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MR. BURNS: Good morning. Secretary of State Christopher has been participating this morning, as you know, in a "Friends of Lebanon" conference. I wanted to give you a report on that, and then I'll be glad to take your questions.
As you know, this conference today originated in the April 26, 1996 understandings when Secretary Christopher worked out a cease-fire along the border between Lebanon and Israel. In addition to forming the Monitoring Group, which has worked, we think, very successfully over the last couple of months, they agreed to form a consultative group, a larger group that would essentially support Lebanon in its quest to get itself back on its feet and rebuild itself economically. Today's conference is a direct expression of that.
We're very pleased that 29 countries and seven leading financial institutions agreed to participate in today's conference. The conference will last all day. I would expect that by the end of the day, around 4:00-5:00 our time, we'll have a joint statement issued by the United States and Lebanon -- a joint statement between Secretary Christopher and Prime Minister Hariri.
Again, the principal aim of this conference is to allow Lebanon to have a forum internationally where it can essentially report to the world about its economic reform and reconstruction effort, about its unemployment, its inflation situation, which we know are much better than they were a couple of years ago, and to try to seek sustained international support from the international community.
What I'd like to do is take you through what Secretary Christopher said this morning in his intervention which you did not hear after you were asked to leave the room, and then briefly describe what Prime Minister Hariri said and what Minister de Charette said and then go to your questions.
Secretary Christopher said that the United States planned to increase its assistance to Lebanon ten-fold. He described that our assistance has three primary components to it -- three aspects of U.S. assistance to Lebanon.
First, the United States will increase its economic assistance to Lebanon in 1997. Specifically, we plan to increase economic support funds to Lebanon to $12 million in Fiscal Year 1997. I believe that's up from $2 million in Fiscal Year 1996. This will enable us to work with the Lebanese Government to expand social infrastructure and to have some money keyed to specific probjects that are important to the Government of Lebanon, specifically in the areas of education and the environment.
We also, in addition to the $12 million, plan to initiate a new agricultural credit guarantee program, a $6 million program. That will allow easier export of agricultural products into Lebanon that Lebanon does not produce, but in such a way that it won't create undue hardships for the Lebanese Government.
We plan, in addition to the $6 million program, to introduce new agricultural programs, cooperation programs, with the Government of Lebanon.
Also, we would like to support the American University in Beirut. We plan to allocate $2.1 million in assistance to AUB. For those of you who are Lebanese or those of you who are Americans who travel to Lebanon, AUB is a premier, educational institution. It's been badly affected by the war in Lebanon but AUB is going to survive. AUB is going to continue to play a leadership role in education in Lebanon, and we're very glad to support AUB as well as International College.
Our Department of Defense, in addition to our support for education, plans to provide schools and hospitals in Lebanon with excess material from our Defense stocks. We have a lot of equipment. We have a lot of machinery that can be helpful to schools and hospitals, and we plan to do that. That's the first group of assistance.
The second group is that we plan to support the revitalization of Lebanon's private sector by trying to enhance the trade links between the United States and Lebanon. Lebanon doesn't need a lot of help here because it really personifies the entrepreneurial spirit, and you can see that from what's happening in Beirut and other cities. But we plan as much as possible to increase both OPIC and Ex-Im lending to Lebanon.
For instance, the Overseas and Private Investment Corporation, which is part of the U.S. Government, has recently issued two $1 million political risk insurance contracts for U.S. businesses who are investing in Lebanon. These businesses would not have invested without the insurance coverage provided by the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, an arm of the U.S. Government. OPIC is looking for other projects to support.
The U.S. Export-Import Bank will also be making available a broader range of loan guarantees and insurance both for public sector projects and private sector projects in Lebanon itself.
Our Trade and Development Agency, another arm of the U.S. Government, is also going to be expanding its coverage in Lebanon. So the three major U.S. Government agencies that try to help promote U.S. investment into a country will be expanding their programs and coverage in Lebanon, which we believe should have a dynamic effect on the ability and inclination of the American private sector to invest in Lebanon.
Third, we continue to support Lebanon's efforts to develop a strong and effective security force. The Lebanese Armed Forces can make a crucial contribution to provide stability in Lebanon, the stability that's needed to allow the reconstruction to go forward and for economic growth to take place.
As you know, we have worked in the past with the Lebanese Armed Forces. We plan to expand training for Lebanese officers in the United States -- military training through our Imet Program; that's the International Military, Education and Training Program. We'll have an emphasis on civilian control of the military and human rights. Both are very important elements, of course, in training Lebanese officers for the future.
