State Dept. Daily Press Briefing January 9, 2007

Daily Press Briefing
Sean McCormack, Spokesman
Washington, DC
January 9, 2007

INDEX:

SOMALIA
Reports of U.S. Military Operations / U.S. Diplomatic Contacts
U.S. Concerns Regarding Terrorists / Al Qaeda
IGASOM Force Deployment
U.S. View of Proposed African Union Force
U.S. Diplomatic Presence

IRAN
Sanctions on Iranian Entities / U.S. Working with Other States

IRAQ
Reports of Plane Crash
U.S. Encourages Regional Support for Iraq / International Compact
for Iraq
Iraqi Refugees / U.S. Working with UNHCR

MEXICO
Mexican Military Operations Near Border Against Drug Networks

VENEZUELA
Chavez Comments About OAS Secretary General

ISRAEL/PALESTINIANS
Tensions Between Hamas and Fatah / Political Contradictions Need
to be Resolved
Egyptian President Mubarak’s Meeting with Prime Minister Olmert

MIDDLE EAST
Secretary’s Upcoming Travel to the Region / GCC+2 Meeting

RUSSIA/BELARUS
Oil Dispute

NORTH KOREA
Location and Date of Next Treasury Working Group Meeting

TRANSCRIPT:

12:42 p.m. EST

MR. MCCORMACK: Good afternoon, everybody. We will put out the paper statements on the Secretary's travel after the briefing, but I think you have all the information so we can get right into your questions, whoever wants to start.

QUESTION: What are you prepared to say about developments in Somalia?

MR. MCCORMACK: Well, there have been numerous media reports about Pentagon DOD activities going after senior al-Qaida operatives that were resident in Somalia. I believe the Department of Defense has confirmed that on Sunday they did have an operation going after a high-level or senior al-Qaida operative that was operating in Somalia. I don't have any more details beyond that. I don't know how much more the Department of Defense is going to be willing to go into the details of the operation or whom it was going after, so you know what I know in terms of the operation.

QUESTION: But can you talk about diplomatic contacts with, say, Kenya and Ethiopia?

MR. MCCORMACK: Specifically with respect to that operation, I don't have any information for you, George. Clearly, we are in close contact with all the governments in the region concerning Somalia. We recently had a Somali Contact Group meeting there. Assistant Secretary Jendayi Frazer attended on our behalf. We co-chaired it. So we're working very closely with the governments in the region.

We have a concern that those terrorist operatives that were in Somalia -- operating in Somalia not be able to escape and flee and to try to establish safe haven elsewhere. So very clearly that has been one of our interests. We have military assets in the region. The other governments in the region -- the Ethiopians, the Kenyans as well as others -- understand that concern. I don't think that they want to see any al-Qaida or terrorist operatives be able to escape Somalia and try to set up camp either in their country or a neighboring country.

Yeah.

QUESTION: If Ethiopia or anyone else hands over any of these so-called al-Qaida operatives, would they be classified as enemy combatants and sent to Guantanamo Bay or what would happen to them?

MR. MCCORMACK: That is a several times over hypothetical question that I couldn't even begin to answer at this point.

QUESTION: Not really. But what would they be classified as?

MR. MCCORMACK: Well, it is actually really because you need to know the details. The lawyers always ask for details regarding these things, and I have no information that that is, in fact, the case right now. If we were, in fact, faced with that situation, of course, our lawyers would look into it. They would make judgments based upon our laws and our obligations under international treaty obligations.

QUESTION: But some of these people are named on U.S. most wanted lists, people who you are looking for --

MR. MCCORMACK: A lot of that depends on whether or not they already have indictments in the United States, whether those are unsealed or sealed. So again, you're getting into the range of the hypothetical. You need to deal with details first.

Yeah, Kirit.

QUESTION: You mentioned concerns that these al-Qaida terrorists might be able to set up camp in other countries in the region.

MR. MCCORMACK: Right.

QUESTION: Can you talk about their ability to operate within Somalia and your concerns there?

MR. MCCORMACK: Well, that was a longstanding concern. We had talked about that for some time that -- and Somalia was for the past 20 years or so has no effective government. It was an environment in which terrorists could carve out a niche if they, in fact, worked with some of the local warlords, some of the tribal leaders, work out arrangements whereby they could stay there. And so that had been a longstanding concern on the part of the United States as well as others in the region.

