'We Remain Engaged On The Subject'

Question: I appreciate that you may not be the best person to ask about this, but you're in a better placethan I think I am or anyone else in this room is. I understand that as the Secretary and the President werewinging their way to Europe, that the Secretary spoke with Foreign Secretary Straw. Can you, if possible, giveus a rundown of maybe what they talked about, and specifically if they talked about the situation betweenIndia and Pakistan?

Mr Reeker: I can not give you any particular rundown on that. The Secretary did speak with Foreign Secretary Straw,which, as you know, he does with some frequency on a number of topics. I think the situation in South Asiacertainly is one of the topics they have been discussing lately.

Obviously it is a worrisome situation. As we have said before, we think it is vital for all sides toexercise restraint and reduce violence. It is important for India and Pakistan to resume a productive dialogueover the issues that divide them, including Kashmir. And so that's what we have continued to urge, and ofcourse we have been working closely with the British and with other allies and interested parties in theinternational community to that end.

The Secretary mentioned it yesterday in his appearance with Mr. Solana. That was one of the subjects theydiscussed. And so we'll continue to discuss that, to continue to follow it closely, and to continue supportingefforts to reduce tension, because it is really up to the parties to agree --

Question: Is there anything you can say about Deputy Secretary Armitage's planned visit to the region?

Mr Reeker: No. As you know, we have said that Deputy Secretary Armitage will travel to the region in the near future. Idon't have an exact date or itinerary to announce at this point. The Secretary, as well as other officials,have been remaining very engaged with their counterparts in South Asia and with other allies, as I indicated.But we will let you know once we have a better picture of the calendar on these things.

Question: Do you have any comment on Prime Minister Vajpayee's remarks?

Mr Reeker: Well, I think the most important thing I can say from here is what we have said before, and in fact what Ijust said, that it is vital for all sides in Kashmir to exercise restraint, to reduce violence. The shellingacross the line of control in Kashmir has recently increased. It is now heavy. We find this a very worrisomedevelopment. We have repeatedly stated our strong concerns about the potential for conflict between India andPakistan and about the danger of it spiraling out of control.

And I would reiterate once again that armed conflict can only add to the problems that divide these twonuclear-armed neighbors. It is not going to solve any problems. And that is why we think restraint, reductionin violence is vital, and most importantly, a dialogue needs to take place between these two neighbors. Thesurest way to lower tension and resolve disputes is through dialogue. An important component of the process,of course, is an end to infiltration into Kashmir. We have said this before, and we continue to call uponPakistan to do all it can to achieve that objective.

And as I said already, we support efforts to reduce tensions. It is up to the parties to the dispute toagree on any use of international monitors to reduce tensions and avoid conflict. As I said, we remain engagedon the subject. The Deputy Secretary will go there in the near future, and we will continue to monitor thisvery closely.

Question: After so many terrorist activities in Kashmir, now comes the assassination of the most modern andwell known Mr. Ghani Lone in Srinagar. And that also undermines the peace process or free elections and allthat. So do you have any comments?

Mr Reeker: Well, I think you saw that yesterday Secretary Powell put out a statement regarding that assassination. Heexpressed the fact that he was saddened and angered when we learned of the assassination of Abdul Ghani Lone,who was a Kashmiri political leader, who was assassinated in Srinagar yesterday.

I don't believe we have seen any claim of responsibility for the murder, but this was obviously a directattack on the hopes for a fair political process in Kashmir, and the killers are obviously among those who areagainst peace and oppose a peaceful political resolution there. It was a terrorist act that was designed toundermine the hopes of the Kashmiri people for free and fair elections without violence.

And so I would go back to reiterating the points I made earlier about the need for dialogue with all sidesthat are involved in Kashmir. But we certainly condemn the crime that took place yesterday in the strongestpossible way, and we extend our condolences to Mr. Lone's family and to the Kashmiri people.

Question: Quick follow-up. You said Secretary's anger. Anger at what? It means does he now acknowledge thatthere is terrorism against India or against the Kashmiri people in Kashmir?

Mr Reeker: I think you have just heard the statement, you read the statement -- exactly what the Secretary said. We wereangered at the --

Question: Anger at what?

Mr Reeker: Angered at the assassination of this person, which was clearly a terrorist act. Why don't you go back andlisten to what I said and what the Secretary's statements said yesterday?

Question: So he is trying to find out where the terrorists are coming and who is supporting them?

