesterday its accession talks on the first of the 35 negotiating chapters with the European Union via compromise. The ministers of foreign affairs of the European Union have given, however, a clear warning to Turkey there will be serious consequences if it did not meet its obligations towards the ten new members, including the Republic of Cyprus, and open its ports and airports to the Cypriot ships and planes. May we have the U.S. position?

MR. MCCORMACK: Well, our position is that those are internal EU discussions as well as discussions that are taking place between the EU and Turkey. We have been supportive of Turkey's accession to the EU. That goes back quite some time. We continue to be supportive. We encourage all sides to take those steps that they need to take in order to ultimately realize the goal of accession. I'm not going to script out what Turkey should do. Those are things that the Turkish Government needs to decide itself and then working with the EU and its individual member states to figure out what steps Turkey needs to do. But we do support Turkey's accession to the EU.

QUESTION: Did you intervene during this process?

MR. MCCORMACK: Excuse me?

QUESTION: Did you intervene during this process?

MR. MCCORMACK: I'm sure on a daily basis we are in contact with EU member states as well as Turkey concerning these questions. But fundamentally these are decisions that the EU as well as Turkey needs to take for themselves.

QUESTION: I have a change of topic.

MR. MCCORMACK: Change. Change of topic.

QUESTION: There appear to be growing or -- there have been intense clashes between Fatah and Hamas, between the security forces overnight, and I just wondered whether you've had any comment on this or any concerns that the security situation was deteriorating quite rapidly there.

MR. MCCORMACK: Well, certainly the responsible parties in the government have to take responsibility for providing a safe and secure environment for the Palestinian people. The way to resolve any differences is through dialogue. Certainly we mourn the loss of innocent life. But it is fundamentally up to the Palestinians to take control of their own security situation.

QUESTION: Do you have any independent way of knowing which one is -- which explanation is true for the beach deaths, whether it was in fact an errant Israeli shell or some sort of unexploded or Hamas --

MR. MCCORMACK: Right. I know -- just before I came out here, I saw that the IDF has come out with some -- with a report saying that it could -- I don't know the exact language -- could very well have been or was a mine on the beach. I'm not in a position to verify that for you one way or the other. We haven't seen the report. We haven't been given a copy of the report.

I think at this point what we would do is we would counsel all sides to urge an atmosphere of calm. All sides have responsibilities here. The Palestinians have a responsibility to stop acts of terror, to fight terror, and take steps to do so.

We, of course, ourselves want to see a negotiated solution to any differences that may exist between Israel and the Palestinians. President Bush underlined that fact when Prime Minister Olmert was here, and that continues to be our position.

Sylvie.

QUESTION: Prime Minister Olmert announced today that he's ready to sell weapons to the Palestinian Authority of President Mahmoud Abbas. Do you think it’s a good idea --

MR. MCCORMACK: I hadn't seen that, Sylvie. I'll check into that for you. I haven't seen the statement.

QUESTION: Do you have anything new on the aid mechanism? The EU has been discussing this but they apparently seem to be quite close to working out how this is going to be done and what the money will be used for and who will contribute.

MR. MCCORMACK: They're still continuing discussions on that.

George.

QUESTION: Do you have any comment on the impending release in Indonesia of a terrorist who --

MR. MCCORMACK: Let me come back to that one and we'll exhaust the other topic; then we'll deal with that one.

QUESTION: Eleven Palestinians were killed today in air strike -- Israeli air strike on the Gaza Strip, and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has accused Israel of engaging in state terrorism. Do you have any reaction on that?

MR. MCCORMACK: Well, I think first -- first I'd like to gather all the facts concerning this particular incident. But at first glance, I think that it would appear that Israel was engaging in its right to defend itself. Of course, whenever it does so, we urge them to take into considerations -- the consideration the consequences of what it is that they do.

So again, I do -- we would mourn the loss of any innocent life, but I would wait until I have all the facts before I provide a fuller assessment of the situation.

QUESTION: (Off-Mike) of President Abbas is that --

MR. MCCORMACK: I hadn't seen the context of his remarks.

Yes. Same subject?

QUESTION: Actually, no.

MR. MCCORMACK: Then, Mr. Gedda has the floor.

QUESTION: Okay.

QUESTION: Any comment on the Indonesian terrorist or at least he sympathized with the '02 bombings in Bali, and he will be released tomorrow after 26 months in prison.

