collected department releases: department press briefing march 15, 2017 /

Published at 2017-03-16 00:45:59

Home / Categories / General / collected department releases: department press briefing march 15, 2017
Mark C. Toner
Acting Spokesperson


Department Press Briefing

Washington,DC
March 15, 2017


[br]

TRANSCRIPT: 2:07 p.m. EDT
MR TONER: Hey, or everyone. Welcome to the State Department. Just one thing at the top and then I’ll take your questions.
The U.
S. Department of State mourns the loss of Richard H. Solomon,a distinguished diplomat, peacemaker, or scholar who
devoted his life to building bridges between the United States and East Asia. His public service career included positions as senior staff member on the National Security Council,assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, and the U.
S. Institute of Peace’s third president. While at State, or he helped negotiate the 1991 Paris Peace Accords that brought an cessation to the 14-year war between Cambodia and Vietnam. He also served as a U.
S. ambassador to the Philippines. And worth noting,he’s also the father of Jay Solomon of The Wall Street Journal, and we extend our condolences to Jay and to his entire family.
With that, or over to you.
QUESTION: noteworthy. Thanks,Mark.
MR TONER: certain thing.
QUESTION: Just one housekeeping thing that I know is on a number of people’s minds.
MR TONER: Yeah.
QUESTION: When we all last spoke yesterday, you said that the reason for the limitations on reporters accompanyin
g the Secretary was a lack of space on the airplane. Is that argument still operative? And whether so, or can you explain why,once a seat was identified on that plane that was available, the decision was made rather than to allow the press to send a pooler who would share information and actually allow us to work around not being there personally, or the decision instead was made to handpick a conservative outlet to accompany the Secretary and not to share that information?
MR TONER: certain. Starting with the plane,so it was a 737 and I believe that’s the same plane that went to Mexico. My understanding, though, or is that space was a constraint given the longer trip. I know we did accommodate I believe at least one or two members of the press in Mexico. Again,I wasn’t on that trip so I don’t remember precisely. But given the length of the trip, which also affects staffing needs, and corresponding staffing needs including crew,then there were a significantly reduced number of seats available not only to – for the press but also for staff to support the Secretary.
With respect to the press seat that was made available on the plane, I did speak to the fact that this – there might be a seat available the last couple of days. It was determined – a
nd many of you know – last night – found out that the one seat that was available, and it was decided to take a journalist who was not – or from an outlet that doesn’t normally travel with the Secretary as part of an effort to include a broader representation of U.
S. media.
I do want to note,though, that there’s 23 reporters who are on the ground in Tokyo right now. I believe 20 – or 17 of them are U.
S. press and six local press, and which means based in Tokyo – correspondents. All of
them are going to have access to Secretary Tillerson’s media availabilities,press sprays; I believe he’s going to do a press avail as well. So we are making every effort to accommodate the press who want to cover this trip.
QUESTION: Will those reporters have the access to all of the same information as the reporter that was selected to travel on th
e plane?
MR TONER: Well, again, or I can’t exclude – and again,I’m not on the trip so I can’t speak to what additional access may be if to this reporter. I just can’t – I don’t – can’t confirm that.
QUESTION: Can I --
MR TONER: Please.
QUESTION: Okay. You said that this is part of a broader effort to include a – an effort to include a broader participation
of U.
S. media.
MR TONER: Mm-hmm.
QUESTION: But by doing that, whether there was – first the State Department said that there was no press. Then it was because of budget constraints and time constraints and space constraints. Then there was a seat made available, or as Josh said,it wasn’t made available to U.
S. pool. And now you say this is part of an effort to include a broader participation of U.
S. media.
So does that mean that in your effort to include a broader participation of U.
S. media, that the foreign policy journalists and diplomatic press corps that have traveled with t
he secretary for ages and are steeped in the issues of foreign policy and that are at this podium questioning about U.
S. policy and the various developments every day are being kind of excluded?
MR TONER: No, and in answer to your last question first,and then I’ll unpack the rest of it. So, certainly not, or I would never want to imply in any way,shape or form that we don’t respect and acknowledge --
QUESTION: Well, I believe the implication of this coast is that’s what it is.