So now we have a situation where the Ethiopian army has gone in there. They have effectively taken control of Mogadishu to hand over to the Transitional Federal Institutions, as well as the southern parts of Somalia. And those terrorists no longer have a safe haven in which to operate, or at least to live in which they can count on not being hunted down. So they are trying to, we presume, make their way out of Somalia, and in doing so we want to try to get our hands on them.

QUESTION: I just want to make sure. Are you saying that they aren't able to operate in Somalia anymore?

MR. MCCORMACK: Well, certainly not in the way that they were able to previously. Previously, they had -- and again, I can't speak to any specific arrangements that an individual may have had, but presumably they operated there either with the cooperation or -- of a tribal or clan leader, other sort of resident of Somalia, in which they were provided some form of protection. They clearly can't do that now. That -- the situation is changed, I imagine for them, dramatically on the ground. You have Ethiopian forces there. You have the Somali Transitional Federal Institutions moving in. Granted, those are relatively weak institutions, but they have a dramatically different situation on the ground right now.

QUESTION: And Sunday's attack has furthered their inability to operate?

MR. MCCORMACK: I'll let DOD talk to exactly whom -- who they were going after and what they think the level of effectiveness of the attack was.

QUESTION: And you couldn't say whether these were the guys who were responsible for the embassy bombing?

MR. MCCORMACK: Again, you'll have to talk to DOD about who they were going after.

Nicholas.

QUESTION: Sean, I think Javier Solana has proposed sort of a peacekeeping force for Somalia under the UN. Do you have any comments on that at all, or how do you see what happened today or late last night in terms of the whole diplomacy effort that you have in the region?

MR. MCCORMACK: In terms of the DOD operation, I'm not sure it really affects anything with regard to the Somali Contact Group or the ongoing diplomacy to rally international support to assist the Somali people.

QUESTION: And we can assume that the Secretary knew about this in advance, right, about the military operation?

MR. MCCORMACK: I haven't asked her, Nicholas. I don't know.

In terms of the question you raise about a UN force, what Mr. Solana has talked about, there are ongoing discussions regarding the IGASOM force and how to make that a robust enough force in terms of resources to help provide some security in Mogadishu, in Somalia. Right now, the force stands at about 1,200 Ugandans. They have very -- they have generously said that they would step up and they would provide some forces and some resources and equipment for that mission. They need some assistance in terms of financial assistance. We are providing some of that in part. It's about a total of $20 or $30 million that they needed to -- for that deployment, so we're helping out with that.

But you're going to need more than 1,200 troops on the ground in a city of several million people, Mogadishu, to try to help provide a security environment where the Somalis can actually start building these institutions that will form the basis of their government and help rebuild a civil society in Somalia.

So the question then is, well, from where do those resources come and how do you generate them. Now, one way to do that is a UN-mandated or a UN force. So that's an idea, I think, that is among the international community being actively discussed. I don't think at this point there is a consensus on the international mechanism that would be used to generate and sustain that force, but there is a widespread agreement that there needs to be a more robust force because as the Ethiopians pull out of Somalia, pull out of Mogadishu, you don't want to create a security vacuum because that leads you right back into the situation where the Somali people found themselves previously, in a very chaotic environment and perhaps even worse off. You don't want -- the international community does not want to see that happen. That was a very clear feeling coming out of the Somali Contact Group over the past couple days.

QUESTION: So you're not saying that you would necessarily support a UN force, you're just saying that there needs to be something to help the Ugandans?

MR. MCCORMACK: It's one of the options being discussed, Nicholas. You know, I can't say that --

QUESTION: It's too early to tell?

MR. MCCORMACK: -- that we have -- we or others have really come down on one side or the other. But clearly, it's an option because you need to have a force in there that is robust enough to help work with the Transitional Federal Institutions to provide the security environment and the UN is one way to do that.

One other point about this, too. The Somali people have an opportunity here. This is all about how do we help the Somali people take advantage of the opportunity that they have right now. There is a level of international focus on Somalia and its various issues. And they have an opportunity to maybe not turn the clock back all the way, but turn the clock back a bit where you have these internationally recognized institutions that could form the basis of a government and around which people can rally.

Now it is up to the Somali people, the Somali leadership, the leadership of the Transitional Federal Institutions to reach out and try to rally the leaders among the Somali political class, leaders among Somali society to those institutions and to that common cause of charting a better pathway for Somalia. Now that's a -- it's going to be a long pathway because it is a country and people that have suffered greatly over the past couple of decades from humanitarian deprivations, from extreme violence in many cases, so they need a lot of help, but they all -- they need to begin by helping themselves and to coming together around this common set of institutions.