We're also going to be developing a law enforcement training program with the Government of Lebanon for the internal security forces of Lebanon. As you know, we continue to provide Lebanon with defense equipment from U.S. stocks. We've done that in the past; we plan to expand that in 1997-1998. This is separate from the earlier item I told you about.
The earlier item referred to office equipment and machinery that our military has that can be put into use into the civilian sector in Lebanon, into hospitals and schools. This program is actually military hardware, supplies, uniforms, all sorts of conventional equipment and defense articles that can be of use to the Lebanese Armed Forces.
We believe that this package of measures represents a significant increase in the ability of the United States to work with Lebanon. I think it also represents the great respect that we have for Lebanon's Prime Minister, Rafiq Hariri who is here this morning. He has impressed both President Clinton and Secretary Christopher when they have worked with him. Secretary Christopher, of course, saw him a lot -- in Chtaura, Damascus, last April when we were negotiating the cease-fire agreement. We want to work very closely with the Hariri government.
So that is essentially the program that Secretary Christopher outlined for the conference this morning.
Let me just tell you, Prime Minister Hariri gave a very impressive speech after you left the room. He remarked on the fact that Lebanon had undergone 17 years of turmoil but that the Lebanese people are determined to overcome that and to rebuild. He said, in fact, that Lebanon, these days, is a big construction site. He noted that inflation is down from 120 percent just a couple of years ago to 10 percent a year now; unemployement is down; economic growth is running around four or five percent in 1996, which is quite impressive.
He noted that the Lebanese Armed Forces were strengthened; that they were playing a security role beyond Beirut and further south and further north. He noted that there was $300 million in private investment in 1996, and he expected a further increase of that in 1997.
He certainly gave everybody around the table, from Europe and Asia, the Middle East, and North America, the very firm view that he is determined that the economic reconstruction effort will go forward. That was good news.
The sound financial and monetary policies that he has put into place, that have really provided for a measure of economic stability for the Lebanese people, will continue. That was very good news to hear.
Following Prime Minister Hariri, Dick Spring, the Irish Foreign Minister who currently has the presidency of the European Union, spoke on behalf of the European Union.
I won't attempt to speak on the EU's behalf today, but just to say that Minister Spring gave a very, very strongly worded intervention in support of Lebanon and in support of EU financial assistance to Lebanon, which is considerable.
Then Foreign Minister de Charette spoke. Foreign Minister de Charette said that France appreciated the energy and effectiveness of Secretary Christopher in the Middle East in the past and in the present. I can tell you I, for one, was very pleased to hear Foreign Minister de Charette say such nice things about our Secretary of State, because I think our Secretary of State deserves to hear those kinds of words as he seeks to depart his office.
Foreign Minister de Charette said that peace is essential for Lebanon and Lebanon is essential for peace in the Middle East. Minister de Charette noted that France would continue to work very closely and, I might add, amicably with the United States; that France and the United States co-chaired the Monitoring Group. In fact, as you know, France is now in the chair. The United States has a chair for the first six months. France has taken over, and we are working well with France on the Monitoring Group.
He also noted that France had a long-time relationship with Lebanon; that France would continue its own bilateral assistance to Lebanon beyond the support that the European Union is giving.
So by all accounts, a very good beginning to the conference this morning, and that represents my report to you, and I'll be glad to take your questions.
QUESTION: What about the American travel ban to Lebanon?
MR. BURNS: There were no announcements made today on that issue. We know it's of great concern to the Lebanese Government and the Lebanese people, as well as to the tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of Americans of Lebanese ancestry who travel, who would like to travel frequently to Lebanon.
Let me just say this: When the passport restrictions were put in place, there was an annual 12-month review of this issue. So we reviewed it only once a year. Secretary Christopher now reviews this issue twice a year, and I believe the current six-month review is due to be made by February 28, 1997.
Secretary Christopher will be leaving about a month before that date, so I would expect that Secretary Christopher would keep this issue under very active review during his final month in office. He has not come to a conclusion yet, but we understand it's a very serious problem.
We have a serious commitment to make sure we give the best advice we can to the American public, which would wish to travel to Lebanon, and I think you'll probably hear more from us on this in the next 20-30 days. I can't tell you if it will be positive or negative, but there will be a point where I think we have to review it one more time before the Secretary leaves office.
QUESTION: Concerning the businessmen?