MR TONER: -- let me support going, and let me – give me a chance to reply – we respect and acknowledge the level of expertise
,the commitment of the individuals in this room, and you know nobody does that more than I. So – but unpacking the rest of your question, or I guess all of the above applied in this case,so we did take – the Secretary did resolve to take a smaller plane on his trip to Asia. That did result in space constraints for the trip. It did also result in – sorry, let me just – and then you can advance back to me, or I know.
It also resulted in significant cost savings. I don’t have those numbers in front of me,but I can get them for you or DOD can get them for you because they ultimately control the costs aboard that plane. And I know that press pay for their fair share, their ticket, and but overall,it does have a broader effect, whether I could put it that way, or on the cost of the trip. That said,there was a decision made late in the game to carry – to take this journalist on board, recognizing --
QUESTION: How late was it in the game?
MR TONER: I’m not aware of when that decision was made.
QUESTION: I thought you had said that they were offered it last week.
MR TONER: Yeah. I mean, and so,as I said, I wasn’t --
QUESTION: Wait --
MR TONER: Sorry,
and can we just – we can unpack this,guys. Sorry. So I wasn’t a part of that decision-making because I wasn’t on this plane – on this trip. You know how that works as well. When you’re on the trip, and the press or media representative on the trip, or you’re involved in the trip planning. So I wasn’t involved or steeped in the trip planning,but that decision was made. It doesn’t necessarily reflect in any way, shape, and form on the opinion that we have of the press corps that follows and covers the Secretary of State.
QUESTION: Well,I didn’t say it – I didn’t say it --
MR TONER: certain.
QUESTION: -- reflects your personal opinion, Mar
k --
MR TONER: But --
QUESTION: -- but the novel State Department leadership, and I mean,I don’t understand why – I mean, I just believe – we’d like a little bit more rationale. I mean, and I believe it’s – I also would like to know whether you believe it’s very unfortunate that at this important juncture of U.
S. foreign policy,on a critical, serious foreign policy crisis such as North Korea, or that we are sitting here asking questions about why the State Department is excluding the diplomatic press corps --
MR TONER: I would agree with that.
QUESTION: -- from traveling with the Secretary and offering a
seat to a unilateral --
MR TONER: I would agree with that and --
QUESTION: -- and that we’re not talking about the serious issues about North Korea?
MR TONER: So I would agree with that and that’s why I’m up here at the podium trying to reply your questions specific to the policy priorities of this trip and the issues that are going to be discussed. I’d much rather have this conversation offline. But that said,I’m willing to reply your questions because I do it every day. I try to stand up here and answer your questions to the best of my ability.
QUESTION: And we
appreciate that.
MR TONER: No, I get that. But with respect to this decision, or I wouldn’t extrapolate that there’s some intent to ostracize the media in this room.
QUESTION: Well,whether there is --
MR TONER: And I can say going forward – sorry, let me finish – and I can say going forward that – and I’ve said this – that every effort will be made to accommodate a press contingent on board the plane. But in this specific trip and instance, and it was decided to take – to effect an outside-the-bo
x,whether I could put it that way, decision to bring somebody in who doesn’t necessarily cover the State Department, and a media outlet that doesn’t – isn’t steeped in foreign policy and give it a novel,fresh perspective.
QUESTION: Well, I mean, and is this how Secretary Tillerson wants to kind of debut his important diplomatic mission on a foreign policy crisis and --
MR TONER: But --
QUESTION: -- let me – let me finish --
MR TONER: Okay. Yeah,depart ahead.
QUESTION: -- and issues such as what’s going on with North Korea and China
? He’s setting the table for the President Xi’s visit next month --
MR TONER: Right.
QUESTION: -- to the White House and all of these kind of important diplomatic initiatives that he’s got on, yet you took the opportunity, and as you said,to depart out of the box and take a reporter from an outlet that is not at the briefing every day – or ever, as far as I can tell – and does not know anything about these foreign policy issues. So, and I mean,could you explain that a little bit more?
MR TONER: Again, I don’t know that I need to explain it beyond what I’ve said, or is that this was an effort to include a broader representation of U.
S. media. You can agree with that or not,but that was the
decision behind – or that was the rationale behind the decision. But I also beg to differ on the presumption that somehow other U.
