Secretary Colin L. Powell, 03/21/03 Remarks After Meeting With Cameroon President

[David]

03/21/03 Remarks After Meeting With Cameroon President Biya; Washington, DC

SECRETARY POWELL: Good morning.

QUESTION: Are you having a problem with Turkey on military operations? Are they being a little difficult?

SECRETARY POWELL: Well, Turkey, as you know, through its parliament, approved overflights night before last, and we're having some difficulty in operationalizing that, and I will be speaking to Turkish leaders, I hope, within the next hour. I had a long conversation with Prime Minister Erdogan about it last night, and I hope we can clear it up. If not, we'll have to find alternate arrangements, but I'm still hopeful it can be cleared up and I'll be speaking to them in the next hour or so.

QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, it looks increasingly clear that the Turkish military is trying to block the overflights so that they can move their troops into Northern Iraq. How concerned are you about this and what are the potential consequences if this happens?

SECRETARY POWELL: I'm not saying that's perfectly clear. You are. What I'm saying is that we are in contact with the Turks about the overflight issue. They have to publish the parliament's decree in their equivalent of the Federal Register.

And we are in contact with them about their desire to have a presence in Northern Iraq. At the moment, we don't see a need for any Turkish incursions into Northern Iraq and we are talking with the Turkish authorities to see whether or not there is some planning we should do with respect to any humanitarian needs that might arise along the border.

But our position is that these two items should be separable. Let's deal with the overflight issue and deal with the need for making sure that there is not a disturbance along the Turkish-Iraq border.

QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, is --

QUESTION: Yesterday, the Department asked all its allies to -- anyone with an Iraqi diplomatic presence, to cut off that presence and expel the diplomats. Already, two strong allies, Canada and Russia, have said they're not going to do that, they don't think that's the right move. How big a problem is this going to be for you?

SECRETARY POWELL: That is their choice. We believe that as we watch this regime come to an end, it would be appropriate to let all of our friends know that it was time to cease the activity of the Iraqi missions in their countries and the leading members of those missions should be asked to leave. If some countries choose not to do that, that is their choice.

QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, is the State Department, in fact, in touch with any elements within Iraq to try and get Saddam Hussein to surrender, resign?

SECRETARY POWELL: There are a number of channels open to Baghdad. There are a number of individuals in countries around the world who have been conveying the message to the Iraqi regime that it is now inevitable that there will be a change. Coalition forces are doing very well. The operation is going, I think, in a very fine manner. And in order to prevent any loss of life beyond that which may have occurred already, it would be wise for Iraqi leaders to recognize that their day is over and that this is going to happen.

I also want to express my sympathy and condolences for the lives of coalition soldiers, both United States, UK, especially United States Marines who have been lost so far. War is a terrible thing and, unfortunately, lives are lost. So the sooner we can get this over in a decisive way that brings a better life to the people of Iraq, the better off we will be.

QUESTION: Secretary of State, you have received the President of Cameroon. May we know how you defined your relations between Cameroon and the United States today?

SECRETARY POWELL: Relations between our two countries, I think, are excellent, and President Biya had a fine visit here. He had a good discussion with President Bush yesterday and dinner with President Bush, and we just completed a good series of discussions here.

We'll be working with Cameroon in the Security Council as we move forward and we have plans to assist them with some of their economic development activities and aid activities and their interest in pursuing more aggressively the campaign against terrorism.

Cameroon is a place of stability in that part of Africa and we want to do everything we can to strengthen the government and to strengthen our relationship with Cameroon.

One more.

QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, President Chirac has said in Brussels that he is opposed, France is opposed, to the U.S. and the U.K. taking over in Baghdad by UN resolution, that he would oppose that. (A) Does that surprise you? And (B) do you intend to seek a UN resolution to do that?

SECRETARY POWELL: We are in consultation with coalition members as well as other members of the Security Council as to what is appropriate as we move forward. With respect to the Oil-for-Food program and any other broader resolution that might be appropriate, I'm not quite sure what President Chirac is referring to.

All I know is that the liberation of Iraq is underway and we want to do it in a way that will demonstrate to the world that we come as liberators, that we are going to put in place a better life for the people of Iraq, a representative form of government, and we are going to use the assets of the people of Iraq, especially their oil assets, to benefit their people and to no longer develop weapons of mass destruction and to be used to threaten their neighbors. And I hope that France will want to be a partner in such an effort, but that remains to be seen.

It is time for us to realize that the liberation is underway and it is inevitable. Thank you.
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