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CNN Live Event/Special
Powell Addresses Press
Aired January 29, 2003 - 13:42 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: ... move you from the United Nations to Washington, to Foggy Bottom. Secretary of State Colin Powell.
COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: ... discussed the situation on the entire subcontinent. We talked about relations between India and Pakistan. And I, once again, reaffirmed to the foreign minister that the United States wishes to play a helpful role in the area, and we'll be doing everything we can to continue to reduce tensions in the region and hopefully reach a point where a dialogue can begin between India and Pakistan on all of the various issues that exist between the two nations to include, of course, Kashmir.
We also had a discussion on topical issues such as Iraq, Iran and similar matters. And I might point out that the minister gave me a very full description of Pakistani concerns on our new NSEERS program, the registration program. We know that this program has caused some concern among Pakistani-Americans, as well as Pakistanis back home who are watching how it is being implemented.
I assured the minister that we are very sensitive to those concerns. He gave me a number of ideas as to how some of these concerns can be dealt with. He will be meeting with the attorney general later this afternoon to also discuss this matter.
But I also reinforced that this is not something directed at Pakistan or directed at Muslims or directed at Pakistanis in America.
POWELL: It is an effort on the part of the United States to do a better job of knowing who is in our country. We appreciate all the contributions that Pakistanis have made to American life, and so many Pakistanis have become American citizens.
So we will continue to learn from our experience with the program, and I wanted to linger on this point so that the minister has my full assurance that we will be doing everything to implement this program in a dignified manner.
Mr. Minister?
KASURI: Thank you.
Yes, I'd like to first read a very brief statement, and then I'm quite -- I'm available for answers.
I have had extremely cordial and productive discussions with your secretary of state, Mr. Colin Powell. Our talks today encompassed the entire range of our bilateral relationship. We also exchanged views on developments in our region, including relations with India and Pakistan, particularly the Kashmir issue, the latest developments in Afghanistan, the situation obtaining in Iraq.
Both of us reaffirmed our mutual commitment to strengthen and broaden the Pak-U.S. relationship in diverse fields and to lend it a permanent character. The U.S. secretary of state has assured me of the firm U.S. to the well being and prosperity of Pakistan.
Both sides expressed profound satisfaction on our strong cooperation in the global fight against terrorism. I reaffirmed Pakistan's abiding commitment to the secretary of state in this regard and assured him that our commitment is long-lasting.
I apprised the secretary of state on the state of our relations with India and the need for initiation of a bilateral dialogue process between Pakistan and India to resolve all outstanding issues, including the core issue of Jammu and Kashmir. The secretary of state assured me that the United States will remain engaged in South Asia and would work towards the beginning of a Pak-India bilateral dialogue process.
In the context of Afghanistan, we expressed our commitment to the Bonn process, which is aimed at bringing about peace and stability in Afghanistan. We also reaffirmed the need for an all-round commitment in order that the process of Afghanistan's reconstruction gets under way.
On Iraq, we had an exchange of views, particularly in the context of our membership with the United Nations Security Council. We hope for a peaceful outcome, including Iraq's full compliance with the Security Council resolutions.
KASURI: I also raised with the secretary of state an issue of very immediate or, shall I say, primary concern to Pakistan, and that has agitated our public opinion immensely. This relates to the registration of foreign nationals in the United States on the NSEERS program. I've urged the secretary of state that Pakistan should be excluded from this list and that Pakistani nationals in the United States should be provided the necessary relief and flexibility under the law.
On this last issue, I just want, Mr. Secretary, with your permission, to say one or two things, because I know a lot of Pakistani journalists are also here and they're very agitated and they want to hear something from me.
I have brought out to the secretary of state all the ramifications of this particular law. Now, we have discussed various things. But what I have suggested to him is that, even under the law -- because the secretary said it will ultimately apply to the whole world, it's not aimed at Pakistanis -- but what we are afraid of is mass deportation of Pakistanis under any provision or pretext whatsoever. That will be devastating and it will place undue pressures on our relationship.
The secretary, I'm grateful, appreciates that. And he has promised to play, let's say, a supportive role. And I'm grateful to him for that.
Thank you very much.
QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, could we please divert back to Iraq. There's talk on the Hill now, again, about maybe exile for Saddam Hussein as possibly the only way left to avoid a confrontation. I wonder if you could, again, address that?
And so far as the evidence you're going to present, not all of it, I understand, has been seen by the inspectors. Is it a different category of material or something?
POWELL: Well, with respect to exile, if he were to leave the country and take some of his family members with him and others in the leading elite who have been responsible for so much trouble during the course of his regime, we would, I'm sure, try to help find a place for them to go. And so that certainly would be one way to avoid war. And we've indicated this before.
