U.S. Foreign Policy Update

MR. BAILY: Good afternoon and welcome to the Foreign Press Center. I'm glad so many of you could make it on what was a logistically challenging day.

Today is a briefing of some note for two reasons. The first is this marks our first time we have been doing such briefings over the web that will enable journalists to ask questions off the web if you're not able to be here, so I hope that is something of use to people in this room and people on the web in places like Los Angeles and New York.

And second is that today is the final time, at least for now, that Adam Ereli will be briefing here, as he will be moving on to other things. And so with that I'll let him explain that, and welcome back to the podium, Adam.

MR. ERELI: Thank you, Jess. Hello, everybody. As Jess said, this will be my last briefing at the Foreign Press Center. We've been doing this for three years now and, like all good things, it moves very or passes very quickly. And you know, I just frankly don't know where the time has gone, but in August I'll be moving -- actually, at the end of this week I'll be leaving my current position as Deputy Spokesman and moving on to another assignment.

I think you all probably know the person who will be taking my place, Mr. Tom Casey, who is the Director of our Press Office. So he's been frankly following all of what we've been doing and participating in much of the briefings for the past three years as well, so it will be a seamless transition and you will be in very, very capable and friendly hands with Mr. Casey. I'll miss all of you.

But I think, you know, in three years, actually building on what my predecessor began frankly and what Duncan and his predecessor Dave Ballard and Jess have been able to do, the Foreign Press Center really is frankly a staple of foreign news gathering in Washington and is very much one of the focal points for the U.S. Government's efforts to communicate to audiences, very important audiences overseas. So it will continue to be that with Mr. Casey.

The good news is he's great and he understands and he appreciates and he values what the Foreign Press Center does and what all of you do every day, and we'll have continuity with Duncan and Jess. So foreign news reporting at the Department of State is strong and consistent and I thank all of you for your friendship and good relations and hopefully we'll meet again sometime.

And that's it by way of introduction. Yes, sir.

QUESTION: Thanks. Andrei Sitov from Tass from Russia. Thank you for doing the briefing. We certainly wish you every success in whatever you choose to do next, whatever your next assignment is.

Unfortunately, I have a rather tragic story to begin the briefing with. As you know, there's been some tragic news from Baghdad today. I wonder if you have any reaction to that.

MR. ERELI: I've seen -- obviously we've seen the press report. We've seen claims from terrorists in Iraq that four members of the Russian Embassy staff were killed. We have not been able to independently confirm that but we have seen the statements by the Russian Foreign Ministry confirming it.

Obviously the United States mourns the loss of innocent life in Iraq whenever it occurs. Our sense of loss is all the more, I think, poignant today because Russia is a good friend and valued partner of the United States in the war on terror and clearly this was an act of terror. There's no justification for it whatsoever. Those who committed this act know no civilized -- respect no civilized norms. They need to be hunted down and held accountable. That is what all of us who work for a better Iraq are dedicated to and the MNFI, Multinational Forces in Iraq, the Iraqi security forces and all of us who work for a better Iraq will commit ourselves to that in order to hold those responsible for this act accountable and also to prevent I think more -- equally importantly, to prevent other innocent victims from suffering the same fate.

Yes, sir.

MR. BAILY: If you could wait for the microphone, please.

QUESTION: Umit Enginsoy with Turkish NTV Television. First, good luck with the rest of your career.

MR. ERELI: You know, the great thing about this job is you never know when you're doing these briefings if you're going to have a career after one of these briefings. (Laughter.)

QUESTION: You probably will.

The Turkish Foreign Minister was in Tehran yesterday with high-level talks on the nuclear dispute and the Iranian guy responsible for the nuclear talks, he suggested that this could be a good idea for Turkey to mediate or whatever. And do you have a comment on the visit first in general? And secondly, was this a full Turkish initiative or the United States supported in any way, and have you received a feedback from the Turks? And in more general terms, how do you see Turkey, Turkey's position on this dispute?

