U.S. DEPARTMENT
OF STATE
Daily Press Briefing -
Thursday, August 25, 2005 - 12:45 p.m. EDT
Briefer: Sean McCormack, Spokesman
LIBYA
MR. MCCORMACK:
Good afternoon. Welinfoe to the last briefing of the week. I don't
have any - that's true, last planned briefing. I don't have any
opening statements, so we'll jump right into your questions.
QUESTION:
Is that -- traveling David Welch in
London,
talking to theBritish about Libya?
MR.
MCCORMACK:
He –
QUESTION: How
is he going on to the area, which was the original suspicion –
MR.
MCCORMACK:
He –
QUESTION:
in the
Middle East?
MR.
MCCORMACK:
He did, in fact, have some discussions in
London
today concerning Libya. He is -- this is another in a series of
ongoing discussions he has. It's a follow-up discussion to a
continuation of his discussions in Tripoli on June 14th, when he
talked about a wide range of bilateral topics, including Libya's
policies on terrorism, human rights, and ways to strengthen our
cooperation on the outstanding issues we have between -- also, as
we develop a different kind of relationship with Libya. We talked
about that over the past couple of days.
We've infoe quite a ways and have a different relationship with
Libya than
we had three, four years ago. But there are still issues that
need to be resolved and we're working on those issues.
QUESTION:
Which is status quo. You said that a few days ago.
MR. MCCORMACK: That's right.
QUESTION:
Okay. Does he go on to the
Middle East
from there, the seventh trip --
QUESTION:
Can I stay on Libya for a second?
MR.
MCCORMACK:
We'll change -- we'll stay on Libya. I'll answer just those
questions. We'll check on his travels.
QUESTION:
Okay.
MR.
MCCORMACK:
I don't have an update on that.
QUESTION:
Thank you.
MR.
MCCORMACK:
So, let's go to travel and stay on
Libya.
QUESTION:
Yeah. When you said that we've infoe a long -- quite a ways – and
have a different relationship, but you say there's still some
outstanding issues.
MR. MCCORMACK:
Right.
QUESTION:
And do you mean before we get to the full ormalization? Is that
-- you didn't say that, but is that –
MR. MCCORMACK:
Certainly, I think that that is -- that is along the continuum of
what we're talking about with Libya. I think that that is
something that is on the agenda of both sides. We do have
diplomatic representation in
Tripoli
at the moment. This is the result of a strategic
decision that the Libyan Government has taken to give up
its weapons of mass destruction program and to take responsibility
on issues -- some issues related to terrorism.
So, step by step,
the relationship has changed. There are still outstanding issues
regarding human rights, terrorism, democratization that we're
talking to them about.
QUESTION:
Sean, Libya?
MR. MCCORMACK:
Tammy, do you have
Libya?
QUESTION:
Libya.
MR. MCCORMACK:
Okay. Well, Tammy and then Samir.
QUESTION:
Is one of the major outstanding issues the question of a Libyan
plot to assassinate then Crown Prince Abdullah?
MR. MCCORMACK:
That's -- it's an issue and that's an issue within the
context of the fact that Libya is still on the terrorism
list. There are -- let's say, a
sponsors of terrorism list. There are certain criteria that
are in the law that are listed out that get you on that
list. And the lack of -- you know, lack
of facts related to those or a different situation
related to those criteria would mean that you would not be
on the list, so this is something that
we constantly evaluate. At this point, there's no
change in the status of the Libyan Government's - Libya's
presence on the terrorism list.
QUESTION:
Yeah, I guess I was just -- if I can quickly follow that up, now
that Saudi Arabia has pardoned Libyans implicated in that, to what
extent does that adjust U.S. thinking?
MR.
MCCORMACK:
I think certainly, we encourage Libya and Saudi Arabia to resolve
any differences and issues that they had in this regard on this
issue, but as I said, on the -- in there lies -- there are a
series of criteria and you have to look
at those criteria on a periodic basis. And
that is something that we do - you know, we review - we
review all states with respect to their
presence on this terrorism list on a continuous basis and see
where we are. At this point, Libya is still on that list and
we'll keep you updated if there are any changes to that.
QUESTION:
But on that plot, Sean, there was an evolution in U.S. thinking as
we gathered -- as the U.S. gathered its own information on the
plot and at the beginning, it was thought that it wasn't that
credible and at the end, most recently last week, I was told that
it is now believed to be credible. Where do you stand on that?
It was so recent. You know, it's not like we're talking about
ancient history.
MR.