Yeah.

QUESTION: You said U.S. doesn't support a UN force, a UN peace force? Would you support an African Union force?

MR. MCCORMACK: I'm just saying that there are a number of different ideas that are out there right now. I don't think we've come down on one side or the other. It certainly is a possibility that exists. People are talking about it, Javier Solana has talked about it. It certainly does have some attractive aspects to it in being able to -- having it as a mechanism that -- through which you can generate a robust force, it can help provide some security in Somalia and also has the additional feature of providing a mechanism whereby you can continue to support that. There's a way to -- there's a way to do that, as opposed to ad hoc donations, such as we have with the IGASOM deployment.

Now, that isn't to say that at the end of the day, the consensus won't be to go that direction. It could very well be. But there are a lot of different needs for these kind of forces even in this region. So you have to take a look at what are the needs, for example, in Somalia, what are the needs in Sudan and how best can we accomplish both of those missions because, in essence, you're also sort of drawing from some of the same pools in terms of forces. But there have been some African states that have suggested that they would be willing to contribute forces to an expanded IGASOM force in Somalia.

So bottom line is -- the short answer is working with members of the international community to find the right formula to meet our goals.

Yeah.

QUESTION: Now that the Islamists are out and the weak transitional government is in, are you considering sending in a diplomatic team to Mogadishu because thus far you've been working out of Nairobi?

MR. MCCORMACK: No plans at this point. We have met with the transitional federal government institution -- Transitional Federal Institution leadership. We met with them in Kenya. At this point there's no -- there are no plans for U.S. diplomats to go to Mogadishu. That was something that was considered for a period of time at the end of last week over the weekend. Final decision was made that we -- the security concerns regarding our personnel outweighed at that point the potential diplomatic benefits of going to Mogadishu. So the way around that was to actually have the TFI representatives come down to Kenya. And we think -- and we had good meetings with them. So there was some positive there. It also I think highlighted the fact that there is a way to go on -- a ways to go in terms of the Somali political class really coming together in a cohesive way.

Yeah.

QUESTION: Would you mind just commenting on reports that Ethiopian intelligence has worked very closely with the United States on locating these people and helping with this assault?

MR. MCCORMACK: Well, Ethiopia has an interest in seeing that these individuals don't -- aren't able to flee Somalia and for example set up shop or try to set up shop in Ethiopia, try to commit acts of terror in Ethiopia. So yes, in the Horn of Africa, we do have an active effort to fight terrorism and there are a variety of different aspects to this. It's information sharing, working with the countries of the region to help build up their border security capabilities whether that's, you know, helping them out with computer systems so they can check people in and out or actually building an infrastructure. There are military to military relationships, for example, military exchanges, military training. We have some with Ethiopia. It's not very large; it's about $2.5 million. And so that all exists in the Horn of Africa. I can't tell you specifically whether or not we have received information in these cases from Ethiopia, but we do have an active counterterrorism operation cooperative effort in the Horn of Africa.

QUESTION: Also you did mention that some other African states have -- they're ready to send -- contribute to this force. Can you give specific at this stage or --

MR. MCCORMACK: I'm going to let them speak for themselves. But it was some initial expressions of interest. We have also gone out to a couple of African states suggesting that they might either themselves consider it or find a way to rally support on the continent for such a mission.

Yes, sir.

QUESTION: Change of subject?

MR. MCCORMACK: Sure. Anything else on Somalia? No? Okay.

QUESTION: The U.S. Department of the Treasury today designated Iran's Bank of Sepah as an institution that is facilitating Iran's weapons program.

MR. MCCORMACK: Right.

QUESTION: I would like to ask whether there are other -- should we expect further Iranian entities and Iranian financial institutions that are going to be sanctioned by the U.S.?

And my second question is: Are you in contact with other countries, other states, regarding this issue and are you persuading them to take similar steps?

MR. MCCORMACK: Well, in terms of prospectively are we going to designate other entities under this executive order, well, it certainly is a possibility but we would never speak in advance of those activities. And in any case, those are based on the facts. There are requirements under the law and regulation before we designate any individuals or entities under this executive order. I can only say that in this particular case there was substantial evidence that led us to this action today.

