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Skriven 2006-05-31 23:57:24 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (0605311) for Wed, 2006 May 31
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President Bush Welcomes President Kagame of Rwanda to the White House
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For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
May 31, 2006

President Bush Welcomes President Kagame of Rwanda to the White House
Oval Office


˙˙˙˙˙ In Focus: Global Diplomacy

11:43 A.M. EDT

PRESIDENT BUSH: I want to welcome the President of Rwanda to the Oval
Office again. He was here last year, and I'm honored to welcome you back.

The President is -- he's a man of action, he can get things done. I'm proud
of your leadership. We have talked about a lot of issues. We talked about
the Sudan, and I want to thank the President for committing troops in the
AU mission to help deal with what I have called a genocide. We strategized
about how we can go forward to resolve the situation. I thank you for your
wisdom, I thank you for your concern.

One of the interesting things about President Kagame's government is there
is more women in his government than anywhere else in Africa, which I think
speaks to the man's character and understanding about how societies remain
strong and whole. I appreciate his commitment to education. And I want to
thank you, Mr. President, for your understanding that the best way for an
economy to develop is to welcome private capital. He's been working hard
with companies here in America. Many companies are taking a good look at
Rwanda because they realize it's a country where they will be treated
fairly and there is a transparent society and he's had some success, which
will help people find work. And that's, to me, a sign of leadership. So
welcome back.

I, finally, want to thank you for your commitment to fighting HIV/AIDS.
This government has done a really good job of using some of the monies that
we provided to save lives. And I've always told people that it's one thing
for the American government -- and the American people, more importantly --
to generously write checks to help, but it requires strong leadership at
home. And you provided that leadership.

So I welcome you back to the Oval Office and thank you for your friendship.

PRESIDENT KAGAME: Thank you, President. It's a great honor for me to be
here, President, and I appreciate the discussion we have had on a wide
range of issues, starting with bilateral discussions we have had about
United States government has been very helpful in its support of Rwanda in
different areas -- dealing with HIV/AIDS, to supporting the private sector
to invest in our country, to dealing with infrastructure programs. And also
the support we have had during the period we were working under the African
Union mission to send our troops to Darfur. The United States government,
with your support, Mr. President, we have had our forces, our troops aided
by the United States military to Darfur and continued support for the
African Union mission.

We are very grateful for generally the support in the area will bring peace
to the Great Lakes region and to supporting the efforts in Sudan and,
ultimately, that process of supporting my country to be able to develop and
continue building on the foundation we have made in the last 12 years. So
we appreciate that, Mr. President.

PRESIDENT BUSH: Welcome. The President and I will take two questions a
side, starting with the Americans. Nedra.

Q Mr. President, what have you been told about the killings at Haditha? And
are you worried about the impact it could have on the situation in Iraq?

PRESIDENT BUSH: I am troubled by the initial news stories. I am mindful
that there is a thorough investigation going on. If, in fact, the laws were
broken, there will be punishment. I know this: I've talked to General Pete
Pace about the subject, who is a proud Marine, and nobody is more concerned
about these allegations than the Marine Corps. The Marine Corps is full of
men and women who are honorable people who understand rules of war. And if,
in fact, these allegations are true, the Marine Corps will work hard to
make sure that that culture, that proud culture will be reinforced, and
that those who violated the law, if they did, will be punished.

Q I'll ask a question -- I'm a journalist from Rwanda.

PRESIDENT BUSH: Welcome.

Q Can I ask you a question on the genocide of Rwanda? It's been 13 years
after the genocide of Rwanda, but many perpetrators of the genocide, many
people who did it, who carried out the genocide are still at large. One
estimate is about over 50 of them in Europe and the U.S., others in the
Congo. What's the U.S. going to do to help run -- to get these people to --

PRESIDENT BUSH: The interesting thing about Rwanda today is that you have a
President who understands that part of a successful society is for people
to work hard on reconciliation. There's no question the genocide in Rwanda
was a real tragedy. It's one of the most significant tragedies in modern
history. And, yet, your President and his government has worked hard to
reconcile, help people reconcile the tragedy at all levels of society.

To the extent that he wants our help in finding certain perpetuators of
crimes we'll be glad to do so. But the way I look at the situation is that
Rwanda can serve as an example for other societies that are troubled. As
you know, we're working hard in Iraq to bring a democracy -- to help a
democracy grow there. And, yet, there's still sectarian violence. People
are still using violence to achieve either revenge or political means. And
the Rwanda example shows what's possible when people work hard on
reconciliation.

That's why I support Prime Minister Maliki's desire to have reconciliation
moves. And the President actually offered to help, and it may be at some
point in time it makes sense for the new government in Iraq to do that. But
I'm very proud of the accomplishments that Rwanda has made over 13 years --
13 years after the genocide.

Kelly.

Q Mr. President, Secretary Rice is outlining a change in U.S. position
toward Iran today, after so many years of not engaging directly with them.
Why now? And will you respond directly to the letter from the President?

PRESIDENT BUSH: I believe it's very important that we solve this issue
diplomatically, and my decision today says that the United States is going
to take a leadership position in solving this issue. And our message to the
Iranians is that, one, you won't have a weapon, and two, that you must
verifiably suspend any programs, at which point we will come to the
negotiating table to work on a way forward.

I thought it was important for the United States to take the lead, along
with our partners, and that's what you're seeing. You're seeing robust
diplomacy. I believe this problem can be solved diplomatically, and I'm
going to give it every effort to do so.

I've talked on the telephone in the last couple of days with Jacques Chirac
and Angela Merkel, and I spoke to Tony Blair when he was here about this
issue, I spoke to Prime Minister Koizumi. I'm on the phone a lot talking to
-- and President Putin, by the way -- and I'm on the phone a lot talking to
our folks that share the same concern I share, and say, look, let's get
this solved diplomatically, but there must be a united international front
that shares the same message, and that is, is that we will work
collaboratively to prevent the Iranians from developing a nuclear weapon.

I also want to make it very clear that we have -- we respect the Iranian
people, and we respect their heritage and their history, and we hope their
government listens to the international demands and doesn't isolate itself
from the world, and doesn't foolishly spend money on a weapons program that
takes away the capacity -- the ability for the Iranian economy to grow so
people are able to put food on the table and find work.

Final -- anybody else from Rwanda?

Q Yes, Mr. President, I come from Rwanda. I heard the President of Rwanda
thanking you for the assistance you are giving on Darfur, but in spite all
that you've been doing, it has persisted. Are you planning to up your
support in that regard, Mr. President?

PRESIDENT BUSH: To support the Rwanda troops in Darfur? I will. As a matter
of fact, we had a very good discussion about this subject. The President is
concerned about whether or not the United States will honor its
commitments. We will honor our commitments, but the United States Congress
must pass the supplemental with the money in there for the Sudan. See, part
of the money in a supplemental request that's working its way through a
conference committee now is to help repay a country like Rwanda that's
putting troops on the ground.

And so I told the President that sometimes the Congress doesn't move as
quickly as I'd like on issues, but I'm confident they'll get the
supplemental passed when they come back from their Memorial Day break. That
supplemental must, one, meet the financial conditions that I talked about
-- in other words, I'm going to veto the bill if they spend more money than
I requested -- and it's got to set -- it's got to meet priorities, as well.
And one of the priorities is our own troops who are in harm's way. And
another priority is helping the Katrina victims. And a third priority in
that bill that we've submitted, is to help in Sudan. I told the President
I'm confident they'll pass that bill, and that his troops will get
reimbursed.

Thank you all very much.

END 11:54 A.M. EDT
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