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Question: Can I talk about the Middle East? Mr. Foley: Yes, ma'am. Question: Dennis Ross went to brief Prime Minister Barak today in Israel. Is it just to brief him about what happened, or is he carrying specific ideas? And can you tell us about them? Mr. Foley: Well, I'm not in a position to share his talking points or his agenda publicly, but I think the White House was clear yesterday in Geneva that Ambassador Ross would be traveling to Israel to brief the Prime Minister on the results of the meeting between President Clinton and President Assad yesterday. That's the essential focus. Question: And on the Palestinian-Israeli track, what's going on at Bolling? I mean, how long are they going to be talking? Do you have a date for this session? Mr. Foley: Yes. Question: And we heard there might be some problems about--in the talks about the third redeployment, the Palestinians want to discuss with the Israelis and the Israelis are not interested. Mr. Foley: Actually, on that point, it is a matter that they have discussed. It hasn't predominated by any means. They have been largely focused on permanent status issues. As you know, the aim of these talks is to try to rapidly reach a framework agreement that would enable the parties to resolve all of the outstanding permanent status issues by September 13th of this year--a very ambitious agenda. But they have discussed the issue of the third interim stage withdrawal, and we expect--they've agreed to discuss it again in the future. In terms of logistically or procedurally where they are, the parties--the Israelis and Palestinians--continued their discussions over the weekend. They are meeting today. They will be meeting again tomorrow. Secretary Albright is going to meet with both delegations together today. Our assessment of the talks is that they have been serious, intensive and indeed productive. We expect that the parties will return tomorrow to brief their leaderships and to resume their negotiations in Washington in the next few weeks. I don't have a specific time or date for the resumption, but they will be coming back to Washington. Question: But tomorrow--it's ending tomorrow, the first session? Mr. Foley: Yes, they will meet again tomorrow and then depart tomorrow. That's right. Question: You mentioned that the met again at the weekend? Mr. Foley: Yes. Question: It's just a detail, but I understood they were breaking. Was it both days or-- Mr. Foley: They were breaking? I'm sorry. Question: I understood that they took a break at the weekend. Mr. Foley: Well, from the beginning of the Sabbath, Friday evening until sundown Saturday, they did not meet or work, but they did meet and work on Friday and on Saturday and on Sunday. Question: About-- Mr. Foley: Don't tell me you forgot your question. Question: About Clinton--no, I don't think so. About Clinton and Assad in Geneva Question: Can we stay with the Palestinian talks? Mr. Foley: Sure. We'll come back to you. Question: Is the meeting that the Secretary's going to have at Bolling with them, or here? Mr. Foley: No, here. Question: What time? Mr. Foley: I'll get you that afterwards. Question: On the meeting in-- Mr. Foley: Let me hasten to interrupt to say that I've said about all I have to say about the President's meeting. Mr. Lockhart, I think, had something to say after the meeting yesterday in Geneva. I don't have much beyond that today. Question: I understand, Jim. This is not your territory exactly, but you know, little progress is one of the descriptions--that the talks between Syria and Israel were not advanced much, if at all. Are those characterizations that you would agree with or would you say that this did, in fact, advance the cause of peace between Israel and Syria? Mr. Foley: Well, whether the meeting becomes, in hindsight, an event that led to progress will only be known to us in hindsight as events develop in the course of time. What we can say now, though, and it's important to be clear, is that there remain differences between the two sides. What is important is that as far as the United States is concerned, and not only the United States but indeed the Israelis and the Syrians, is that we are going to continue working with the parties. They want us to continue working with them. All sides agree on the importance of continuing these efforts to clarify positions and needs so that there is confidence that if negotiations resume they will have a reasonable chance of success and progress. And so we are not going to give up the effort. It's important to continue. The stakes are important. The prize of peace is worth the effort, and we are going to continue to work with them to try to clarify positions and see whether agreement is possible. Question: So Dennis Ross makes the next step, basically? Mr. Foley: I didn't say that. Question: No? Mr. Foley: He's briefing the Prime Minister of Israel today. He returns tomorrow. And we've not really spoken from this podium about our lines of communication to the parties, but we will be in touch with the parties.
Question: Was there any Israeli officials in Geneva so that the President, President Clinton, could determine that the positions of President Assad were not enough to bridge the gap? This is one track. And the other thing, President Mubarak is here. Is he meeting with Secretary Albright and is there any mediation on the Egyptian side on the Israeli-Palestinian or the Israeli-Syrian tracks? Mr. Foley: Well, that's a lot of questions. As to whether there are any Israeli officials in Geneva, I would be surprised if there weren't Israeli officials in Geneva. As to whether that's in any way pertinent to your question, I doubt it. I'd have to refer you to the White House. I wasn't in Geneva. I believe that the President had adequate means of talking to counterparts at his level in Israel. Dennis Ross is now in Israel to meet with the Prime Minister, so I don't think the question, as I said, is pertinent. In terms of President Mubarak, obviously, he is a man of vision and influence in the region and we are going to be discussing with him over the course of his visit a whole range of issues both bilaterally and regionally, including the Middle East peace process. He's been very helpful in that area historically. I wouldn't attach the word mediation to it, but he's a friend of the peace process and has played a very constructive role in that regard. I believe Secretary Albright is meeting with him tomorrow and, of course, he's seeing the President and Vice President and others while he's here. Question: You've qualified the Israeli-Palestinian talks when they begun as "brainstorming sessions." Mr. Foley: Yes. Question: And now you've said that they have been productive. So they've gone a bit further than brainstorming? Have they begun--has there been a narrowing of gaps? And on what specific issues of the-- Mr. Foley: I'm not going to get into the issues--sorry, you'll be surprised to learn. But they've gone well, though. I think that's the fundamental point. As Mr. Rubin indicated, yes, these were brainstorming sessions; in other words, a session characterized mostly by the exchange of ideas. They haven't put pen to paper to this point, but they've gone well. There's a real, as Mr. Rubin said last week, a real sense of common destiny and a sense that they're partners and that they need to work these very difficult issues out successfully. But I'm not in a position to parse for you. This is the first round here in Washington. They're going home tomorrow. They're going to come back. And, obviously, it's a shortened or an accelerated agenda if we want to get the final distance to a permanent status agreement between now and September, but I don't have a specific progress report for you.
Question: Secretary Albright will meet with the Palestinians and the Israelis. When? And you said that they are coming in a few weeks before they mentioned that they will go back for a few days and come back. Mr. Foley: No, I did say that. Yes, that they meet, they're continuing their discussions today and tomorrow, and they go back home tomorrow. Question: But they will come back after several weeks or several days? Mr. Foley: Several weeks. A few weeks. Question: But time is pressing. I mean, the deadline is in May, and they were supposed to go home for five days at the beginning and then come back for the second session. So why is it-- Mr. Foley: Well, they will be coming back for a second session soon. Question: But in a few weeks. Mr. Foley: Soon. Question: In a few weeks. Mr. Foley: Well, I may have misspoken. You're pressing me on a date, and I'm not in a position to give you a date. We'll hopefully be able to do that shortly. But as I said, let me quote myself, "We expect them to resume the negotiations in the next few weeks." Was there another question? Question: At what time will they be meeting Mrs. Albright? Will they be comments by Mrs. Albright-- Mr. Foley: They may be meeting very shortly. No, it's not a public meeting. But I would expect soon. Question: You said she's meeting both sides together at the same time? Mr. Foley: Yes. In her office, yes. Any other questions? [end of excerpt] Full transcript of Daily Press Briefing on 3/27/00
Near Eastern Affairs | Department of State | Secretary of State |