MR. MCCORMACK: George, I don’t think it will come as any surprise to you that we are deeply disappointed by the -- what we would consider light sentence that was handed down to this individual. We don't think, and I'll read a quote here from the court's decision, that a person convicted of "a sinister conspiracy to cause a fire or explosion resulting in deaths" should have received such a light sentence of 30 months.

That said, it is up to the Indonesians and the Indonesian courts to interpret their own laws. So ultimately, these kinds of decisions rest with Indonesia, the Indonesian people and the Indonesian courts.

QUESTION: Change the subject, please?

MR. MCCORMACK: Let's see -- yes, go ahead.

QUESTION: Yesterday, Monday, June, a peaceful demonstration by Iranian women in Tehran, where a group of peace-loving male students joined them, was brutally crashed by security forces of the regime. They were only requesting equal rights for women and nothing more.

What's your comment? And do you have any message for the regime of Iran regarding this incident?

MR. MCCORMACK: Well, let me -- I hadn't seen those reports. Let me look into them and we'll get something for you.

QUESTION: They were severely beaten. Also, I don’t think she meant that they were --

MR. MCCORMACK: Again, of course, our forthright stand for the rights of all individuals to freely express themselves in Iran is well known. Certainly, you know, half -- this is involving a group of women you said?

QUESTION: Yes (inaudible).

MR. MCCORMACK: Again, you know, half a democracy is not a democracy at all. In this case, we would urge the regime to allow any peaceful protests, any peaceful expression of views. I would, however, before I offer any sort of more in depth comment, want to look into the facts of that.

Sylvie.

QUESTION: Can you confirm that Secretary Rice had a phone conversation with the Foreign Minister of China to today?

MR. MCCORMACK: She did. She did, yes.

QUESTION: About what?

MR. MCCORMACK: Just touching base on the issue of Iran. She's had a few conversations with some of her Foreign Minister colleagues just to touch base on where we stand.

I think that it is our view as well as the view of the other P-5+1 countries that we would hope that Iran responds positively to the offer that has been presented to them. But fundamentally, the issue now rests with Iran. They have a decision to make, and we'll see what that decision is.

QUESTION: Same subject.

MR. MCCORMACK: What's that? Same? Yes, sure.

QUESTION: Did the issue of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Meeting coming up? I believe it will be held in two days with Iran as an observer.

MR. MCCORMACK: Right. I'll check for you, George. I don't know that that came up during the call. I'll see if it did.

Jonathan.

QUESTION: Can we talk about Somalia?

MR. MCCORMACK: Anything else on Iran? Yes, then we'll come back to Somalia.

QUESTION: Okay.

QUESTION: How concerned are you about this statement from the nonaligned bloc at the IAEA this week about reaffirming Iran and other nations' right to enrich uranium?

MR. MCCORMACK: Well, first of all, the discussions are ongoing at the Board of Governors. They haven't even gotten to the topic of Iran. They haven't even taken it up. It might even be until tomorrow or even the day after.

QUESTION: (Inaudible)

MR. MCCORMACK: Right. That said, look, there is a wide variety of opinion within the NAM, but I think fundamentally the NAM countries would urge Iran to cooperate with the IAEA to answer all those questions that remain unanswered that the IAEA has for the Iranian regime, and to urge Iran to take the pathway of diplomacy and cooperation that has been offered it. So I think fundamentally that is the view of the NAM. And we are -- at the end of the day, we are confident that the world will mobilize and urge Iran to come to the table to resolve these differences via diplomacy.

The issue isn't whether or not -- we've stated this before -- the issue is not whether or not Iran has certain rights under the NPT. The fundamental issue is that because of Iran's behavior over the course of many, many years, the level of trust on the part of the international community to have Iran exercise those "rights" under the NPT is really gone. So Iran fundamentally needs to rebuild the trust -- its level of trust with the international community. And the way that it could do that is via the pathway that has been offered it by the P-5+1, that pathway of cooperation and diplomacy. And we'll see what their answer is going to be.

QUESTION: Do you have anything more on the timeline for Iran to respond to the offer because I think a week has gone by? The weeks are ticking by, and you said weeks and not months.

MR. MCCORMACK: Right.

QUESTION: And there's some concern that possibly it'll even slip further past the July summit and that, you know, the kind of the doldrums of summer will set in, and it'll just take quite a while before they respond. Are you nervous about that? And then in the meantime they will gain more knowledge about the fuel cycle?

MR. MCCORMACK: No. Like I said, it will be weeks and not months. I'm not prepared at this point to describe in any more detail what that timeline would be, but we're still, by my count, on weeks from when the agreement was signed.

QUESTION: Is 16 weeks, weeks and not months? (Laughter.)