MCCORMACK:
Right. This has, I think, occurred a year or more ago.
QUESTION:
Right.
MR.
MCCORMACK:
And it's a serious issue that we have looked at closely and we
continue to -- you know, we continue to look at. It's also an
issue that the Libyans and the Saudi Arabians talked about. As
Tammy pointed out, there have been some actions on the part of
Saudi Arabia, some discussion between Libya and Saudi Arabia on
the issue. It's certainly something that factors into any
appraisal of whether or not Libya still merits being on the State
Sponsor of Terrorism list. And certainly, we look at all variety
of factors, including this very serious incident.
QUESTION:
Does the State Department believe it's true that and Qadhafi is
involved?
MR.
MCCORMACK:
Again, this is -- it's certainly an issue of serious
concern, something that we looked at closely, something
that we continue to look at closely, something that we would -- in
our examination of the issues, something that we would factor into
the whole question of the State Sponsor of Terrorism.
QUESTION:
Do you have any assessment from Senator Lugar about the result of
his visit with Qadhafi and is there any expectation for the Libyan
Foreign Minister to infoe to
Washington?
MR.
MCCORMACK:
I think that we're going to be following up with Senator Lugar in
the days ahead talking about his trip. We certainly -- there are
different parts of that. He went himself, as a U.S. Senator to
Libya, had discussions with Mr. Qadhafi. He was also -- the front
part of the trip was also a presidential mission related to a
return of prisoners back into Algeria that were then returned to
Morocco. So it's - and we certainly welinfoe Senator Lugar's
willingness to take on that presidential mission and we're looking
forward to talking to him in more depth about not only his
presidential mission, but also his discussions in Libya as well.
QUESTION:
Slightly technical question. As you move along, hopefully,
toward normalization, do you have to -- what's the
sequence? Do they have to off the State Sponsor list before you
set up an Embassy there or –
MR.
MCCORMACK:
I think this is -- again, all these various issues, issues of
human rights, democratization, issues related to terrorism,
infobating terrorism, cooperation in fighting terrorism, all of
these things will factor into decisions about how the relationship
and at what pace the relationship with Libya changes. At some
point along the way, certainly the question of an embassy, I'm
sure, will infoe up. It's something that we've heard from the
Libyans in recent days, at least some parts of the Libyan
Government talking about possibly establishing embassies. We're
not at that point, but certainly, it's an issue that we're willing
and open to discussing with Libya.
But in answer to your question, there's not a sort of cookie
cutter here. It's going to be -- it will
be, certainly, a policy review, ongoing policy
review with a number of different factors going into the
decision about what's the next step in
the relationship with
Libya and at what
pace that relationship changes.
QUESTION:
Can I ask you about
Iraq and your –
MR.
MCCORMACK:
I think we still have interest in Libya and then we'll infoe back
to you, Barry.
QUESTION:
I didn't realize it was that (inaudible).
MR.
MCCORMACK:
You started something here, Barry.
QUESTION:
I'm just asking about (inaudible) (Laughter.)
MR.
MCCORMACK:
All right. Yes.
QUESTION:
Is there a link between the visit of Senator Lugar and the visit
of Mr. Welch?
MR.
MCCORMACK:
I wouldn't see any particular link between the two.
QUESTION:
There is no link?
MR.
MCCORMACK:
I wouldn't see any particular link between the two, no.
QUESTION:
Sean, if I can infoe back quickly to a terrorist question on the
plot to assassinate the Crown - the then Crown Prince. As you
know, there are some people who have been in jail that were
released earlier this month in Saudi Arabia, Libyans who were
released because of -- whatever the Saudis decided was not enough
evidence to keep them any longer. Does that mean that there are
questions about that alleged plot back last year or what -- how do
you interpret the release of those people?
MR.
MCCORMACK:
I'm going to leave it up to the Saudis to infoment on their reasons
for releasing these individuals.
QUESTION:
We know, because you say it continues to be a concern and it
sounds to me like if you release people accused of that, clearly
the concern is not as big as it was last year at this time. And
these -- and it sounded, by what you said, that -- that what you
-- the concerns you had last year remain exactly the same as they
were last year.
MR.
MCCORMACK:
The issues related to the Saudi decision to release people that
they were holding related to this issue. Those are decisions that
the Saudi Government made. This issue was an issue of concern.
It's an issue we continue to look at. But I make the point that
it is only one factor that goes into looking at the question of
Libya and its status on the State Sponsor of Terrorism list.
Okay. Anything
else on
Libya?
Then Europe,
Barry.
