H.E. Dr. Marwan Muasher
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Joint Media
Availability with US Secretary of
State Colin Powell
and Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr. Marwan Muasher
Following Meeting at the State Department
Washington,
D.C.
April 20, 2004
SEC. POWELL: Foreign Minister
Muasher and I have just had a very successful conversation about issues of
mutual interest. As you would of course expect, we discussed the situation in
the Middle East and I briefed the foreign minister on the president's continued
commitment to his vision of June 2002, the road map, and the desire to see a
Palestinian state created that will live side by side in peace with Israel, and
that final status issues associated with the creation of that state must be
mutually agreed upon by the parties.
We discussed the issue of the president's meeting with Prime Minister Sharon
last week. And as I conveyed to the foreign minister, in that meeting and in the
subsequent exchange of letters the president reinforced this view of no
prejudicing of final status outcomes because they have to be mutually agreed --
all elements of final status have to be mutually agreed upon -- but that this
should be done in the context of certain realities on the ground which the
president noted. We have discussed candidly and openly, as we always do, these
certain realities, and we also noted that we should take advantage of the
opportunity created by the evacuation of settlements for the first time in
decades. Something people have looked for for the first time in decades is about
to happen, and we have to work hard with the international community to help the
Palestinians prepare themselves for this opportunity.
I said to the minister that we will be having a Quartet meeting. I hope it will
be in the early part of May. I'm still coordinating calendars with all of the
Quartet members so we can consider this issue.
I thanked the minister for the support that Jordan has provided to the United
States in the war on terror, and particularly the efforts they have made to
secure our embassy and our personnel in Jordan. There was another good action on
the part of Jordanian authorities this morning to intercept and bring to summary
justice some of those who are trying to upset peace within the kingdom.
And I also mentioned to the foreign minister that we recognize that His Majesty
had to return home yesterday, but we look forward to receiving him back in the
United States in a couple of weeks. His Majesty and the Kingdom of Jordan
together are great friends of the United States. We value that friendship both
with Jordan and with His Majesty, and we look forward to receiving him. I know
the president is anxious to exchange views with King Abdullah when he returns in
two weeks time.
Mr. Minister?
MIN. MUASHER: Mr. Secretary, thank you very much. I've had a very
productive meeting with the secretary in which we indeed discussed the issues
pertaining to the peace process. And I was very reassured by what the secretary
and the U.S. administration have stated regarding the need not to prejudge final
status issues, but to leave that to the parties themselves. We both agree that
the Israeli plan should be a withdrawal from Gaza, should be part of a bigger
effort, and indeed, an effort to resume the road map towards a two- state
solution, which should be the, really, only acceptable outcome of this process.
We continue to have these discussions. And as the secretary has stated, as we
have stated yesterday, His Majesty had to go back to Jordan, but will come back
again in a couple of weeks. My presence here is an indication of the strength of
the relationship that we have with the United States, with which we continue to
work very closely on a number of issues, including on the peace process.
And I would like to state here that I've seen press reports this morning that
talk about a problem with the United States. These statements, these reports are
not true. We do not have a problem with the United States, and we continue to
work with the United States very closely not only on the issue of the peace
process, but on other issues as well. And as we indicated in our statement
yesterday, His Majesty will be back in two weeks where we will continue these
discussions on ways to revive the peace process, on ways to implement the road
map, and on ways to arrive at a two-state solution and achieve the president's
vision of June 4, 2002.
Thank you.
SEC. POWELL: We have time just for two questions.
Q Mr. Minister, I wondered if you thought the president's statement
carries any weight, when the president of the United States says things have
changed on the West Bank since 1967, there are Jewish cities there, and he wants
to maintain the Jewish character of Israel, speaking of the right of return. Is
this just, as we say in the law, obiter dicta, or do you take it as a serious
statement?
MIN. MUASHER: All the president's statements are serious, and the
president made it clear in his statement that final status issues are to be
decided by the parties, and that no issue is off the table. And as such, we
think also that these issues, not just the right of return, not just the refugee
issues, but all issues related to the peace process -- settlements, the borders
-- all these issues should be left to the parties alone to decide.
Q Mr. Foreign Minister, Mr. Secretary, you said that the U.S. is
committed to the president's speech in 2000 (sic) about a Palestinian state.
This state will be based on what? On terms of who? The Israelis? On what terms?