MR. BURNS: Excuse me?
QUESTION: Concerning the businessmen, the other state will concern only the businessmen?
MR. BURNS: I can't anticipate exactly the decision that Secretary Christopher will make, but he's going to review the status of all the American traveling public that wishes to travel to Lebanon.
QUESTION: Could you put a dollar figure for the second and the third group of assistance to Lebanon?
MR. BURNS: I don't have dollar figures now, but perhaps I can get that out of our Near East Bureau. It's sometimes hard to quantify that. Let me just give our Bureau one out. The program for U.S. military assistance, for instance -- the excess defense articles -- you don't usually make a dollar commitment up front. What you do is if the Lebanese armed forces come to us and say, "We need new trucks," or "We need summer uniforms or winter uniforms for the mountains," whatever, they come to us, and, depending on what's available in our military stocks anywhere in the world, we then try to deliver.
So it's always hard to predict with any degree of exactitude what the final dollar figure will be, but it is a commitment to work more closely with the Lebanese armed forces.
QUESTION: Does this mean -- that you do not announce anything, even easing the restrictions on the businessmen everybody was expecting -- does this mean that you are not satisfied that the security situation in Lebanon is good enough for Americans to travel, and how can you allow American businessmen today to go to the meetings and work about future projects when they know they can't go to Lebanon?
MR. BURNS: Of course, many American business people are able to do business, because they're able to make contact with Lebanese business people in a variety of places, and they also have business partners in Lebanon. This is a very sensitive issue. It's an issue where the Secretary of State has great responsibility. We need to give by law our traveling public our best sense of what the threat is. You know -- all of you who live in Beirut and all of you who remember the events of the 1980s -- you know what a threat it was for Americans to travel in Beirut just ten, eight, six years ago.
Obviously, the situation has improved. There's no question about that. The economic situation has improved. The war has ended. All that is positive. We will keep this under very active review. The Secretary did not make any statements about it, obviously, publicly when you were there, but he didn't privately either with a larger group. He did have a conversation with Prime Minister Hariri earlier this morning before the conference started, which I witnessed, and it was a good conversation. I think the channels of communication are open on both sides.
As I said, I would expect before the Secretary leaves office, he'll take another look at this. I don't want to anticipate what decision he's going to make. I can't tell you that he's going to make a positive decision or a negative decision, but because this six-month review is ending essentially a month after he leaves office, he will be looking at this question. We are mindful how important it is symbolically as well as practically for the government of Lebanon and for the many tens of thousands of Americans of Lebanese ancestry.
QUESTION: There has been an American view that the progress in economic assistance to Lebanon is very closely linked to the progress of the Middle East peace talks. Are you dissaociating this now or are we seeing a very small amount of aid to Lebanon compared to the aid which is given to Israel? This is one part of the question. The second part of the question: You have talked a lot about the confidence in the Prime Minister Hariri and Hariri Administration. Does this mean that you don't trust Lebanon, you just trust Hariri in person?
MR. BURNS: No. Let me take that question first. That's the easier one. It's meant to be a compliment, a public show of support, for the relationship that we have with Prime Minister Hariri. We work well with a variety of Lebanese politicians and business people. It's interesting, if you look at the links between Lebanon and Israel, they're closer culturally and socially and people to people in many cases with our government than with a lot of other countries in that region. We have a lot in common. We know the Lebanese Government well.
It's meant to be a compliment, and we don't say it about -- you ask the guys who cover the briefing every day. We don't always say this about every world leader that comes through here, but in this case he has earned the praise of the international community and of the United States for the job he's done in Lebanon over the past several years. He has been the leader in rebuilding the country, and we have an interest in that. We want to support it. So that's the easier question.
On the economic assistance question, we're not going to wait until a comprehensive peace settlement is reached in the Middle East before trying to help Lebanon rebuild itself. We're not going to try to deny economic funds to Lebanon until that day comes. Lebanon is very much in many ways, obviously, the victim of a wider situation which is not conducive to a wider peace -- and I'm not talking just about Israel here, I'm talking about the fact that, obviously, what Syria does and says has a big impact on what happens on the Israel-Lebanon track, and we're aware of that.
So absent some progress on the Israel-Lebanon and Israel-Syria tracks -- and there's very little reason to think that there's going to be progress any time soon -- absent that progress, we want to be helpful to Lebanon economically. We want to promote the relations between our two countries, and we'll continue to do that, and we'll expand it, if we can, even despite the fact that there is no comprehensive peace settlement.