MR. ERELI: Thank you. The United States consulted closely on this visit by the Foreign Minister to Tehran. It was a Turkish visit. They were -- the Government of Turkey was acting in pursuit of its foreign policies and its national interests. Fortunately, as in most cases, I think the interests and priorities of the United States and Turkey are in close convergence and it was certainly the case in this visit. Turkey is a -- has regular relations with Tehran and they are concerned, as are we, by their nuclear program and this was an opportunity for Turkey, I think, to, among other things that they talked about with the Iranians about -- and for that, you can talk to the Turkish Government.

But on the subject of their nuclear program, it was an opportunity for the Turkish Government to, I think, reiterate the concerns of the international community, certainly concerns shared by Turkey, I think, shared by the United States, shared by the European Union, shared by the UN Security Council, shared by the P-5+1 about Iran's continuing effort to develop a nuclear weapon, its refusal to answer questions from the IAEA, its refusal to suspend enrichment and enter into negotiations.

So, I think what we see in this visit, frankly, is yet another indication of an important and influential country representing to the Iranian Government the error of its ways, the error of the Iranian Government's ways, and expressing the fervent hope that -- I would say, actually, fervent expectation that Iran will -- the Government of Iran will accept what is a very bold and positive initiative to return to negotiations.

As you know, there is a process for that -- for those negotiations. There is a channel that has been set up between the EU president, Mr. Solana, and -- sorry, the EU president, Mr. Solana, and the Iranian national security adviser, Mr. Larijani, and that's, frankly, the channel in which the response should be given.

QUESTION: Can I follow up?

MR. BAILY: Wait for the mike, please.

QUESTION: Two details. Anything about possible Turkish mediation?

MR. ERELI: I haven't heard anything about that and as I said, there is an established channel for dealing with this and that's between Mr. Solana and Mr. Larijani.

QUESTION: Adam, has the Secretary called the Turkish Foreign Minister?

MR. ERELI: I don't -- no, there's been no such call yet, so --

QUESTION: No such call?

MR. ERELI: No readout to share with you on that.

Yes, ma'am.

QUESTION: Hi, my name is Shafap Nehraliyera with Azertaj. Adam, thank you very much for being with us for three years.

MR. ERELI: Sure, sure.

QUESTION: And good luck in the future. I've got two quick questions on south Caucasus if I may. Have you guys seen the satellite images released by the minister of foreign affairs of Azerbaijan of the burned occupied Azerbaijani territories? Azerbaijan says that the responsibility lies on the Armenian forces that have control in those territories. Any response to that?

MR. ERELI: We've seen the reports. I don't -- I'm not aware if we've seen the photographs. We're aware of the issue. My understanding is that the OSCE has sent a team to investigate. That's the competent international authority, we think, to look into this issue and we look forward to hearing their report.

QUESTION: And the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh republic representatives are in town holding some meetings. They say they have meetings with Bush Administration members as well. Can you confirm that?

MR. ERELI: Well, first, as a matter of principle, as you know, we don't recognize the so-called region of -- or entity of Nagorno-Karabakh. We support the territorial integrity of the existing states. There are two individuals from Nagorno-Karabakh who are here in Washington. We will be meeting -- our Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Matt Bryza will be meeting with them in his capacity as co-chair of the Minsk group of the OSCE, and we've done that before. That's a regular -- it's a regular forum in which to engage in discussions of this issue. So the bottom line is no new policy, no departure from previous channels and mechanisms for dealing with this issue.

Yes, sir.

MR. BAILY: Wait for the mike, please.

QUESTION: Thank you. Ruben Barrera with Notimex, Mexico. Given the close relationship between both countries and the way that events in both sides of the border affect each other, and also given the fact that we are less than a week to have presidential elections in Mexico, I wonder first how close are you guys following this particular election? And also, what is your assessment in the political and civic climate for this election? Yesterday, Mr. Lopez Obrador offered a civility pact. Because of the closeness that many people expect in this election, there are some fears in the government that maybe the results could be disputed by any of the two leading parties, in this case, the PRD and the PAN. So I wonder if you can give your assessment on the climate.

MR. ERELI: Well, I don't really want to -- I don't want to handicap the Mexican election or, frankly, offer political commentary about another nation's electoral campaign. Obviously, we're following it closely for, I think, a couple of reasons. One is because Mexico is such an important country and for reasons of, I think, history and geography and shared interests for the United States.