With respect to my presentation next week, I expect to put forward information and evidence which will fill in some of the gaps with respect to what Dr. Blix and Dr. ElBaradei discussed earlier this week about the problems they've had getting Saddam Hussein to participate in the disarmament, to lead the disarmament effort, which he is required to do under 1441.
POWELL: The information I present, some of it will be an expansion of information that has already been seen, some of it is information that has been given to inspectors, and some of it will be new information really not relevant to the inspectors' work, but relevant to making the case with respect to the Hussein regime's possession of weapons of mass destruction.
(CROSSTALK)
QUESTION: I actually wanted to ask you about the evidence, in fact, I'm afraid. I'm a little confused because one of the suggestions seems to be that satellite photographs, which don't seem to be a particular problem in terms of intelligence because they were taken by satellites.
So is there going to be more evidence that may involve you having to consider revealing sources, that kind of thing?
POWELL: You can be sure that we will be as forthcoming as we can next week, but also mindful of sources and methods. And it'll be, I think, a rather comprehensive presentation, but we'll all see it together next Wednesday.
QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, you have been in touch with Pakistani and Indian leaders on the resumption of dialogue between the two countries. What are the prospects now?
POWELL: Well, I think we have to find a way to get the dialogue begun. Some suggestions have been made that perhaps some economic moves from one side to the other might be a way to jump-start it. I think many people are watching activity that is occurring across the Line of Control to see whether the rate of that activity, if it went down, might be an encouraging step.
So we're looking for different ways to use our good offices to get a dialogue moving, but at the moment I don't know that I can be more forthcoming than that.
POWELL: We'll continue to work hard at it. And what I've said to both Pakistani and Indian leaders is that the United States is committed to doing everything we can to get the dialogue going.
There were some people who were concerned that, you know, once the demobilization took place and things calmed down a bit, the United States would not be interested any longer. We are interested. We remain committed. We remain committed to a strong U.S.-Pakistan relationship and a strong U.S.-Indian relationship. It's not a zero- sum game. We could have good friendships with both nations. And by having good friendships with both nations, we can lend our good offices to solving difficulties between the nations.
KASURI: In this connection, I explained to the secretary of state the efforts made by the government of Pakistan, by myself, by Prime Minister Jamali, to invite Prime Minister Vajpayee to Pakistan for the (inaudible) conference. Unfortunately, for reasons best known to the leaders of the government of India, that invitation was not accepted. And...
O'BRIEN: We have been listening to Secretary of State Colin Powell, along with Pakistan's foreign minister.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired January 29, 2003 - 13:42 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: ... move you from the United Nations to Washington, to Foggy Bottom. Secretary of State Colin Powell.
COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: ... discussed the situation on the entire subcontinent. We talked about relations between India and Pakistan. And I, once again, reaffirmed to the foreign minister that the United States wishes to play a helpful role in the area, and we'll be doing everything we can to continue to reduce tensions in the region and hopefully reach a point where a dialogue can begin between India and Pakistan on all of the various issues that exist between the two nations to include, of course, Kashmir.
We also had a discussion on topical issues such as Iraq, Iran and similar matters. And I might point out that the minister gave me a very full description of Pakistani concerns on our new NSEERS program, the registration program. We know that this program has caused some concern among Pakistani-Americans, as well as Pakistanis back home who are watching how it is being implemented.
I assured the minister that we are very sensitive to those concerns. He gave me a number of ideas as to how some of these concerns can be dealt with. He will be meeting with the attorney general later this afternoon to also discuss this matter.
But I also reinforced that this is not something directed at Pakistan or directed at Muslims or directed at Pakistanis in America.
POWELL: It is an effort on the part of the United States to do a better job of knowing who is in our country. We appreciate all the contributions that Pakistanis have made to American life, and so many Pakistanis have become American citizens.
So we will continue to learn from our experience with the program, and I wanted to linger on this point so that the minister has my full assurance that we will be doing everything to implement this program in a dignified manner.
Mr. Minister?
KASURI: Thank you.
Yes, I'd like to first read a very brief statement, and then I'm quite -- I'm available for answers.
I have had extremely cordial and productive discussions with your secretary of state, Mr. Colin Powell. Our talks today encompassed the entire range of our bilateral relationship. We also exchanged views on developments in our region, including relations with India and Pakistan, particularly the Kashmir issue, the latest developments in Afghanistan, the situation obtaining in Iraq.
Both of us reaffirmed our mutual commitment to strengthen and broaden the Pak-U.S. relationship in diverse fields and to lend it a permanent character. The U.S. secretary of state has assured me of the firm U.S. to the well being and prosperity of Pakistan.
Both sides expressed profound satisfaction on our strong cooperation in the global fight against terrorism. I reaffirmed Pakistan's abiding commitment to the secretary of state in this regard and assured him that our commitment is long-lasting.