MR. MCCORMACK: Sixteen weeks? Most people would look at the eight-nine week sort of threshold as whether or not we're getting into months.

QUESTION: Well, that's interesting.

QUESTION: So it's more than four weeks, which is a month?

MR. MCCORMACK: Well, I'm just pointing out -- just having conversation with George. (Laughter.) I'm not trying to pin it down one way or the other, just weeks not months.

Yes.

QUESTION: Somalia?

MR. MCCORMACK: Oh, yes, Somalia. We'll come back to you. We'll come back to it. Jonathan is very interested in talking about Somalia, so we want to do that.

QUESTION: Can you tell us -- I know that the head of the Islamic courts has said that he does not want Somalia to turn into a Taliban-style state. Have you taken comfort from that, or whether you still believe, if you can give us some evidence of this, that it is a terrorist safe haven and that there is current activities by al-Qaeda and its operatives?

MR. MCCORMACK: We do have concerns about al-Qaeda presence in Somalia and specifically individuals and their presence in Somalia. Nobody wants Somalia to become a safe haven. Well, maybe there are some, those terrorists. But the international community certainly doesn't want to see Somalia turn into a safe haven. Nobody wants to see the continued suffering of the Somali people, and that's one of the reasons why we're having a contact group meeting. The U.S. has convened -- is going to convene this contact group meeting on Thursday.

And just an update for everybody from yesterday, I have confirmed that the United Nations and African Union have been invited to participate as observers in that meeting. And just so you know right now, the attendance list is the United States, United Kingdom, Norway, Sweden, Italy and Tanzania and the European Union.

So we're, at that meeting, going to be talking a little bit about how we might cooperate together to try to meet everybody's goal and that is to build up institutions within Somalia that might, serve as a foundation for one day, a functioning government. There is not a functioning government in Somalia right now. There hasn't been for quite some time.

So that's the initial goal of this meeting, to look at what efforts we have in place, what efforts we might coordinate on and what efforts we might launch. And I think one other topic is we would look at who else might join this group. I think we wanted to start smaller rather than larger. And then maybe as the subject matter and time dictate, then we can expand the size of the group.

QUESTION: But on that specific point about the head of Islamic courts saying that he doesn't want it to turn into a Taliban state, have you taken reassurance from that or are you still concerned that this could be -- the Islamic courts could be a way of this country becoming more of a safe haven for terrorists?

MR. MCCORMACK: I think at this point, Jonathan, we're going to reserve judgment. We do have a letter from them asking to open a channel of dialogue. We have not yet responded to that letter. We want to have a better understanding of this group, who is part of this group. I think that our initial assessment is that it is not a homogenous group, meaning you don't have a universal set of views with respect to what Somalia should look like in the future. So we want to get a better idea about that certainly as one factor before we provide any response to the letter or we have any more definitive judgment about this group. I think at this point I would just leave it as we're reserving judgment.

Yes.

QUESTION: The Islamists have also said that they would not like to have any foreign peacekeepers come in to help stabilize the country and enable the transitional government to be more active. I just wondered what your view was on having foreign peacekeepers in Somalia to help stabilize it. It would mean that you'd have to lift the U.N. embargo to allow these peacekeepers to take in weapons. I just wondered whether you had any response (a) the Islamists' comments on not wanting peacekeepers, and (b) do you think that it's time for the U.N. embargo to be lifted?

MR. MCCORMACK: I'm not aware of anybody who's proposing UN peacekeepers in Somalia.

QUESTION: The UN peacekeepers -- they would be African peacekeepers. I mean, part of the UN but coming from I think it's Kenya and I've forgotten the second country.

MR. MCCORMACK: I'm not aware of that proposal, Sue. I'm happy to look into it for you.

In terms of the arms embargo, I don't think our position on that has changed.

QUESTION: And finally, I asked you last week whether you had any comment on the international -- the Crisis Group's allegation that you -- that the United States was funding these antiterrorism --- the antiterrorism coalition to the tune of between $100 and $150,000 a month and you said you would look into it.

MR. MCCORMACK: Right. Still looking into it.

QUESTION: You're still looking into it?

MR. MCCORMACK: Yes.

QUESTION: And you never said which group you were helping or you were funding, but do you still fund this group or did you stop after the fall of Mogadishu?

MR. MCCORMACK: I think that's another way of asking Sue's question.

QUESTION: Could use -- just one more follow-up on Somalia. Can you tell us who -- you say there are known al-Qaida operatives in the country. Can you tell us who are these operatives and --

MR. MCCORMACK: Let me see if I can get their names for you. Yes.