In terms of working with other states, absolutely we are working with other states. It's important -- an important aspect of fighting nonproliferation in the international community is exchange of information about the lifeblood to those operations. And that really is the -- these financial networks and the either front companies or those legitimate institutions that are unwittingly, or perhaps wittingly, serving as funnels for these kind of funds. What you want to do is be able to work cooperatively with other states as well as individual financial institutions to educate them about what it is that we know regarding Iranian WMD procurement activities and missile procurement activities, and out of that you can have a good information exchange. Based on that information exchange, sometimes you can glean useful, actionable information.

So that is very much a part of what we are doing and we are under UN Security Council Resolution 1737 working very actively with other states. This is a Chapter 7 resolution and states are obliged, regardless of whether or not they supported the resolution, to comply with its terms. So we are going to act under the terms of those resolutions. We are also going to work closely with other states based on their own national laws, looking at what actions they might take to ensure that we do not have a situation where Iran is able to continue to build up its nuclear weapons program.

Yeah, Kirit.

QUESTION: (Inaudible) if have a full answer for it. I'm just wondering if you knew whether Iran knew this was coming before the announcement today.

MR. MCCORMACK: I can't tell you. Can't tell you.

Yes, sir.

QUESTION: It was reported today that a plane crashed in Iraq and 30 Turkish construction workers and one American died. Do you have any reaction on that?

MR. MCCORMACK: I am aware of the reports of the plane crash. I don't have information about the nationalities of those onboard that crash. There were -- I do understand that there were fatalities and that's sad. It's sad for the families of those involved. But beyond that, I don't have any other details. Certainly, our thoughts go out to those who lost loved ones.

Yes, sir.

QUESTION: Sean, on Mexico. As you know, President Calderon, after ten days of taking position, he launched an amazing military operations against drug smuggling. Now they are working along the border in Tijuana area. How the U.S. is seeing that operation and what it's doing to prevent that many criminals just come across the United States trying to escape the Mexican authorities?

MR. MCCORMACK: Well, it's certainly very encouraging that the Mexican Government is taking steps to go after those networks that are responsible for the smuggling of drugs. And we all know that around those networks there's always also a great deal of violence that grows up around them. So it is very encouraging. We certainly have worked very cooperatively with the Mexican Government in the past on efforts to break up these rings, prevent -- help try to prevent any illegal activities that they may be engaged in. So I would expect that that cooperation carries over into the Calderon administration. I know that when he was here, President Calderon talked about the fact that this was an important priority for him and for his administration, and we look forward to working with him and his government on it.

QUESTION: Are you concerned that maybe they try to escape to the U.S.? I mean, are you taking some precautions along the border to prevent --

MR. MCCORMACK: You would have to talk to our officials over at Department of Homeland Security and perhaps in the local and state law enforcement along those border states.

QUESTION: Well, do you have any comment to the statements, the insults of President Hugo Chavez to the Secretary of the OAS?

MR. MCCORMACK: It seems like he is kind of thin-skinned. Part of democracy in the hemisphere and promotion of democracy is the ability of leaders of institutions like the OAS to be able to speak out clearly and frankly about what it is that they see. That's part of the democratic spirit and the democratic ethos. We've seen these kind of reactions before from President Chavez.

Nicholas.

QUESTION: Sean, on the Secretary's travels, the Defense Secretary actually has also announced that he is going to go to the region and it appears that those trips might be quite close in terms of timing. Is the Secretary coordinating any perhaps mutual visits with Secretary Gates anywhere along the way?

MR. MCCORMACK: Nicholas, these travel schedules are separate.

QUESTION: All right.

MR. MCCORMACK: Yeah.

QUESTION: To follow up on his question, you have been speaking about openings in the Middle East between the Israelis and the Palestinians, but the situation seems very tense right now --

MR. MCCORMACK: Sure.

QUESTION: -- in between Palestinians themselves, between Israel and the Palestinians, between Israel and the moderate Arabs. The last meeting between Olmert and Barak went very wrong. So --

MR. MCCORMACK: I guess I --

QUESTION: -- what kind of opening and what kind of objectives she can achieve there?

MR. MCCORMACK: Well, in terms of the tensions between Hamas and Fatah, I think those are quite clear. And the root cause of -- at the root of those is really unresolved political contradictions that the Palestinians themselves need to come to terms with and resolve through their political process. So that is something that they need to do.

For our part, we're working with President Abbas and the presidency on ways to help strengthen those institutions that support peaceful resolution of differences between Israelis and the Palestinians.