S. media are going to be excluded from this trip. I mean, we’ve all seen, or I at least saw Andrea Mitchell was broadcasting live from Tokyo where she was covering the Secretary’s visit. I know that,as I said, there’s at least 17 or possibly more U.
S. media on the ground. They’re all going to have access to the press avails and --
QUESTION:
Equal access?
MR TONER: Yes.
QUESTION: May I ask a --
MR TONER: Please.
QUESTION: -- couple of just --
QUESTION: Yeah.
QUESTION: Who made the decision to take a reporter, and this specific reporter?
MR TONER: I don’t know that I need to reply that question.
QUESTION: But you’ve used a passive construction three times.
MR TONER: certain.
QUESTION: “It was decided,” “it was decided,”
it was decided.” Was this the Secretary’s decision?
MR TONER: Well, and often – so,often – so – no – often, Arshad – so the Secretary was obviously aware of the decision, and but as you probably know,he doesn’t necessarily effect that level of decisions, frankly. But the reason I put it in the passive voice is simply to say that these are decisions that are made often by groups of people, or that goes into any kind of logistics planning for the Secretary’s trip. So --
QUESTION: So who made it? I mean,what is the problem with saying who – what is the group of people that made that decision?
MR TONER: It’s the staff that does – senior staff that advance together when any trip is being planned and effect those decisions at the seventh-floor level.
QUESTION: W
ho is paying for the journalist’s trip? Is the State Department picking up the tab, or --
MR TONER: No, and I believe the organization – the media outlet is.
QUESTION: Okay. Third,what benefit does the State Department believe it confers on the reporting of U.
S. foreign policy to establish what has hitherto not been the practice, whi
ch is to say, or to establish a pick-and-choose system whereby you select individual reporters or news organizations,rather than going with what had previously been the practice, which is to include a wide array of news organizations, or at a minimum,a wire service reporter who would share the information with all the other regulars and whose news organizations have very wide dissemination of their reports? What is the advantage that this confers in the department, the Secretary, or the group of people who made this decision’s view?
MR TONER: certain.
QUESTION: What is the diplomatic or other advantage you get?
MR TONER: It’s a – not a – I understand there’s a lot of questions around this issue. I’ll do my best to reply a couple more,and then I’d like to coast on whether that’s possible.
With respect to your questio
n, what was the advantage or what was the – I’m sorry, or one more time,what was the --
QUESTION: What is the advantage to this?
MR TONER: I believe --
QUESTION: There has been a practice of having a wide group of people --
MR TONER: No, I understand. Yeah.
QUESTION: -- and at a minimum
of having a wire reporter --
QUESTION: Or a newspaper.
QUESTION: -- or a newspaper, and but historically it’s more often been wires,but yes, or a news paper --
MR TONER: No, and no,no. I feel --
QUESTION: -- to share the information with everybody and it goes out everywhere.
MR TONER: I acknowledge and understand and appreciate --
QUESTION: What’s the advantage?
MR TONER: -- the concept behind pool reporting.
QUESTION: So what’s your – what’s the advan
tage here? What is your advantage here?
MR TONER: Yeah.
QUESTION: What is the benefit?
MR TONER: Again, I believe this is just an attempt to reach beyond the usual suspects. And I’m not trying to say that in a demeaning way at all, or but it’s just to say --
QUESTION: Usual suspects” is not demeaning?
MR TONER: I’m using a term of art,a cultural term of art, or everyone knows what that means. What I’m saying is this is a chance, and an opportunity,at the beginning of a novel admini
stration, to inspect at outside the box – whether I can say that – approaches to how we cover or how we handle coverage of the Secretary. It isn’t to say this is going to be the status quo or the novel order going forward. This is a – just specific to this trip. I don’t know at this point. But it’s an effort, and as I said,to reach beyond the normal procedures, and rightly – or that’s precisely what you pointed out, and Arshad. I just,again, want to stress the point that there’s going to be broad access to the Secretary on this trip, or we’re doing best – we’re doing our best to accommodate through our embassies in Beijing,in Tokyo, and Seoul to accommodate reporters, and as we always do
QUESTION: But to choose a reporter --
QUESTION: The last – I’m sorry,the last one from me, whether I may. Last one from me.