QUESTION: Okay.

MR. MCCORMACK: Michel.

QUESTION: Britain has warned its citizens of a continuing high threat of terrorism in Saudi Arabia, saying that Westerners on visits, trips in the kingdom could be targeted. Do you have anything on that?

MR. MCCORMACK: Well, individual countries will put out travel warnings for their own citizens based on threat information and sort of the credibility of threats against their citizens or the interest of that country. You can check on our website to see what the latest Travel Warning is for the United States. I can't tell you that off the top of my head what it is.

Dave.

QUESTION: Circling back to the beginning. The U.S. decision to recognize Montenegro -- was there an advance notice given to the Government of Serbia on this and is this move in coordination with, for instance, European Union countries?

MR. MCCORMACK: Well, we did notify Montenegrins yesterday. I think it was done -- the timing of it was nearly coincident with the European Union’s -- it was about at the same time. As for notification to the Serbian Government, I would expect that we did. I don't have the details for you when we did that.

Yes, sir, in the back.

QUESTION: Same issue.

MR. MCCORMACK: We'll come back to you.

QUESTION: Do you envision a future for Montenegro in transatlantic institutions?

MR. MCCORMACK: As far as the transatlantic institutions we belong to -- NATO -- our position has always been that the door to NATO should remain open. There are certain criteria that countries would have to meet. I don't know that Montenegro at this point has had an opportunity to formulate a position on that. And I'm not sure that we ourselves, specifically with respect to Montenegro, have addressed the issue. But in general as a matter of principle, we believe that membership to NATO -- the membership pathway to NATO should remain an open one should states meet the criteria and express an interest and there's an interest on the part of NATO.

Let me go back here and then we'll come back. Yes, sir.

QUESTION: On the Somalia conference also in New York, and since the meeting's about helping Somalia is fundraising part of the agenda?

MR. MCCORMACK: Fundraising?

QUESTION: For Somalia institutions.

MR. MCCORMACK: Well, these countries are -- have been gathered up because they do have a strong interest in Somalia. Many of them have programs, aid programs for Somalia. So part of the discussion will be how we might best coordinate those programs so you can eliminate any overlap, so you might address areas where there are gaps. In terms of new money, I would expect they would take a look at what the needs are and what additional funds might be needed. I think we will -- in terms of future fundraising -- going out to countries beyond this group, I think I'd wait until the meeting has been completed and see what the results of the discussion are.

QUESTION: And since Somalia is both a member of Arab League and also Islamic -- in the Organization of Islamic Conference, I wonder if any of those member states from this organization has been invited?

MR. MCCORMACK: I've given you the attendance list at this point. Like I said, we leave the possibility open that we might expand the membership in this contact group, either as participants or as observers. So I would leave it open. But at this point, no, they're not going to be participating.

QUESTION: Guantanamo.

MR. MCCORMACK: Yes.

QUESTION: What is your view of the ad placed by religious leaders today in The New York Times about Guantanamo and the potential U.S. practice of torture?

MR. MCCORMACK: Didn't see it.

QUESTION: And what do you make of Ursula Plassnik's remarks yesterday?

MR. MCCORMACK: Read New York Times online this morning, so didn't see the ad.

QUESTION: They spared you the ad online?

MR. MCCORMACK: Didn't see the ad.

QUESTION: So you didn't see the AP story about the ad either? Ursula Plassnik said yesterday that she expects to raise the issue of EU opposition to Guantanamo and request that it be closed when Bush is in Europe next week. How large an agenda item do you expect that to be and what do you expect him to say?

MR. MCCORMACK: I think they're going to be -- I'm not going to prefigure what the President might say if the topic is brought up. If it is, certainly we'll be ready to discuss it. We've done so in private in the past. We have done so in public in the past. I'm not going to try to predict what the President will say.

As for how high up the agenda this will be, I can't tell you. There are a lot of different issues that are competing for the time of the leaders that are going to be gathered. You know, I expect that they will also talk about Iran, they would also talk about trade issues and I would expect the war on terrorism will come up. And certainly Guantanamo is -- the issue of Guantanamo is part of the war on terrorism. What do you do with those individuals that are captured on the battlefield or captured as a result of intelligence activities and are taken off the street so that they can't commit acts of violence against innocent civilians? So certainly that is a question.