Shouldn't the state have land and territories?
And -- (in Arabic).
SEC. POWELL: The president's made it clear that he wants this to be a
viable state that has contiguity, and the final shape of the state will be
determined in final status negotiations between the two parties. That's been our
consistent position. There has been no change to that position.
MIN. MUASHER: (In Arabic.)
SEC. POWELL: Thank you.
(Pause as the foreign minister departs.)
Q President Mubarak said that hatred of America now in the Arabic world
is greater than it's ever been. Is he right?
SEC. POWELL: I think that people should look at what the United States
has embarked upon in Iraq, to create a democracy where people will be free and
not at the mercy of a dictator, without mass graves being filled.
I think as people watch the United States pursue the new opportunity that is
before us with respect to the evacuation of the settlements and how we can
convert this property into constructive use that will benefit the Palestinian
people; I think as people see what the administration is planning to do, and
what President Bush is determined to do with respect to a Middle East trade
initiative -- we are anxious to work with the Arab nations on their ideas for
reform within the region; I think that people will see over time that the United
States is committed to the welfare, and benefit, and the hopes and dreams and
aspirations of the Arab nations, and especially the hopes and dreams and
aspirations of the Palestinian people.
The Middle East peace process was not moving, despite the Mitchell plan, the
Tenet plan, the Zinni plan, and a lot of other efforts, we were not seeing any
movement. And with the initiative that was taken last week by the president, we
are now looking at the possibility of settlements being evacuated -- something
that people have asked for and wanted for a long time. And it will be done
ultimately with mutual agreement between the parties on the final status issues.
And I hope as people understand that and see progress in all of these areas, the
difficulties we're having with Arab opinion toward the United States will
change.
Q Mr. Secretary, can I have one more, so we can get it out of the way? On
the book, could you just clarify one thing? Do you believe that you were
informed of the decision to go to war before Prince Bandar was?
SEC. POWELL: This is becoming quite unreal. If you read the book, if you
read the book, Prince Bandar was briefed on plans, plans that had to do with our
deployment and what we might need from the Kingdom with respect to our
deployment. I was intimately familiar with those deployment plans. I worked on
them, I was consulted on them. They were presented to the National Security
Council. I was present whenever these plans were presented.
So first, the suggestion that somehow a plan was presented to Prince Bandar that
I was not familiar with is just flat wrong.
It was wrong. And I was aware that he was going to be briefed on the plan
because I knew what we were going to be asking of him. It wasn't just a military
request; it had a political dimension to it.
On the second point. Prince Bandar, as he said last night when the question
arose on certain television programs, he was briefed on the plan and he was told
that if it came to war this is the plan that we are developing. And as he said
last night, and as Dr. Rice said on Sunday, and as I said yesterday, no decision
was communicated to Prince Bandar of a decision on the part of the president to
go to war. We were making clear to him that if unfortunately war came, this was
the plan that we will use, and that's why it was important at that point to
bring the Saudis into it because of our deployment schedules.
And so the next story that comes from that is that somehow two days later I was
informed by the president of a decision. Not the case, and it really doesn't say
that either in the book or in anything I've said about it. The president and I
had a conversation that day in January, the 13th I believe it was, where he
expressed concern at the diplomatic process and whether it would achieve the
solution that was necessary, and that was to deal with the regime of Saddam
Hussein. And he thought it might be necessary to use force, and he was committed
to do that if the diplomatic track did not work.
And after our brief meeting -- and it was brief because I'm well aware of the
president's thinking and we had discussed this issue many times -- I left his
office knowing of his determination to resolve this matter, hopefully
peacefully, but if not then through force. And I went back out to the United
Nations and to my work to try to achieve a diplomatic solution, as the president
instructed me to do.
And for the two months after that, until a decision was made to use military
force, the president constantly sought a diplomatic solution, and he has said
so. And he has made it clear, as have all of my colleagues in the National
Security Council made clear, no decision was made to go to war until the
decision was made to go to war in March, regardless of what speculation there is
about when the president made the decision. He made the decision in March, and
we all received that decision together.
And with respect to my advice to the president, my advice to the president is to
give him my best advice on all aspects of every foreign policy issue he faces.
That's my obligation. And I have tried to meet that obligation to the best of my
ability and will continue to do so.
Thank you.
Q Mr. Secretary -- (inaudible) -- please?
SEC. POWELL: No, no. No.