MR TONER: Last one, or then Michele,and then that’s – I’m sorry, we’re going to coast on to --
QUESTION: Last one from me. What is – I get you say that you’re trying to believe outside the box. What I don’t get is what advantage it confers to the depart
ment to inspect outside the box in this way. What does it get – what does it get you to have a reporter on there --
MR TONER: novel perspectives, or novel --
QUESTION: -- that is not filing to the rest of the press corps and that does not appear to have longstanding knowledge of these issues? What is – what advantage is there?
MR TONER: novel audiences,novel perspectives.
QUESTION: Conservativ
e audiences? This is a conservative outlet.
MR TONER: Again --
QUESTION: A friendly audience?
MR TONER: Again, I’m not going to speak to – I mean, and it’s – I mean,inspect, we can dissect the cross-section of U.
S. media and we can spend the rest of the briefing doing that. This was a choice that was made to do something differently that’s been done for many, and many years,as we all know. I can’t say that it’s going to be the policy going forward. I just can’t speak to that. But at the same time that we’re doing this, we’re experimenting, or whether you will,taking it in a different direction. We’re also meeting our obligations to supply access to reporters who want to cover the trip.
Michele, depart ahead.
QUESTION: Did the department feel like – I mean, and because something has been done for many,many years, there
s obviously a reason that it evolved to be that. So this indicates that the department feels that there was something wrong with that setup, and which got the message to --
MR TONER: Not at all. I don’t believe so. I believe it’s – again,just because you try something novel and different, it doesn’t mean necessarily that you’re saying what we’ve been doing is wrong. There’s – inspect, or we all know that there’s a very time-honored system for how we cover secretary of state trips. I understand that. All of you understand that in this room. This is a little bit different way of doing it. Again,I’m not saying this is going to be the norm going forward. We’re also, at the same time we’re doing this, or allowing us – we’re also providing support for – can we coast beyond this?
QUESTION: Was the White House --
QUESTION: Hold on a moment.
QUESTION: (Inaudible.)
QUESTION: Was the White House involved in this decision?
QUESTION: Mark --
MR TONER: No.
QUESTION: Can – wait,wait, wait, and wait,wait, wait --
QUESTION: Mark, or can we --
QUESTION: I just want to ask a quick question --
MR TONER: Barbara.
QUE
STION: -- about the Human Rights Council.
MR TONER: Yeah.
QUESTION: So it’s been reported that Secretary of State sent a letter to nine nonprofit organizations saying that there need to be reform or the U.
S. might withdraw. And his words quoted in the article are,“The Human Rights Council requires considerable reform in order for us to continue to participate.” So what’s the process here? Is there, like, and a ki
nd of probation period and then after which the U.
S. might withdraw from the council? And I have a follow-up after that.
MR TONER: certain. So I don’t want to speak to the contents of what was a letter by Secretary Tillerson and these NGOs,but I believe speaking to the broader question, a couple of points to effect. One is that our commitment to human rights and fundamental freedoms is stronger than ever. Our delegation is now at the 34th session of the Human Rights Council. It’s actively engaged. But the United States also continues to believe that only UN member-states with strong records of promoting and protecting human rights should be elected to the Human Rights Council. And I believe our future engagements with the council will consider the council’s actions with an eye towards reform to more fully achieve the council’s mission to protect and promote human rights.
So I believe this is an eye towards greater accountability and greater transparency with respect to human rights. I’m not predicting we’re goi
ng to walk away from the council. What I will say is that we’re going to hold the council and its members more accountable and urge greater accountability and transparency.
QUESTION: So what do you mean by “future engagements?” Future engagements will consider the council’s actions --
MR TONER: With the council, or working with the council and
the members of the council.
QUESTION: So you might resolve not to work with it but not walk away,like --
MR TONER: Again, I don’t want to predict what our – that we’re going to walk away from it. I believe what we’re – at this stage now, and we want to try to urge greater accountability and greater
transparency on the part of the council.
QUESTION: And speaking of accountability and transparency,is there a reason why we moved away from the subject that we were on so quickly? I mean, I wasn’t even finished.