Mr Reeker: Again, I don't think we had seen any claim of responsibility for that act. The act is deplorable. It was amurder of somebody who was trying to use peaceful political means to resolve differences and that was clearlyperpetrated by murderers who were opposed to peace. And again, the violence will not accomplish anything; willonly result in more death, more tension. We need to focus on dialogue with all the parties involved to worktowards a peaceful resolution of problems there.

Question: I don't want to be nit-picky, but if you don't know who the killers were, how can you speak totheir motives? You said it was designed to hurt the prospects for peace.

Mr Reeker: I think that is fairly obvious in the assassination of a figure of this magnitude -- what Mr. Lone wasinvolved with. He was a political leader who was clearly assassinated in Srinagar. And while no one hasclaimed, to my knowledge, responsibility for the murder, it was an attack upon the hopes for a fair politicalprocess in Kashmir. This was a figure, a leader, who sought to achieve goals through peaceful, democraticmeans, and courageously stood up to extremists. And now he's been killed, and so we deplore that killing, wecondemn that crime, and we call upon all parties to pursue a dialogue, a peaceful dialogue, to resolve theirdifferences.

Question: Britain has now decided to pull out its non-essential staff from Pakistan, as well as familymembers. I know that the US has already done that, but is there any thought being given to further evacuationsor departures?

Mr Reeker: We do understand that Britain is withdrawing some of its diplomatic staff in Pakistan following an assessmentof the internal security environment and appraisal of their security posture. You will recall, as youindicated, Teri, that this is similar to the ordered departure of our personnel in Pakistan recently. We stillhave a Travel Warning in place, clearly in effect for Pakistan, that indicates the fact that we did pull outnon-emergency personnel and family members, as you are quite aware of.

Clearly there is security concerns in Pakistan. As our Travel Warning notes, a journalist was kidnapped andexecuted there. A trial is currently underway in that case. There was a bombing of a church frequented byWesterners. And so I think we continue to monitor the situation very closely. Our Embassy remains open withthe decreased staffing.

Question: Is there anything you want to say on the Pearl situation?

Mr Reeker: I don't think I have anything particularly new on that, but since we didn't meet yesterday -- as far as Iknow, Pakistani authorities have not yet completed the forensic tests to identify the human remains that wererecovered last week that may be those of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. I'm not sure howmuch longer those tests will take, but we are in close touch with Pakistani law enforcement officials whocontinue to investigate the kidnapping and murder.

Our Consulate in Karachi and the Department are staying in touch with Mrs. Pearl and Mr. Pearl's family tokeep them informed of developments, and we will just continue to see what news comes out of there.

Question: It does seem to quite a grave situation between India and Pakistan. Has there been any other --any contact with the parties themselves at a high level in the last 24 hours or so? Has Mr. Armitage been intouch with any of --

Mr Reeker: Our diplomats on the ground -- our Ambassador, the President's personal representative in both countries isin regular contact with the highest levels of both the Pakistani and Indian sides. I don't have any otherparticular phone calls or contacts to read out at this point.

Question: Do you know whether Mr. Blackwill spoke to Mr. Vajpayee today?

Mr Reeker: I don't. I would let our Embassy in New Delhi let you know about those, as we usually do.

Question: But there's nothing of Secretary Powell calling? He talked to Musharraf the other day --

Mr Reeker: No. I mentioned that Secretary Powell had talked to Foreign Secretary Straw --

Question: Well, Straw. I mean, the Indian and Pakistani officials, I mean.

Mr Reeker: If you let me finish the sentence, Barry, I could get to that.

Question: I just wanted to save you the time. I was just asking if -- I was following Jonathan. Has theSecretary of State spoken to Indian or Pakistani officials?

Mr Reeker: Not since it was last reported to you.

Question: Thank you. That's fine. I didn't mean to --

Question: There appears to be a sense of complacency here in Washington about this --

Mr Reeker: A sense of?

Question: Complacency, a sense of complacency.

Mr Reeker: Complacency.

Question: -- about the situation in the subcontinent, which everybody agrees is so dangerous that it could-- there could be war, as we talk, speak, now. Yesterday Michael Krepon, the president of the StimsonInstitute -- Center, he just returned from India last week. He was in Srinagar. He met everybody. And he saidyesterday -- told a news briefing that unless the US Government involves itself at the highest level in Indiaand Pakistan, not at the level of Christina Rocca, there absolutely is very little chance of preventingconflict. But there appears to be -- even Mr. Armitage's visit, it is on now, off again. So it's a kind of --

Mr Reeker: There is no on or off again with Mr. Armitage's visit, and there is absolutely no complacency in viewingthis. As I said at the outset in response to your first questions, we view this with great concern. We thinkthere is a real worrisome development in the region in terms of the shelling across the line of control, whichhas increased. It is very heavy at this point. And we have been consistent and raise our concerns about thisat all levels.

