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Skriven 2006-07-14 23:33:46 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (0607144) for Fri, 2006 Jul 14
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Press Gaggle by Tony Snow
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For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
July 14, 2006

Press Gaggle by Tony Snow
Strelna, Russia



5:47 P.M. (L)

MR. SNOW: Okay, a couple of things. First, you probably heard that at 8:15
a.m. eastern time, U.S. time, a bomb went off outside Karachi. We don't
have a whole lot of details. I think most of it is on the wires already,
but three dead, including a Shia cleric. This was near a university. No
claims of responsibility. And, as you know, these things take a while to
sort themselves out, so we have no comment; we're still trying to figure
out what the facts are and we're in consultation.

Today on the plane, the President made some phone calls to foreign leaders
regarding the situation in the Middle East. He talked to King Abdullah of
Jordan -- I think your recorder just went off. Here's a quick tape pause.
(Laughter.) He called king Abdullah of Jordan, they talked for, I don't
know, 12 minutes or so. He also talked to --

Q I'm sorry, how long?

MR. SNOW: About 12 -- these are all approximate, because I didn't look at
my watch. But all the calls were between 10 and 12 minutes. The second one
was to Hosni Mubarak, and the third was to Prime Minister Siniora of
Lebanon. The topics were all the same. He thanked especially King Abdullah
and President Mubarak for their help in trying to resolve the situation in
the region.

Also expressed some -- he was pleased by a statement -- I don't know if
you've seen it -- that came out yesterday by the Saudis that, among other
things, pointed out that Hezbollah, acting independent of a government, had
behaved in a manner that I will paraphrase as irresponsible. I would direct
you to the Saudi statement because I'm sure I don't have that exactly right
-- as a matter of fact, we actually did a print out of it. Let's see,
"uncalculated adventures undertaken by elements in Lebanon without recourse
to legal authority and consulting and coordinated with Arab nations."

In other words, what the Saudis were saying is that Hezbollah has been
acting in a manner that's completely independent of the state of Lebanon.
And we're looking forward to a foreign ministers meeting -- with Arab
League Foreign Ministers tomorrow, and hope that their comments will
reflect the same concern about Hezbollah's acting independently and thereby
imperiling the democracy in Lebanon, which we support.

The President also reiterated his support for the democracy in his
conversation with Prime Minister Siniora. They talked about ways to move
ahead not only within the Arab League, but also the President encouraging
his allies to speak out with everybody involved, including the Syrians and
once again made the point that Hezbollah has been granted shelter in Syria,
it is financed by Iran and both parties should be held responsible for some
of the activities that are going on there.

He also reiterated the statement yesterday, that he believes that the
Israelis have a right to protect themselves, and also that we think it's
important that in doing that they try to limit as much as possible
so-called collateral damage, not only to facilities but also to human
lives.

So that is basically it.

Q Now, Siniora is describing the President's comments as promising to get
Israeli to rein in its attacks. Did the President say anything like that?

MR. SNOW: No. What the President -- or, the President reiterated his
position. Prime Minister Siniora at one point -- I think he's been public
about this -- has wanted a ceasefire. It is unlikely that either or both
parties are going to agree to that at this juncture, although we certainly
hope that we get to a ceasefire soon and we hope that all parties work
toward it.

But, again, as the President said, this began because Hezbollah crossed
into Israeli territory, kidnapped two soldiers and, furthermore, has been
engaged in a long series of rocket attacks on people in Northern Israel,
although we have been focusing on it -- that is, "we" collectively, and
especially the American press in the last couple of days -- this has been
going on for a long time, it just hasn't reported. It's been a much keener
and sustained interest in Israel.

The Israelis have decided to try to have targeted attacks against rocket
launch sites, many of which are deliberately placed in civilian
neighborhoods. And they regret the loss -- or they've expressed regret for
the loss of innocent life, but they also pointed out that military
necessity compels them to hit where the launchers are, but I will let the
Israelis speak for themselves on this.

Q Did the President discuss with these leaders a U.N. delegation that's
going into the region?

MR. SNOW: Yes. Well, we support the U.N. delegation. It really didn't go
much further than that. As you recall from Secretary Rice's comments last
night, she was actively engaged in helping put together the initiative and
she certainly supports it and encourages it.

But as far as any specific directions, look, we think the United Nations is
trying to helpful here, ad that's important, because the more pressure was
can bring to bear on Hezbollah -- and there's an important point to note
here: the attacks by Hezbollah, which, again, to reiterate -- I'll use the
Saudi phrase once again, "without recourse to legal authority and
consulting and coordinating with Arab nations" -- it is clear that the Arab
nations -- that Saudi Arabia, that the Jordanians, that the Egyptians do
not look upon Hezbollah as being a legitimate government entity, as a
matter of fact, they look upon it as an active threat to the government of
Lebanon.