President Abbas and Prime Minister Olmert actually had a very, very good meeting, from all reports that I saw. Prime Minister Olmert talked about the release of $100 million worth of tax revenues and it is important that that dialogue continue between two political leaders that are committed to a peaceful pathway.

In terms of the meeting with Prime Minister Olmert and President Mubarak, putting aside the atmospherics resulting from the raid in Ramallah, it was actually a very good meeting, from all reports that we had. These are, again, two leaders that are committed to trying to promote peace and stability throughout the region and who are committed to fighting violent extremism in the region, which puts them on the opposite side of the fence from groups like Hamas, Syria and Iran.

In terms of the Secretary's travels, this is a trip where I expect that she is going to have some extended conversations with her counterparts and leaders in the region about how to address and confront the various threats that are -- that we face in common in the region: how to move forward on a variety of different fronts, including the Israeli-Palestinian front, how is it that we can exploit this opening that we believe exists and that many others in the region exist; how is it that we can help support those forces of moderation in the region, for example the government of Prime Minister Siniora; how is it that we can help those in Iraq who are fighting every single day for a more democratic, peaceful future for their country against the forces of extremism.

So that's really the outlines of what she's going to be talking about in very broad strokes. I would expect that this is a trip that is more about laying the foundations for potential future actions than actually coming to closure on any particular agreements.

QUESTION: So Iraq will also be part of the discussions?

MR. MCCORMACK: I would expect it will be. Yes, part of the stop in -- all along the way, I would expect that the topics of the Israel-Palestine, Lebanon, Iraq would come up. I would expect also discussions about the perception of a common threat posed by Iran and for other forces of extremism and violence in the region -- violent extremism in the region.

QUESTION: Well, that was part of my question. How large a component of her meetings do you expect Iraq to be and will she be essentially defending the al-Maliki government? Some of the people she's going to see have expressed some reservations about his ability to get this job done.

MR. MCCORMACK: I don't think "defending" is the word that we would use. It's no secret that we have encouraged states in the region, whether it's Egypt or Saudi Arabia or the Gulf states, to offer their support to the Government of Iraq led by Prime Minister Maliki, whether that is through debt relief or through political support or diplomatic support or other kinds of support. And we will, of course, continue to do so. And that feeds into the dialogue that we are encouraging regarding the International Compact for Iraq. That process continues to move forward. It's, I don't think at this point, ripe for a meeting in which the Iraqis state very clearly this is what we're -- this is what we are willing to do in terms of our side and then the rest of the members of the compact state clearly what they are willing to do. The process is moving forward, it's making progress, but it hasn't yet come to that point of fruition.

In terms of dividing up -- how is she going to divide her time, I think it will probably vary along each stop. But I would expect on stops other than meeting with the Palestinians and the Israelis that you have a conversation really about the region. And one way in which that will manifest itself publicly is in Kuwait there will be a GCC+2 meeting, so that's really a forum where she and her counterparts can get together really to cover the whole range of issues that confront us as well as others in the region.

QUESTION: One follow. When the time is ripe, as you say, for an actual Iraq contact group meeting, that would presumably include Iran; is that right?

MR. MCCORMACK: It has in the past, yeah. The one we had up in New York included Iran and Syria, yeah.

Yes, sir.

QUESTION: Following up on what you just said about Kuwait, is that the primary --

MR. MCCORMACK: Oh, congratulations on the Florida Gators, by the way.

QUESTION: Oh, thank you very much. Happy to get that into the record. If you'd like to say more on that, go ahead. (Laughter.)

MR. MCCORMACK: I'm nonpartisan in that regard. There are a lot of Ohio State fans with long faces around the Department today.

QUESTION: My heart goes out to them. (Laughter.) Anyway, boy, you really know how to throw me off. (Laughter.)

On the -- is the GCC+2 in Kuwait the Secretary's main agenda itinerary for the Kuwait visit, and could you discuss at all on any issues whether she would hope to have any bilateral talks with Kuwait and how Kuwait sort of fits into all the things you've just been talking about?

MR. MCCORMACK: I'm sure there will be some bilateral contacts. As we get closer to the trip and the schedule gets fleshed out in more refined detail, we'll be happy to share those details with you. I'm sure there will be a bilateral component to the trip. Kuwait is a very good friend, a good friend and ally in the region. We have a long history together and the Secretary looks forward to visiting Kuwait for the first time other than transiting through Kuwait.

Sue.

QUESTION: Are there any plans for a Quartet meeting?