The Secretary has addressed this publicly to you. He said that Deputy Secretary Armitage will be going tothe region. We don't have an exact time for that. We are working closely with other allies. And as Imentioned, the Secretary spoke to British Foreign Secretary Straw this morning. One of the subjects was SouthAsia. I believe Foreign Secretary Straw himself is going to be visiting there shortly. We have been talking toother Europeans on the subject, and of course engaging at the highest levels with our Pakistani and Indiancounterparts.

So there is by no means any complacency. This is a serious situation which is of concern to all of us, and wewill continue to follow it very closely. And again though, the important thing is that the two sides and allthose involved in the disputes need to pursue a dialogue. They need to realize that violence or armed conflictwill not accomplish anything in this situation. It is not a solution. The surest way to lower the tensions andresolve disputes is to have a dialogue, and that is what we have been encouraging. We support efforts toreduce tensions, and obviously the two parties need to work at resolving their disputes.

So we will continue to be very much seized with the situation in South Asia, watching it very closely.

Question: On June 1st, the State Department's Annual Report on Victims of Trafficking is due to be released.We have heard from a group called the International Justice Mission, which works to free women trapped inprostitution, and they indicate that from people, their sources in the State Department, that three of whatthey consider to be the worst offenders -- India, Thailand and Cambodia -- are going to be given a pass whenthis report comes out to avoid diplomatic problems.

What can you tell us about that?

Mr Reeker: I guess I can tell you that the report is coming out June 1st. Is that right? Actually, I think it is alittle bit later. That does sound right, too. It is later in the first or second week of June. And when thereport comes out, we will be sure to distribute it, make it available and have briefings for you on that. Ihaven't read it --

Question: Is there substantial disagreement going on right now about this?

Mr Reeker: I am not aware of any of the facts surrounding that report. It is an annual report that we put out, and whenit is ready and releasable we will certainly bring it to your attention and make it available for you.

Question: Well, I think their concern is that once it's out, then it's set in concrete, and then potentialsanctions against the offending countries will not take place. It will be too late on June 1st, and that's whywe're raising it now.

Mr Reeker: I am afraid I have no information on a report that isn't due out. We usually don't try to brief them beforethey're actually done.

Question: I wondered if you wanted to make something explicit that is implicit. Way back, you said -- andyou referred to Pakistan a second later -- you called for an ending of infiltration of Kashmir. Who isinfiltrating? What kind of folks? Terrorists?

Mr Reeker: Clearly, there have been problems with terrorism in Kashmir. We have groups, organizations that are listed onour list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations that have been involved in Kashmir. There has been violence there.We saw violence again yesterday with the assassination of this moderate political leader. And so that issomething we have been discussing with Pakistan certainly, the need to control infiltration into Kashmir. Thatis an issue we continue to raise, that all sides need to exercise restraint. But we have called on Pakistan todo all it can to achieve the objective of ending the infiltration into Kashmir.

Question: On that -- taking up that theme, the question arises repeatedly of these --

Question: Same question one more time?

Question: No, this is a different question. How much control do the Pakistanis authorities have over thisinfiltration?

Mr Reeker: I don't think I could give you a particular analysis of that, Jonathan.

Question: North Korea.

Mr Reeker: North Korea. We have another question here on South Asia.

Question: Going back to reduction in the diplomatic staff and pullout, is that also -- what all youmentioning was internal security problems you mentioned. How about the shelling across the LOC and the tensionbetween India and Pakistan? Do you think that has contributed or is contributing to pull out the staff orreduction in the diplomatic staff?

Mr Reeker: You would need to ask the British about that.

Question: How about US staff?

Mr Reeker: Well, you will recall that we announced our ordered departure some time ago, and we made quite clear in ourTravel Warning the reasons for that.

Question: More reduction on the way?

Mr Reeker: As I said to your colleague, I am not aware of any other changes in our position in Pakistan.

Question: What happens if the war goes in full scale?

Mr Reeker: Well, you are going off in a direction trying to predict the future, and obviously we are looking at thefuture. What we are focused on, Mr. Goyal, is encouraging the parties to have a dialogue to avoid any moreconflict.

Question: What I'm asking really, if this consultation is on the way or behind the scenes at the highestlevel --

Mr Reeker: What consultation is that?

Question: As far as a war at full scale and --

Mr Reeker: I think I answered that about six times.

Question: (Inaudible) -- with India, right?

(Laughter.)