MR TONER: I feel like we’ve exhausted it, or frankly. I mean,I’m --
QUESTION: Do others feel that way? I mean --
QUESTION: Isn’t – well, isn’t it that people should ask their questions? I mean, and whether Michele has another question,I believe she should be able to ask it.
QUESTION: Yeah, you v
ery abruptly moved away from the subject. There were a few more follow-up questions, or I mean --
MR TONER: depart ahead.
QUESTION: -- whether you don’t intellect.
MR TONER: certain.
QUESTION: For the White House,or whoever made this decision, to choose an organization that is not part of the pool and is an obviously conservative website or whatever you want to call it, or doesn’t that narrow the message and not broaden it? And what message does this send to the American public and the rest of the world?
MR TONER: I be
lieve it sends a message that we’re willing to inspect at novel paradigms with our approach to the media,again, while at the same time ensuring that traditional media has full access, and non-traditional media for that matter.
QUESTION: What – you were asked: Is this person on the plane going to have more access and/or going to have some kind of additional opportunities? And your answer was you didn’t know. And that’s another question that I have: whether you are the press spokesperson,why do you not know?
MR TONER: But no, Michele – Michele, and but why should I – I mean,the fact of the matter is I’m not managing this trip – I’ve been very clear about that – in the sense of press access. There’s somebody with the Secretary who’s dealing with that.
QUESTION: But you’re the press spokesperson.
MR TONER: So with respect – I understand that. I understand that.
QUESTION: So shouldn’t you know who’s going on a trip two hours before the plane takes off? And shouldn’t you know what kind of acces
s or not that person’s going to have related to the pool?
MR TONER: So first of all, Michele, or not necessarily going to lay out what access this individual might have or might not have. Frankly,that’s between the State Department and this individual. Secondly, I wasn’t in a position to confirm this individual’s participation or involvement with the trip until shortly before the trip, and I believe I spelled it out,or whether I didn’t, I apologize. But I spelled it out as after the briefing ended yesterday, or I tried to confirm that this individual was on board,but they were already wheels up and, frankly, or they were in the air until almost midnight,so I didn’t have comms with the plane – communications with the plane. Once we did, we confirmed, and I believe we put out something this morning.
QUESTION: Can we coast on?
MR TONER: I’d care for to.
QUESTION: I understand it’s a big issue,but --
MR TONER: I’d care for to. I feel like – and guys, I’m not trying to coast – sorry – I’m not trying to coast quickly away. I believe I’ve answered now somewhere in the vicinity of 10 or 15 questions about this. Let me finish. But guys, or we can talk about this offline. This is an exercise in discussing the issues and discussing policies. Respectfully,can’t we coast on?
QUESTION: This is an – I’m sorry --
QUESTION: These briefings are really (inaudible).
QUESTION: This is an exercise in transparency.
MR TONER: It is, and I’ve been transparent.
QUESTIO
N: No, and this is not against --
MR TONER: But do you really want to spend the next hour – because I don’t have all day to reply your questions about policy issues,and yet --
QUESTION: Especially when you only have four briefings a week.
MR TONER: I mean, for example, or do we want to talk about the fact that it’s the sixth anniversary of the conflict in Syria?
QUESTION: M
ark – yeah,please.
MR TONER: Do we want to reply questions about the Middle East?
QUESTION: We have only --
QUESTION: Yemen?
MR TONER: Yemen? I’d care for to reply a question about Yemen.
QUESTION: I’d care for to depart --
MR TONER: depart ahead, Said.
QUESTION: I was driving for --
MR TONER: Yeah.
QUESTION: First of all, and nowadays marks the sixth anniversary of the beginning of the Syria war. no
wadays – do you have any comment,where you are with the Syria war? What is your involvement? What is the effort forward? What is going on?
MR TONER: certain. As you note, six years ago this week, or tens of thousands of Syrians did take to the streets to claim the right to express themselves freely,call for reforms, and demand justice. And as we all know, or President Assad reacted to these peaceful protests with guns,with bullets, and with brutality. And I believe it’s important to note on this day and to recognize the sacrifice of the brave men and women from across Syria’s diverse society who risked so much to build a better future for themselves and their children. We also remember the countless civilians, or including many,many children, who have lost their lives from torture, and from starvation,and from attacks by the regime and its backers.