And U.N. Resolution 1559 made it pretty clear that foreign powers ought to
stay out of Lebanon and let the democracy itself take root. And so the
United Nations is going there to work with strengthening the provisions of
1559. Prime Minister Siniora also wants help, and we support his aim, in
making sure that his government acquires effective control over all
Lebanese territory, including the southern regions where, in many places
Hezbollah holds sway. And the President certainly offered his support for
that goal. And, again, it's consistent with 1559.

Q Following up on something that came up last night with the Condi briefing
-- is the President -- is the White House working with the G8 on a draft
resolution to address this issue? Because she talked about how important it
was to speak with one voice.

MR. SNOW: There were some draft resolutions underway before everybody
headed over here. But I think it's safe to say that with the pace of events
-- and I did speak to some of the people involved in negotiations --
they're going to have to redraft them. It is certainly going to be a topic
of much concern and so I expect them to talk about it a lot. I don't want
to make any promises about draft resolutions, but it is important for
everybody to speak one voice.

And I think the one area of common agreement is that Hezbollah cannot act
independently of the government of Lebanon. What it has done is
deliberately place in peril the people of Lebanon, as well as the
government. And the President has also made it absolutely clear that we
want that government to survive and thrive and we are going to do what we
can to help them do that.

Q So there will be one kind of resolution or another, it's just that they
have to be reworked?

MR. SNOW: I can't -- look, I don't have a crystal ball. We'll just have to
see what happens.

Q Okay. There may be resolutions.

MR. SNOW: Well, you don't call it "resolution." I think you have a
statement or whatever. But, again, no promises on that; we'll just have to
see what happens when the leaders get together.

Q The President didn't make any promises or anything to the Lebanese Prime
Minister? Did he give him any idea of what he might try to do with Israel,
as far as making them hold back a little bit on attacks?

MR. SNOW: The President is not going to make military decisions for Israel.
What he said is that -- look, there have been ongoing conversations. As a
matter of fact, today Secretary Rice -- let me pull out my list. I
mentioned the three heads of state the President has talked with. Secretary
Rice has talked to David Walsh, [sic] she's talked to Kofi Annan, the
Qatari foreign minister, she talked to Mahmoud Abbas, she talked to
Siniora, and she is working on trying to get -- well, I won't tell you who
she's working on getting through to.

Q Who's David Walsh?

MR. SNOW: He's our -- Welch, I'm sorry. Welch. Sorry, can't read my own
writing. David Welch.

Q Who is he?

MR. SNOW: He's our Assistant Secretary of State. He is traveling with Eliot
Abrams through the region.

Q So the President has not -- you know, Condi last night was talking about
Israel should exercise restraint. The President has not called any Israeli
officials to make that point?

MR. SNOW: He has not spoken with Israeli officials. However, Secretary Rice
and National Security Advisor Hadley have had a number of conversations.

Q Those conversations with the Israelis escalated over the last 24-48 hours
or are we talking kind of over this 17-day --

MR. SNOW: Well, of course we've been talking through the 17-day period. But
you must understand that what Hezbollah did -- look, there were active
negotiations between the Israelis and other partners on the kidnapping.
Hezbollah steps in, what, five days ago, six -- whatever. I mean, that is
when you get a real escalation point. And the moment that happened,
obviously, it became a matter of greater concern because it was pretty
obvious that what Hezbollah is trying to do is to destabilize the
situation. It has an interest in renewed violence at a time when Arab
nations have been speaking out more and more about the importance of a two
state solution; they agree with us on that.

And what is heartening to note is that a number of Arab nations are, in
fact, saying to Hezbollah, sorry, you're on your own. And, in addition,
they've been talking with the government of Syria because it is pretty
clear that Syria has considerable influence over what goes on there.

Q Does the President have any plans to talk any Israeli leaders? Or at this
point, no?

MR. SNOW: At this point -- look, I think -- the Israeli leaders have been
consulted, and they've been consulted by the Secretary of State and the
National Security Advisor. And they'll continue their conversations and
there is no -- I don't want to say there's no need, I'd just say the
President has not expressed any plans to speak with the Prime Minister, but
should it become necessary, he will.

Q Who is the President riding with here, do we know?

MR. SNOW: I think it's one of the Secret Service agents.

Q Okay, no --

MR. SNOW: I don't believe so. No Lance Armstrong.

Q Civil society members? (Laughter.)

Q Putin? (Laughter.)

MR. SNOW: No, no injured members of the Tour de France, none of that.
(Laughter.)

Q Is it true that Putin wouldn't him bike on the grounds because they
thought he might run into somebody.

MR. SNOW: Oh, you've got to be kidding me. (Laughter.) The President is a
guy who likes to go on trails. He's on a trail. There aren't a whole lot of
trails on the compound.

