Summary

STATE DEPARTMENT DAILY BRIEFING TOPICS INCLUDE: -RELIEF OPERATIONS STOP IN ETHIOPIA BECAUSE OF ATTACKS -

Source CONUS Archive
Record ID 329682
Story Slug STATE DEPARTMENT ON ETHIOPIA 1988)
Location WASHINGTON, DC
Format TVD
Date 04/12/1988
Archive Time 26:44
TRT 4:09
Supers Charles Redman US State Department Spokesperson
Video Description WIDE OF HEARING ROOM, TIGHT OF REDMAN AT PODIUM SOT, CUTAWAYS
Description STATE DEPARTMENT DAILY BRIEFING TOPICS INCLUDE: -RELIEF OPERATIONS STOP IN ETHIOPIA BECAUSE OF ATTACKS -
Script (SUGGESTED TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO) 00:00 Jim, have you seen the reports that now suggest that the big explosion in Pakistan may, in fact, have been sabotaged 00:09 directed specifically at 00:12 supplies for the majority, 00:14 I haven't seen anything that qualifies exactly as that kind of report All I have seen is that the Pakistani government is continuing to look into the situation in order to determine its origins, but I don't have any further information 00:30 Well, okay, you have Okay 00:37 As a general matter, let me say that we deplore any attacks on feeding centers, camps, relief convoys, or any other aspect of emergency relief operations by any armed forces, be they government or rebel But I think it's worth drawing your attention to what is really a very important and very disturbing story in Ethiopia, and that is that relief operations have stalled and that over 2 million people who were being fed are now abandoned We think that we have to very quickly find a way to try to restore food flows to the stricken people of Ethiopia, and we're devoting a lot of effort to trying to do that 01:21 The comment on yasser arafat's role in negotiating with the hijackers and his apparent contention that the plane ought to go ahead and fly to Algeria 01:33 Settlement could be reached 01:36 I don't have any particular comment I would only say what I said yesterday, that there are some basic principles that have guided our approach to this particular issue Those are the ones which I stated yesterday, support for Kuwait's refusal to free convicted murderers, support for the Cypriot refusal to refuel the plane And finally, the fact that these are murderers aboard this aircraft seeking freedom for other convicted murderers, and that any country which has the opportunity to prosecute the hijackers should do so, I think those fundamentals don't change, regardless of who's involved or what country's involved Clearly, as I said yesterday, the decisions here are being made by the Kuwaiti government and by the Cypriot government, 02:26 so you're not in favor of them moving on to Algeria, even if a settlement might be 02:32 what we have here in Geneva 02:38 Are accords that provide for Soviet withdrawal and Soviet withdrawal, which will help create the conditions for the return of the refugees And at the same time, a constructive effort is taking place to work out an interim government and to help the refugees return in safety and honor For our part, we are encouraging a multilateral, un led relief effort to assist in repatriation, resettlement and reconstruction The UN and its specialized agencies are the logical organizations to coordinate this job We will be working with these agencies and other governments to begin work on serious contingency planning I might say here that, first of all, what these accords accomplish are essentially what I have said, they call for Soviet withdrawal That is an essential precondition for getting Afghan affairs back into the hands of the Afghan people It's then going to be up to the Afghan people to sort this out among themselves As you know, we had ourselves proposed that there be obviously, we're interested in finding additional markets for US exports, and we wish to support the efforts of US business And that is modest It's about $150 million a year in two way trade in which the GDR enjoys a substantial surplus Follow up Do you plan to have anything available after the meetings? 04:08 As always, I'll
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Keywords

STATE DEPARTMENT
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
DIPLOMACY
REFERRED
AFGHAN ACCORDS
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