QUESTION: Nick, on the subject of the cease-fire on the border with Israel and Lebanon, will it be discussed -- has it been discussed, the matter of training camps for Hizbollah, for Hamas and other groups in the Bekaa Valley, especially those that are threatening Israel directly from Lebanon and within the West Bank, we saw this weekend? And also those who are suspected of have complicity or been involved in the bombing at Khobar?
MR. BURNS: Bill, I don't believe that came up this morning, because this is a conference on economic relations, but that issue does come up frequently in our conversations with both Lebanon and with the Government of Syria. Of course, as you know, the Government of Syria actually allows some of these terrorist organizations to have offices in Damascus, and that's been a concern of the United States.
QUESTION: Is it the jurisdiction of Lebanon to be involved in the Bekaa regarding these training camps?
MR. BURNS: We certainly also have these conversations, as I said, with the Government of Lebanon, and we don't believe that terrorist groups ought to be working from the soil of either Lebanon or Syria.
QUESTION: Lebanon has suffered many years before this time -- has suffered from a lot of Israeli attacks and civil war. Why is "Friends of Lebanon" now, at this time?
MR. BURNS: As I said, we're mindful of the fact that Lebanon has suffered greatly over the last two decades. When Secretary Christopher was shuttling between Damascus and Jerusalem and he also went into Lebanon, as you know, one day in April of this year, Prime Minister Hariri, I think, made a very big impression on our delegation and made the point that something had to come out of that terrible environment last spring that would give some hope to Lebanon.
Obviously, the cease-fire was the first order of business, and that cease-fire has largely held. When there have been incidents, the Monitoring Group has dealt with those instances in a very open and public way. You've seen the press statements that we made just last week on this. But there was a very strong feeling that there had to be a wider group formed to try to support Lebanon, and that's what this group is, the "Friends of Lebanon," which is the consultative group that we had talked about with him during the last week of April.
We're very glad to see the French Government give its full support to this. Minister de Charette was also shuttling in the Middle East during that week in April. I think all of us agree that no matter what happens on the political side of the peace process, the economic side has to go forward.
Sid.
QUESTION: When Prime Minister Hariri was here a few months ago, he had asked for certain military items -- attack helicopters, tanks, things that don't necessarily fall into the non-lethal category. With this expanded program, will it include those items?
MR. BURNS: Sid, I don't know. I'd have to check with the Pentagon to see what specific decisions have been made. I've talked here about excess defense articles, and specifically non-lethal assistance, but I can check into that for you.
QUESTION: Do you have anything about any pledges by the other parties who --
MR. BURNS: I don't wish to speak for them. It's always a very touchy issue. I don't want to speak for the French Government today or the European Union Government, but the European Union -- Minister Spring -- talked about an EU aid program between 1996 and the year 2000, which is very, very large for Lebanon. It's a combination of things. But again I'm not the spokesman for the EU or the French Government. I don't think they'd appreciate me announcing their aid figures, but they're substantial.
So I think what's coming out of this conference in Washington is a very strong show from the United States and the Europeans -- the Canadians are also here -- of solidarity with Lebanon. The Presence of the IMF and the World Bank and the Arab banks, the Arab Development Fund from Kuwait and a lot of other financial institutions is very promising for Lebanon.
QUESTION: A question related to the link between the peace process and economic assistance to Lebanon. My question is, are there any kind of conditions that you can tell of related to the new increase of assistance to Lebanon?
MR. BURNS: There are no conditions attached by the United States. The increase in United States' aid is a reflection of our confidence in the Lebanese Government, our confidence and support for the Lebanese people, and our wish to create a closer American relationship with Lebanon in general and to help Lebanon rebuild.
QUESTION: Can you give us the order of speakers after we left the room?
MR. BURNS: After I left the room?
QUESTION: After we left the room.
MR. BURNS: Secretary Christopher introduced Prime Minister Hariri. Prime Minister Hariri was really the first speaker, and he gave a very impressive review of Lebanon's economic performance. It was quite technical. Then Secretary Christopher spoke; then Minister Spring spoke; and then Minister de Charette spoke. I left the room when the Russian representative was speaking, and from there, there is a speakers' list, and we've got it in the Press Office. You probably have it as well.
QUESTION: Who was speaking when Secretary Christopher left the room? Who was speaking?