I apprised the secretary of state on the state of our relations with India and the need for initiation of a bilateral dialogue process between Pakistan and India to resolve all outstanding issues, including the core issue of Jammu and Kashmir. The secretary of state assured me that the United States will remain engaged in South Asia and would work towards the beginning of a Pak-India bilateral dialogue process.
In the context of Afghanistan, we expressed our commitment to the Bonn process, which is aimed at bringing about peace and stability in Afghanistan. We also reaffirmed the need for an all-round commitment in order that the process of Afghanistan's reconstruction gets under way.
On Iraq, we had an exchange of views, particularly in the context of our membership with the United Nations Security Council. We hope for a peaceful outcome, including Iraq's full compliance with the Security Council resolutions.
KASURI: I also raised with the secretary of state an issue of very immediate or, shall I say, primary concern to Pakistan, and that has agitated our public opinion immensely. This relates to the registration of foreign nationals in the United States on the NSEERS program. I've urged the secretary of state that Pakistan should be excluded from this list and that Pakistani nationals in the United States should be provided the necessary relief and flexibility under the law.
On this last issue, I just want, Mr. Secretary, with your permission, to say one or two things, because I know a lot of Pakistani journalists are also here and they're very agitated and they want to hear something from me.
I have brought out to the secretary of state all the ramifications of this particular law. Now, we have discussed various things. But what I have suggested to him is that, even under the law -- because the secretary said it will ultimately apply to the whole world, it's not aimed at Pakistanis -- but what we are afraid of is mass deportation of Pakistanis under any provision or pretext whatsoever. That will be devastating and it will place undue pressures on our relationship.
The secretary, I'm grateful, appreciates that. And he has promised to play, let's say, a supportive role. And I'm grateful to him for that.
Thank you very much.
QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, could we please divert back to Iraq. There's talk on the Hill now, again, about maybe exile for Saddam Hussein as possibly the only way left to avoid a confrontation. I wonder if you could, again, address that?
And so far as the evidence you're going to present, not all of it, I understand, has been seen by the inspectors. Is it a different category of material or something?
POWELL: Well, with respect to exile, if he were to leave the country and take some of his family members with him and others in the leading elite who have been responsible for so much trouble during the course of his regime, we would, I'm sure, try to help find a place for them to go. And so that certainly would be one way to avoid war. And we've indicated this before.
With respect to my presentation next week, I expect to put forward information and evidence which will fill in some of the gaps with respect to what Dr. Blix and Dr. ElBaradei discussed earlier this week about the problems they've had getting Saddam Hussein to participate in the disarmament, to lead the disarmament effort, which he is required to do under 1441.
POWELL: The information I present, some of it will be an expansion of information that has already been seen, some of it is information that has been given to inspectors, and some of it will be new information really not relevant to the inspectors' work, but relevant to making the case with respect to the Hussein regime's possession of weapons of mass destruction.
(CROSSTALK)
QUESTION: I actually wanted to ask you about the evidence, in fact, I'm afraid. I'm a little confused because one of the suggestions seems to be that satellite photographs, which don't seem to be a particular problem in terms of intelligence because they were taken by satellites.
So is there going to be more evidence that may involve you having to consider revealing sources, that kind of thing?
POWELL: You can be sure that we will be as forthcoming as we can next week, but also mindful of sources and methods. And it'll be, I think, a rather comprehensive presentation, but we'll all see it together next Wednesday.
QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, you have been in touch with Pakistani and Indian leaders on the resumption of dialogue between the two countries. What are the prospects now?
POWELL: Well, I think we have to find a way to get the dialogue begun. Some suggestions have been made that perhaps some economic moves from one side to the other might be a way to jump-start it. I think many people are watching activity that is occurring across the Line of Control to see whether the rate of that activity, if it went down, might be an encouraging step.
So we're looking for different ways to use our good offices to get a dialogue moving, but at the moment I don't know that I can be more forthcoming than that.
POWELL: We'll continue to work hard at it. And what I've said to both Pakistani and Indian leaders is that the United States is committed to doing everything we can to get the dialogue going.
There were some people who were concerned that, you know, once the demobilization took place and things calmed down a bit, the United States would not be interested any longer. We are interested. We remain committed. We remain committed to a strong U.S.-Pakistan relationship and a strong U.S.-Indian relationship. It's not a zero- sum game. We could have good friendships with both nations. And by having good friendships with both nations, we can lend our good offices to solving difficulties between the nations.
KASURI: In this connection, I explained to the secretary of state the efforts made by the government of Pakistan, by myself, by Prime Minister Jamali, to invite Prime Minister Vajpayee to Pakistan for the (inaudible) conference. Unfortunately, for reasons best known to the leaders of the government of India, that invitation was not accepted. And...
O'BRIEN: We have been listening to Secretary of State Colin Powell, along with Pakistan's foreign minister.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
