Remarks from the Spokesman outside Hotel Belvedere, Davos, Switzerland

7:15pm local time

MR. BOUCHER: Secretary Powell took advantage of the fact that a number of world leaders are here in Davos to meet with a whole series of meetings this afternoon. He met with the Swiss Foreign Minister Calmy-Rey, with Mongolian Prime Minister Enkhbayar, South Korean special envoy Chung, Turkish Prime Minister Gul and AK party leader Erdogan, International Red Cross president Kellenberger, Argentine President Dualde, and Australian Foreign Minister Downer.

QUESTION: Richard, Erdogan was in the Gul meeting?

MR. BOUCHER: Yes. If you saw when they came out….yes, it was Gul and Erdogan. Erdogan was standing with them when they came out. As you might expect, in most of the meetings, Iraq and or North Korea were principle topics of the discussions, so let me review it thematically.

On Iraq, the Secretary laid out the events ahead, stressing the importance of the inspectors' report on Monday, and our intention to be in close touch with other members of the Security Council and of the international community as we consider the report and decide on next steps. All agreed that Saddam Hussein must shift to active cooperation with the inspectors in order to achieve peaceful disarmament.

Turkish Prime Minister Gul explained efforts he had been making to make this message clear to the Iraqi regime, including the statement issued by regional states last week. The Secretary welcomed that statement. With the Turkish Prime Minister, he also discussed the need to prepare for the possible use of force should Saddam Hussein not accept peaceful disarmament. I should add in here that he also made clear that the President made no decisions on the use of force, and our desire to see Iraq disarm peacefully.

With the Swiss Foreign Minister and the International Red Cross president, he also discussed preparations that we and they are making to meet the humanitarian needs of the Iraqi people, should it come to war.

With Australian Foreign Minister Downer, South Korean envoy Chung, and Mongolian President Enkhbayar, he also discussed the situations in North Korea. He explained our desire to seek a peaceful resolution of the issues, making clear that North Korea must end its nuclear enrichment program, and abide by its commitments to the International Atomic Energy Agency and its commitments and other agreements.

With Argentine President Dualde he discussed the current economic situation in Argentina, noting that Argentina now had an interim agreement with the International Monetary Fund. President Dualde expressed appreciation for US efforts in that regard and expressed the hope that Argentina could return to a path of recovery, a hope that we share.