Q When he met with the democracy advocates, was there anything -- he said
he would convey some messages to President Putin. Was there any one, in
particular, or several that you could --

MR. SNOW: No, I don't think so. If he didn't feel compelled to share with
you, I don't think I will, either. But it was --

Q Oh, go ahead.

MR. SNOW: Yes, just between you and me. (Laughter.) It was an interesting
meeting because most of these civil society representatives are fairly
young. They represent everything from the World Wildlife Fund to lawyers
to, you know, people working on human rights and so on. Obviously, they
agreed to --

(Interruption to gaggle -- loud dog-barking)

Q Looks like they found something.

MR. SNOW: I don't think so. They found out you're here.

Q They're hungry.

MR. SNOW: It's too bad we smeared meat sauce on the carpet of your bus.
(Laughter.)

Q For the transcript, there are dogs barking.

Q Does the White House perceive that any of these civil society people
incurred any risk by meeting with the President?

MR. SNOW: I don't know. But they decided to meet with the President. I
would rather not judge it. But the President believes it's important in
building a democracy to have vigorous civil institutions that allow the
people to express themselves. Democracy becomes strong when people feel
free to express their views and also to pursue causes that are important to
them. And a government also experiences the rough and tumble of the kind of
exchange that we often see in American democracy.

Q Are we going to get any kind of readout of the dinner tonight?

MR. SNOW: I honestly -- I doubt it, because I think the dinner is going to
be largely a personal affair. I really don't expect there to be any
substantive discussions. I think the President and Mrs. Bush and President
and Mrs. Putin I think are going to have a friendly dinner. And it really
is all going to be about just talking and getting caught up.

Q And tomorrow, is the President having a news conference with Putin? Or
what do you know about the plans for that?

MR. SNOW: Yes, we're probably going to have a news conference with a three
and three at the back end.

Q Three -- with who? Between the President and Putin, or just the
President?

MR. SNOW: The President and Putin. And the good thing is --

Q That's Monday?

MR. SNOW: No, that's tomorrow. That's tomorrow.

Q Any progress on WTO? Where's that?

MR. SNOW: Nothing to announce on WTO. They continue to work through it. I
spoke with Ambassador Schwab and she said they're still grinding through
the issues. She's on the ground here.

Hang on a second, I'm going to try to get some updates for you. Stop the
tape.

(Pause in gaggle.)

MR. SNOW: All right, just a couple of extra notes. Secretary Rice, since I
last had contact with her office, has spoken with the Emir of Qatar and
also I think even as we speak, or about as we speak is going to be speaking
with Prime Minister Olmert.

Let me re-emphasize something that's important about what's going on. What
Hezbollah has done is force people to make choices. And quite often in
protracted situations like this you have forcing event, and in many ways
this is a forcing event. And what you're beginning to see is the Arab
nations coming to the realization that independent actors and terrorist
organizations like Hezbollah are an act of threat to everybody, because
they can -- a small number of people can work to destabilize not only a
nation, but to aim at destabilizing a region. And that has been a focus of
a lot of the talks.

In any event, again, Secretary Rice has spoken with the Emir of Qatar and
also with -- I think is going to speaking with Ehud Olmert.

An additional point, too, you know, when you're thinking about choices.
Again, the Iranians and Syrians also have a choice to make, which is
whether they continue provoking and supporting terrorist organizations
within the region. The President intends to work with allies, including
France -- remember, France was instrumental in helping write U.N.
Resolution 1559, which led to the removal of Syrian forces from Lebanon,
the official Syrian government presence. And the French were very helpful
on that. And I think we look forward to their help on dealing with
Hezbollah, too.

All right, anything else?

Q Anything else out there?

MR. SNOW: You know, again, we'll see what happens on trade.

Q Sounds like you're close?

MR. SNOW: No, I wouldn't say that. I think there's a lot of work to be
done, and I wouldn't --

Q Okay. You're not trying to give us a hint?

MR. SNOW: No, definitely not trying to give you a hint?

Q You're talking about the Russian deal, not Doha?

MR. SNOW: Also, Doha -- look, Doha has enough lengthy and technical issues
that they're not going to be resolved -- I'll tell you right now, the
President is not going to sit around and talk about amber boxes with his
colleagues. (Laughter.) That is why you hire trade ministers. And if and
when there is resolution on the Doha round, it will be with the people who
deal in those minutiae. The President has given marching orders to Susan
Schwab and she knows what they are and she has been carrying them out
faithfully and well.

That's about it. Not much new out of Iraq -- I asked specifically, and not
much new out of there today to report. And we'll let your domestic
correspondents handle the rest.

Q Thank you.

END 6:07 P.M. (L)
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