MR. MCCORMACK: On this trip, no. On this trip, no.

QUESTION: And in London are there going to be any P-5+1 meetings or anything else?

MR. MCCORMACK: I think it'll be bilateral. I think that she will see Foreign Secretary Beckett and perhaps Prime Minister Blair, but I don't know if that's been -- what Prime Minister Blair's schedule looks like.

QUESTION: And what are you hoping for the GCC+2 countries to do in terms of Iraq? Are you hoping they'll come up with a statement at the end of the meeting or a statement of support or money or --

MR. MCCORMACK: Let's -- we'll see. Keep your eye on that space.

Yes, sir.

QUESTION: Yeah, on Russia and Belarus, has the United States offered to help resolve the dispute in any way, perhaps mediation or even seeking alternative ways to get energy to Central Europe?

MR. MCCORMACK: I think that they -- this is a dispute between Russia and Belarus and they need to work it out for themselves. But what this -- this does provide a lesson, I think, to all who might be watching that it's important to (a) develop multiple sources of energy supply and (b) develop multiple means by which to transport those supplies of energy. I think we have seen a number of different examples over the past year that have really pointed to both of those lessons and the importance of those.

Yeah.

QUESTION: On North Korea, China's Wu Daiwei has said that the BDA financial (inaudible). Can you confirm that and whether the location is still going to be New York?

MR. MCCORMACK: I checked on this yesterday, and as of yesterday there was no agreement on a date or the location. We suggested New York. We'll try to keep you up to date and you also might check with Treasury. They're really the point of contact for those.

QUESTION: Why North Korea going to want to reject the place New York and let like Beijing?

MR. MCCORMACK: Again, I understand the point, and the point here is that these discussions about the financial issues are separate and apart from the six-party talks.

QUESTION: You were speaking before about a Quartet meeting.

MR. MCCORMACK: Right.

QUESTION: If it's not during this trip, could it be during the second trip at the end of the month?

MR. MCCORMACK: It's possible.

QUESTION: In the margin of the Paris conference?

MR. MCCORMACK: Yeah, it's possible. Yeah. Well, I'm not going to --

QUESTION: It is not decided?

MR. MCCORMACK: We will not be hosting the next Quartet meeting, so I'll let whoever the hosts are of the next meeting announce it out of courtesy.

QUESTION: Thank you.

MR. MCCORMACK: Oh, we have one more. Back here.

QUESTION: Is the State Department revising its previous estimates of how many Iraqi refugees it will let into the U.S. this year?

MR. MCCORMACK: The situation as it stands now is that we are working with UNHCR, as are other countries, regarding the humanitarian needs of those people who have left Iraq and are now in Jordan, Syria and other countries in the region. I think the bulk of those people are in Jordan and Syria.

Now, UNHCR has the job of helping to provide humanitarian assistance for those individuals but also assessing their claims for refugee status. That's -- in this process that's something that they -- a job that they fulfill.

Now, in terms of the United States and potential refugees from Iraq, we have a commitment to take a look at all the cases referred to us by the UNHCR of those people who have been classified as refugees. That is something that applies worldwide. So in the case of Iraqis, if there are individuals who have been classified as refugees and who have been designated as individuals who would benefit from resettlement, we will take a look at those cases, all those cases referred to us.

Now, in terms of the overall numbers, we don't have any specific caps on countries or by region. We have target numbers and there have already been a number of, based on the funding that we have, there have already been a number of different people that -- I think tens of thousands, about 50,000 that we have committed to in terms of refugee resettlement over the past year. But there are, again, no caps at the moment on that kind of resettlement. But we are now just beginning, I think, to work with UNHCR on the issue in a more concerted fashion as there have been greater numbers that have showed up in Jordan and Syria and elsewhere.

QUESTION: But in the U.S. specifically?

MR. MCCORMACK: In the U.S. -- well, you have to go through that process in order to get to the U.S. You have to have been designated, given refugee status by UNHRC and then accepted in by a country in order to be resettled. And those in the United States have already gone through that process.

QUESTION: Okay.

MR. MCCORMACK: Yeah.

QUESTION: Do you have anything on Andrew Natsios's visit to China? Who has he spoken to? What has he achieved? Where is he at in terms of his trip?

MR. MCCORMACK: I don't. I'll check for you. I haven't talked to him.

Okay, great.

(The briefing was concluded at 1:18 p.m.)

DPB # 5

Released on January 9, 2007

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