Second of all, with regard to this election in particular, what I think -- the way I would characterize it is yet another indication of the health and dynamism and vibrancy of Mexico's democracy. The fact that you -- you know, that you have -- that this is yet another in a regular series of free and opened and hotly contested electoral contests is a positive and welcome and important development -- important indicator of political life in Mexico and is something that we very much welcome and value. And we have every faith that Mexican political and constitutional institutions and procedures are fully capable of ensuring that this is a smooth and transparent and free and fair election.

Yes, ma'am.

QUESTION: Thank you. Sonia Schott with Radio Valera in Venezuela. And Mr. Ereli, first of all, I will like to wish you good luck in your new assignment.

Okay. My question is on Venezuela. Venezuela is trying very hard to obtain the position at the UN Security Council. Despite the comments on the -- the U.S. is against this on -- with regard to Venezuela. Are you, in any way, worried about the lack of international support to the U.S. in this regard?

MR. ERELI: Well, this isn't -- the countries of the UN choose the members of the Security Council, so it's not the U.S. choosing the members of the Security Council; it's the membership of the UN choosing the members of the Security Council. That's point one.

Point two, there are a number of candidates for the upcoming Security Council seat vacancy. Venezuela is one of them. It's up to the country with -- it's up to the countries involved to decide who gets that seat and then evaluate the candidates based on their contributions to the United Nations, to the principles that the United Nations stands for. And the United States has its views, it discusses those views with other countries; other countries have their views, they need to be taken into account. And frankly, I think the person -- we think the country that eventually gets chosen should be one that best represents the values, ideals of the UN and has contributed meaningfully to international peace and security and to the activities of the Security Council. That's the criteria that is important to us.

And we'll go up to New York.

QUESTION: Yes, thank you very much. My question is about the upcoming G-8 summit. I'm Neeme Raud with Estonian TV. What can you say about the preparations for the summit in Washington and how President Bush will handle the kind of line between being critical of Russia on many issues and Russia as a host? Thank you.

MR. ERELI: Well, in terms of preparations, as you may know, as we announced -- we certainly announced today, Secretary Rice will be headed to Moscow. In fact, she's leaving shortly. She'll be there this week to meet with her G-8 counterparts to prepare for the summit.

In terms of relations with Russia, I think you know our position. The President has spoken to it very eloquently. The Secretary has spoken to it. It is important for the United States, for Russia to -- or to engage Russia fully in all the institutions and international organizations to help it be a strong and positive influence on the world stage and that's what our policy is geared toward.

When we have issues with Russian actions on any one of a number of areas, we have a good enough relationship where we can speak to those frankly and openly. We do so, but that should not obscure the very important relationship between the United States and Russia, and Russia and the rest of the world.

Yeah.

QUESTION: Alexsandr Plokhov, Russian Itaar Tass news agency. I have a question about the Secretary Rice visit to Moscow, especially about what questions she's going to raise during her talks with Foreign Minister Lavrov.

MR. ERELI: I don't want to get too far ahead of the Secretary or her visit. As I said, the major principal purpose of this trip is to prepare for the G-8 ministerial. I'm sure the Secretary and her -- and Foreign Minister Lavrov will have the opportunity to meet and discuss bilateral issues as well. And you know they -- the two of them -- have a very good relationship. They meet regularly, they speak on the phone regularly. So in the bilateral discussions, it will be an opportunity, I think, to continue the work that they are regularly engaged in.

And there are obviously a whole host of issues in which the United States and Russia, I think, are working at -- working with a common purpose and with common cause, whether it be dealing with the Iranian nuclear program, whether it be -- as I said earlier in response to an earlier question -- combating terror, whether it be supporting democracy in -- around Russia and in Russia. There is, as I said, a long and full list of issues that they regularly engage on and this will be an opportunity to pursue that.

Yes, sir.

QUESTION: Thank you, Endele Getahem from ECTV, Japan TV. What's your response on the border issue between Ethiopia and Eritrea? And this week, the Ethiopians' actions in Eritrea for meddling with -- together with Somalia to invade some part of Ethiopian border and now there's tension in the Horn of Africa and what's your response on that?