We have no desire, as I've said before, as many other members of the Administration have said before, we have no interest in being the world's jailers. But there is a practical question of what do you do with these people who are committed to planning or engaging in acts of terrorism. It's a hard question to deal with. We ourselves are trying to deal with it. We are -- we have Guantanamo Bay. It is open for a reason. We would like nothing better than at some point down the line to be in the position where it's closed. We're not at that point.

We also are working to try to send individuals from Guantanamo back to their countries of origin with the understanding that they won't be mistreated and that they won't walk out the back door of the jail and be allowed to commit acts of terrorism against U.S. or other individuals.

So if it comes up, I'm sure the President will be ready to address it.

QUESTION: Have you had any further contact with the governments of Saudi Arabia and Yemen to discuss the prisoners who committed suicide and also the repatriation of their remains, or have they already been repatriated?

MR. MCCORMACK: To my knowledge, they have not. We're still in contact with them on the matter.

QUESTION: Can you comment upon --

MR. MCCORMACK: I'll come back to you. Go ahead.

QUESTION: -- recent comments by Russian Nobel Laureate Alexander Solzhenitsyn who stated on Channel 2 Television in Russia, "Though it is clear that present day Russia poses no threat to it whatsoever, NATO is emphatically and persistently expanding its military apparatus in the East of Europe and is implementing an encirclement of Russia from the South. All this leaves no doubt that they are preparing a complete encirclement of Russia, which will be followed by deprivation of her sovereignty." He also added that, "Democracy cannot be imposed from above by clever laws and wise politicians. It must not be forced on people like a cap. Democracy can only grow upwards like a plant. Democracy must begin at the local level with local self-government and is not worth a brass farthing if it is being installed by bayonets." That's pretty strong.

MR. MCCORMACK: Thoughts of a private individual.

Teri.

QUESTION: Have the governments of Saudi and Yemen indicated they don't want you to send the remains back? Is that what's holding up some of the talks when you say you're still in discussions?

MR. MCCORMACK: No, you know, I'll check for you, Teri, to see exactly what their desires are in that regard. I honestly don't know. I don't know.

QUESTION: Isn't it kind of time-sensitive that you have to figure out what to do with them?

MR. MCCORMACK: There is an imam who has been present. The remains are being treated certainly with great respect and certainly with sensitivity to the religious guidelines that would apply in this case.

Sue.

QUESTION: In terms of where you're going with policy towards Guantanamo Bay, is the goal to sort of whittle down the number of prisoners who you have at Guantanamo Bay by repatriating or returning them, or whichever term you want to use, to their home countries, and then you won't accept any new prisoners? Do you have -- I don't think there have been any new inmates in Guantanamo Bay for -- is it about six months or more?

MR. MCCORMACK: Check with DOD. Check with DOD on that.

QUESTION: Yeah, but what is the overall plan? Is it to gradually reduce the numbers so that -- and not to accept any new ones so that it would just sort of close on its own?

MR. MCCORMACK: Well, there are individuals who have been nominated for, I guess for lack of a better word, trial before military commissions. Now, those commissions have had some preliminary procedures already, but the actual commissions themselves, I don't think, have begun in earnest. You can check with DOD.

QUESTION: (inaudible) Supreme Court --

MR. MCCORMACK: Yes, the Hamdan case. And the lawyers are going to -- I think are going to take a look at what is contained in the Supreme Court decision and how it might affect the military commissions and the rules and regulations that guide the military commissions. But DOD can give you a better handle on that.

So, you know, presuming that you do have these military commissions and there might be some individuals that would be found guilty -- I don't want to -- can't say whether some or all or what number of them might be found guilty -- but presumably there would be some who might be found guilty -- you would need a place to keep them. So I think at this point, you know, Guantanamo is that place.

Now, what the long-term disposition of these individuals might be is a matter of policy. It's also a matter of what the courts might say about it. So at this point the plan is we have Guantanamo, it's there for a reason and it's going to remain open. As for future plans, those will be decisions that are going to be made by policy makers informed by other factors.

QUESTION: Another subject. Cuba. The Cuban authority denies that they cut electricity to --

MR. MCCORMACK: Uh-huh. We did pay our power bill.

QUESTION: And they said it's a problem of bad weather.

MR. MCCORMACK: Uh-huh. I see. You'll excuse me if I don't take that explanation at face value. Look, you know, this is an authoritarian regime. It's not as though they don't control the power company and whether or not the power gets cut off to the U.S. Interests Section. And I would note it is very, very strange, and I lay this out for whether it's coincidence or not, but it's the only building or compound on the block that doesn't have power. So -- and we did pay our power bill.

Okay, thanks.

(The briefing was concluded at 1:05 p.m.)