MR. BURNS: Not Minister de Charette. (Laughter) Secretary Christopher is a very polite man. He had a great interest in what Minister de Charette was going to say today. I don't know. I tell you why, I left the room before the Secretary. The Secretary had to get over to the White House with Minister Spring for the U.S.-EU summit, which President Clinton is hosting at the White House today. We have a semi-annual summit with the European Union, and Minister Spring and the Secretary had to leave for that meeting.
They probably left around 10:20. I don't know if the Russian -- I guess the Russian probably wouldn't have been speaking. It would have been someone below the Russian on a level, but the French Foreign Minister and the Irish Foreign Minister and the Lebanese Prime Minister had all spoken. I'm very pleased to tell you that.
QUESTION: Was the situation in southern Lebanon a subject of discussion between Secretary Christopher and Prime Minister Hariri? What is your assessment about the situation there now?
MR. BURNS: The Secretary and the Prime Minister got together for about 10 minutes before the conference started. They really talked about the conference itself, what was going to be happening at the conference. They talked about the passport restriction issue, the so-called travel ban, and a variety of other issues.
I was a little bit late for that meeting, but southern Lebanon did not come up when I was there. Obviously, it's a subject of great concern to us. We continually review it. We have American diplomats stationed, as you know, at Naqura and other places as part of the Monitoring Group. So it's a very big issue, but I don't think it came up this morning.
I think Charlie was next.
QUESTION: Nick, just to follow up on the question Sid asked and that you answered about whether or not lethal aid/military aid. The Secretary mentioned, "Continuing to provide non-lethal defense equipment" in his statement. Is your checking with the Pentagon leaving it open or are you unsure whether or not there's a possibility --
MR. BURNS: I just don't want to mislead anyone. The assistance that I've referred to, that the Secretary mentioned this morning, is non-lethal: excessive defense articles, military training, that kind of thing. Sid asked a very specific question. I want to make sure we give him a good answer, and that is, I want to check with the Pentagon and make sure there isn't some other program that's underway that would, in fact, involve the transfer of conventional weaponry.
QUESTION: A related matter -- the Palestinian-Israeli talks?
MR. BURNS: Yes.
QUESTION: What is your appreciation of where things stand right now after the meeting between Netanyahu and Arafat? Will Dennis (Ross) be heading to the region? Is the Secretary going to head to the region? What sort of role are you all playing now?
MR. BURNS: Anytime that the Israeli Prime Minister and the Chairman of the Palestinian Authority speak, as they did by telephone last night, that's a good thing; that's a positive thing. It's that kind of communication that has been lacking over the last couple of weeks. Frankly, we don't believe there's going to be a Hebron agreement until Prime Minister Netanyahu and Chairman Arafat actually get together and talk.
The issues are so important that we assume that only the Israeli Prime Minister and the Chairman of the PA, sitting together, can finally resolve them. So we would encourage further contacts between the two leaders.
I have no announcements to make regarding travel by the Secretary of State or Ambassador Ross. In fact, the Secretary will be leaving on Friday for a well-deserved 10 days off at his home in California. I know that Dennis Ross is planning to spend some time with his family over the holidays. So I have nothing to announce by way of American travel. But Ambassador Martin Indyk and Ed Abington, our Consul General in Jerusalem, continue to be involved day by day in these talks.
QUESTION: Do you have any comment on the letter sent by the former Secretary of State to Mr. Netanyahu regarding the Palestinian-Israeli conflict?
MR. BURNS: I'm a little bit limited in responding to you because the former eight Secretaries of State and National Security Advisors didn't send me a copy. I'm not complaining. I haven't seen a copy of the letter. I've seen the very excellent piece of journalism by our colleague, Steve Erlanger, in the New York Times this morning, but I haven't seen the letter itself.
I would just say, these people are all senior people. They're very experienced people. They obviously have a right to express themselves. Apparently, they've been in contact privately with Mr. Netanyahu, which is their right. The United States has its own position, and we articulated that position as recently as Friday at this podium.
QUESTION: No comment on the content of the letter itself?
MR. BURNS: Again, I have not seen the letter. So absent seeing it, I don't want to provide an official comment except to say that these people are free, obviously as Americans, to do what they wish to do.
QUESTION: You said that the assistance for Lebanon is $12 million for these specific areas?
MR. BURNS: On the economic side.
QUESTION: Have you chosen the exact project you want to contribute on, or do you have to make further --
MR. BURNS: In some cases, we know what the exact projects are. In others, we have to work that out with the Lebanese Government.
Thank you.
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