me Posted January 18, 2008 Transcript: US Department Daily Press Briefing There's no change in our policy recognition of SL.. Washington January 18, 2008 We are not on the verge of recognizing Somaliland.We have interest in fighting terrorism in Somalia as well as in the Horn of Africa. Part of trying to bring about some greater stability in Somalia writ large is -- involves working with the political parties, TRANSCRIPT: Kenya: Development Coordination Group Statement Review of Current Aid Program Somalia: No Change in U.S. Policy in Recognizing Somaliland U.S. Contact with Officials from Somaliland ________________ MR. MCCORMACK: Good afternoon. I don’t have anything to start off with. We can get right into your questions, whoever wants to be the leadoff hitter. I say that because it’s 30 days tillpitchers and catchers report. QUESTION: Unfinished business first. Were you able to find out if the United Sates did sign on to some kind of a statement about Kenya and -- MR. MCCORMACK: After multiple phone calls on the issue to the Africa Bureau, I was able to determine the following. Yes, Ambassador Ranneberger did sign on to a joint statement issued in Nairobi by the Development Coordination Group, DCG. The DCG serves as a mechanism for likeminded international donors to coordinate on assistance programs and policy issues in Kenya. According to the DCG statement, it is crucial that the underlying cause of the conflict and division are addressed and that all parties remain committed to a peaceful resolution. The U.S. concurs with this provision. And in terms of – there was a – some citation in a news article this morning that we’re on the verge of cutting off aid. That’s just not true. I had some conversations about sort of the rough outlines of our current fiscal year aid program for Kenya. It’s roughly 700 million. It’s about 723 or so million dollars. Now roughly, these are -- QUESTION: I’m sorry, that’s ’08? MR. MCCORMACK: The current fiscal year, yeah. Roughly -- and these are all rough numbers, roughly 500 million-plus of that is for PEPFAR and related programs, so AIDS treatment and prevention, so the PEPFAR programs. Then – and I don’t have a specific figure on this next tranche, the other substantial tranche of money that we give is humanitarian assistance, food aid, that sort of thing, programs to help fight malaria, et cetera. There are remaining programs having to do with, you know, peace and security, fighting terrorism, good governance, capacity-building, for example, training for the police and that sort of thing. Those comprise a very small portion of the assistance. So, you know, although there has not – there have not yet been any internal discussions that I am aware of talking about what effect, if any, this statement will have on our existing aid programs, I have a hard time believing that anybody would cut off any of the – in any way diminish the humanitarian aid program. So I think it’s pretty safe to say anything dealing with trying to improve the humanitarian situation in Kenya, including the AIDS funding, is just off the table. That’s not going to happen. So you know, if there is any discussion about some of our assistance programs in Kenya, it hasn’t begun yet and I think the total universe of programs that you’re looking at is a pretty small one right now. QUESTION: But does the statement that the ambassadors signed onto say that these country -- that people who have signed it are going to be reviewing their assistance? MR. MCCORMACK: Yeah, it does. And I would expect, just as I have described, they probably will, internally to the U.S. Government, have a review of the assistance and take a look at it. What I’m trying to communicate is -- a couple things. One, that hasn’t begun yet. Two, I’ll take a flyer here and go out on my own and say that I would bet that none of the humanitarian assistance is going to be on the table in that review. I just can’t imagine that that would be the case. And so what you’re really left with is looking at a pretty small proportion -- pretty small portion of the overall aid program to Kenya that would be looked at. But that review has not yet begun. QUESTION: Okay. Well, is it possible to find out what the non-humanitarian -- MR. MCCORMACK: Yeah, we can try to break it down for you. QUESTION: Please. MR. MCCORMACK: Yeah, it took some -- QUESTION: IMET and whatever -- MR. MCCORMACK: Yeah, it took some doing to get what I’ve given you, so -- QUESTION: I’m sure it did. MR. MCCORMACK: (Laughter.) So we’ll see what we can get for you. QUESTION: Essentially, this statement appears to have been signed a couple days ago, right? MR. MCCORMACK: Right, yeah. Well, sometimes – you know, sometimes it takes a while for the headquarters to catch up with the field, so that may be what’s happening here. QUESTION: Sean, Assistant Secretary Frazer met earlier this week with the gentleman who is the president of the -- I guess it's a self-declared independent part of Somalia, Somaliland. MR. MCCORMACK: Right. QUESTION: I was wondering whether this conveys any move by the United States toward recognizing that entity. Reportedly there are some in the U.S. Government who think maybe we should start over and recognize Somaliland. MR. MCCORMACK: There's no change in our policy position vis-à-vis recognition of Somaliland. We are not on the verge of recognizing Somaliland. There's a process underway that the AU is engaged in and we are going to be watching very closely that situation, but there's no change in our policy. QUESTION: Well, but even if there's no kind of official policy to recognize Somaliland, do you see more contacts with Somaliland, maybe not as you know, official bilateral between two nations but more contacts could help the overall situation in Somalia? MR. MCCORMACK: Look, we think it's important to have as many political contacts as we can with responsible individuals in Somalia who have an interest in building up the democratic structures and institutions of Somalia and trying to take it from where it is to a much more hopeful future. Certainly, Jendayi's meetings just last week fall solidly in that category and it's a policy that we are going to continue to pursue. We have interest in fighting terrorism in Somalia as well as in the Horn of Africa. Part of trying to bring about some greater stability in Somalia writ large is -- involves working with the political parties, encouraging the political parties -- political leaders in Somalia to come together. QUESTION: Do you think that the leaders of Somaliland should play a bigger role and a larger -- MR. MCCORMACK: I think anybody who has an interest in a more peaceful democratic Somalia has a role to play in this process. Yeah. QUESTION: On that, can you just check to see when the last time Jendayi or someone at a senior level met with Somaliland -- with either the President or other officials from Somaliland? MR. MCCORMACK: Prior to last week? QUESTION: Yeah. Because I know that AID is active up there -- MR. MCCORMACK: Yeah. QUESTION: -- and that there had been meetings before -- between U.S. officials and Somaliland officials. MR. MCCORMACK: Right. QUESTION: But I was wondering what the last time that there -- MR. MCCORMACK: Okay, we'll check for you. QUESTION: -- had been one with the Assistant Secretary. MR. MCCORMACK: Check for you. QUESTION: This is last week while she was in Kenya? When was this meeting? MR. MCCORMACK: I'm trying to remember exactly when it was. It might have been earlier this week or last week. Let me check for you. QUESTION: Okay. MR. MCCORMACK: I'm losing track of the days. Yeah, one more back here. Yeah. QUESTION: Thank you. Source: US Dept. http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/dpb/2008/jan/99443.htm Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