MR. ERELI: Our response is that all sides should refrain from violence. There's been too much fighting and too much death already. It's in nobody's interest, Ethiopia's, Eritrea's, or Somalia's, to return to hostilities. The UN and the existing international -- there are existing international mechanisms in place to deal with the Eritrean-Ethiopian border dispute. The United States calls on all parties to respect that mechanism and to work cooperatively with them. We are very much against any actions by any party that inflames or changes the status quo in ways that aren't consistent with international efforts to resolve this peacefully.

QUESTION: Adam, this will be a different topic on an Ethiopian domestic issue. As you know, on the May election, there's a dispute, a dispute is going on, and there's Honorable Ana Gomes from the European Commission observer team leader. She'll be here in the United States to address the Congress tomorrow. Is any one of your representatives will be attending this?

MR. ERELI: I'm not familiar with that visit, so I don’t really have much to share with you about it.

QUESTION: And what's your position on the elections? I know there is --

MR. ERELI: Which elections?

QUESTION: The election last year, the position of being arrested and --

MR. ERELI: Yeah, I think we've made that very -- our position on that very clear, that -- and there's been no change, that the government should either charge or release those imprisoned. Those who have been charged should be provided legal representation and treated humanely and provided fair trials.

Anything else? Yeah.

QUESTION: Yongbeom Heo, the Chosun Ilbo Korean newspaper in Seoul. With regard to North Korean missile issue, the President of the United States has directly talked with the President of China, with President of Russia and with the Prime Minister of Japan. As far as I know, the only president -- state of -- head of state in six-party talks countries except North Korea who President Bush did not talk directly is Korean President. Could you give me some comments on that issue?

And additionally, what kind of common understanding have you reached with regard to North Korea missile issue with Korean Government? Thank you.

MR. ERELI: I'm the deputy spokesman of the State Department. I'm not the spokesman of the White House, so as far as presidential calls go, who he's called and a readout of those calls, I would refer you to the White House for an authoritative answer to that part of your question.

I would say that the sort of detailed status of calls aside, the relationships between the United States and South -- there is no more valued or important relationship for the United States in that part of the world than the U.S.-Korean relationship. They are a treaty ally and I wouldn't read whether or not a call has been made or not been made as any reflection of the strength of that partnership, the importance of the relationship to the United States or the close relationship our two leaderships have. So let's put the issue in the proper context, really.

Second of all, in terms of understandings with regard to the North Korean missile issue, I think it should be pretty clear to everybody, to all of you, that there is a commonly held view among all the nations in the region and the international community that the North Korean missile test would be a provocative act and a very bad idea, and we are all working together with one goal in mind, and that is -- actually, a couple goals in mind. But the near-term goal is to not have a test and the broader goal is to work together to achieve a more secure and stable Korean Peninsula. That is the purpose of the six-party talks. We believe that a return to the six-party talks as soon as possible is most desirable and we continue to work toward that end.

MR. BAILY: We have a question over here.

MR. ERELI: Yes, a web question.

MS. ARCHIBEQUE: We have a question from the web from Olaolu Akande from Nigeria, the Guardian bureau chief. I'm not sure if this is something, but on August 5th the Washington Post reported that the Maryland home of the Nigerian Vice President was raided. What public comments does the U.S. Government have about this?

MR. ERELI: Sounds like a law enforcement issue. I don't know the facts, but this is the kind of thing that when there are legal or judicial or law enforcement matters, the competent authorities to speak to those are the governments that were involved -- I'm sorry, are the authorities that were involved and it certainly wasn't the State Department.

One more?

QUESTION: This is also on Ethiopia. Do you have any contact or have the new-formed opposition FDA has contacted with the State Department yet or --

MR. ERELI: Well, we have -- I mean, I don't know the specific answer to that question. We have regular contacts with Ethiopian groups, legitimate opposition groups committed to peaceful dissent and peaceful political participation. That's a regular part of our diplomatic engagement not only with Ethiopia but with countries around the world. With regard to this specific group, I'm not familiar with the group. I don't know -- I don't know if we've met with them. But as I said, we regularly meet with opposition groups from all countries.

QUESTION: Thank you.

MR. ERELI: Thank you.