US Fed News May 10, 2007
AMBASSADOR KHALILZAD SPEAKS ON KOSOVO, OTHER MATTERS AT SECURITY COUNCIL
STAKEOUT
WASHINGTON, May 10 -- The U.S. Mission to the United Nations
issued the following remarks:
Remarks by Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, U.S. Permanent
Representative, on Kosovo and other matters, at the Security
Council Stakeout
Ambassador Khalilzad: Good morning. As you saw, we had a good
morning. As you saw, we had an open discussion on the report
of the mission to Kosovo. This is a difficult issue, a
delicate issue, and the council will consult on the steps
forward, and the drafting of a resolution.
In my capacity as the representative of the United States, I
can say that we very much support and applaud the European
leadership on this issue. That is one of the points that I
emphasized in my statement. What I heard in Europe, that the
Europeans are ready to play a lead role in the implementation
of the Ahtisaari plan should it be adopted by the Security
Council, that the Europeans believe that the current
situation is not sustainable and that the ultimate future for
both Kosovo and Serbia is integration into the EU. But to get
from here to there, supervised independence is necessary.
And so we very much look forward to working with my colleagues
on the Security Council on a resolution in the coming days.
Thank you very much.
Reporter: Ambassador, would you say is now after these
discussions, the Security Council is more divided or, let's
say, united after all these -
Ambassador Khalilzad: Well, you saw that, in my judgment, the
majority of the council members support the proposed plan,
and there is an open-mindedness about strengthening some
aspects such as dealing with the IDP issues. But we are going
to talk with each other and see that we can get as broad as
possible support for a resolution to move forward.
Reporter: Ambassador, what is supervised independence? Do you
have some other examples of supervised independence and how
efficient that particular type of independence might be? Can
you -
Ambassador Khalilzad: Well, the question is what the
alternatives are. This is, as I said, not easy, but compared
to autonomy, the current situation continuing, we've heard
when we were in Europe that that's not sustainable. There is
the likelihood, if the current situation continues, for a
unilateral declaration of independence, which will cause
significant difficulty.
On the other hand, the Ahtisaari plan, which is the regulated,
supervised independence, gives the international community a
role; is better than unsupervised, without international role
in what happens there.
So it's a choice. It's a difficult choice, but it's a better -
relatively speaking - a better option than the other.
Reporter: When do we expect -
Reporter: Ambassador, as he went into the Security Council
this morning, Ambassador Churkin said that on the basic point
of endorsing the Ahtisaari report, the differences were
irreconcilable. Do you agree with that? If not, why not?
Ambassador Khalilzad: Well, as I said, we are open to kind of
strengthening some parts, particularly dealing with the IDPs,
as Ambassador Churkin mentioned, the return of the IDPs. But
we will see whether we can come to an agreement. I believe
the votes are there for supporting the Ahtisaari plan,
assuming there is no Russian veto.
Reporter: Sir, when do you expect you'll have - when do you
expect this resolution, sir?
Ambassador Khalilzad: We will start working on it in the
coming days.
Reporter: What about the possibility - what if the Russians
did veto the resolution? What will be the plan?
Ambassador Khalilzad: Well, of course I am, well, you know
what will happen if the Russians veto: that the Security
Council cannot come to an agreement. But I don't think we are
there at this point. Ambassador Churkin has not said that to
me. We have heard the strong and clear views as to what
option would be preferable from his point of view.
But as I said, this is a European issue. The Europeans have
come up with what they think is the best way to deal with
this. They are willing to take responsibility. They have a
vision for integrating Serbia and Kosovo into the EU, and
that this is a stage that, what Ahtisaari has planned in the
process. And I think we ought to give deference and weight to
the European perspective on this issue.
Reporter: Thank you. Thank you, Ambassador. This is a question
on Lebanon. Today President Bashar Assad said that he will not
cooperate with the tribunal. He will cooperate only with the
commission. Do you have any comment on that?
Ambassador Khalilzad: Well, of course we are discussing what
to do about the tribunal. We heard from Under
Secretary-General Michel the other day that the establishment
of tribunal is stuck internally because of the opposition of a
minority in the Lebanese parliament that is not allowing the
parliament to convene. We are consulting with other members
of the Security Council to explore the option of establishing
the tribunal, helping the Lebanese, in other words, to
establish the tribunal under Chapter VII.
Thank you very much. Have a good day.
Š Copyright 2007.
Serbian News Network - SNN
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http://www.antic.org/