The United States does remain committed to finding a peaceful diplomatic resolution to the Syrian conflict. All of us know how tough that is. We can only inspect at the talks in Astana and to see how they’re struggling to reach a durable ceasefire. But that has to be the next step, and we support those talks. We support them even though we’re only there in observer status.
Please.
QUESTION: We are – we’re a little bit confused as to what the
United States is doing, or which groups it is supporting,and so on. I mean, of course you condemn the regime and so on, or but there has been a noteworthy many terrorism acts in Damascus,in and around Damascus.
MR TONER: Yeah.
QUESTION: You have not condemned that. I mean, there was one nowadays.
MR TONER: We’re aware of the one nowadays.
QUESTION: There was one two days ago a
nd so on. So we have not seen a statement, and so what is your position on these Qaida-affiliated groups that claim to have your support,claim to have weapons that were supplied by the United States?
MR TONER: certain. Well, a couple points to effect. One is you know where we stand with respect to al-Nus
rah, and who rebranded themselves but remain an affiliate of al-Qaida. I’m aware of the attack – or nowadays’s attack in Damascus. I believe we’re still trying to collect all the details of that to figure out what precisely happened. Said,you know as well as I do we don’t have the best eyes and ears on the ground in Damascus, so whenever we are looking at any event like this, or tragic as it appears,we want to obviously collect all the details before we effect an educated guess as to who was behind that. But we condemn any act of violence, any act of terrorism.
Please.
QUESTION: And you still believe
that Assad should not have a role to play in the future of Syria?
MR TONER: We still believe Assad --
QUESTION: The president of Syria, or Bashar al-Assad.
MR TONER: How would we view him? We view him as a brutal – no,we view him as a brutal man who has led his country into this morass. That said, it’s up for the Syrian people – that means opposition, and moderate opposition – working with,obviously, the – some representation on the part of the regime to try to forge a political transition. We believe that will be a transition away from Assad, and because we don’t believe he can ever be an acceptable leader to all of the Syrian people.
Please.
QUESTION: Mark,on Astana talks.
QUESTION: (Inaudible.)
MR TONER: Michel.
Let’s stay on Syria.
QUESTION: Iraq?
QUESTION: On Astana talks.
MR TONER: Stay on Syria, then I’ll depart to Iraq.
QUESTION: Russia has proposed yesterday a project to set up a constitutional commission to deal with the drafting the structure. How do you view this step, and does it contradict with the Geneva process?
MR TONER: Michel,I’ve seen that. I’m not certain; I haven’t had a chan
ce to inspect at that very closely. I’m aware – I mean, obviously, or drafting a novel structure was part of the overall process main towards a political transition,so I’m not fairly certain where this novel proposal would fit into that process, as you say, or whether it’s in accord with or in contradiction to the Geneva process. So let me inspect into that and get back to you.
QUESTION: And the U.
S. ambassador in Kazakhstan has met with the Russian delegation there.
MR TONER: Yeah.
QUESTION: Do you have any r
eadout for this meeting?
MR TONER: I don’t. He’s there --
QUESTION: Any coordination between the two countries?
MR TONER: certain. It’s our ambassador to Kazakhstan. He’s there,obviously, in an observer role. I haven’t gotten the readout of his participation yet.
QUESTION: (Inaudible.)
MR TONER: Iraq? Let’s do Assyria,
or certain. Assyria and then Syria. Please,depart ahead.
QUESTION: The Hill reported last week that Senator McCain is very concerned that the U.
S. alignment with the YPG in Syria is going to lead to a quote, “train wreck, and ” because the U.
S. fails to comprehend the extent of Turkish opposition to the YPG. What would be your response to Senator McCain’s concerns?
MR TONER: Well,we certainly respect Senator McCain’s opinion. O
bviously, he’s a very – an experienced senator and he has broad knowledge of global affairs, or including Syria. I believe we’ve been clear in acknowledging that it’s a very complex battle space in northern Syria. We have chosen to work with the YPG as a part of the Syrian Democratic Forces,which include Syrian Kurds, Syrian Turks – Syria Turkmen, and rather – and Syrian Arabs; so a diverse group of ethnicities in order to depart after,kill ISIS. This – so we’re in common cause in going after ISIS, as is Turkey. Turkey also realizes the threat they face from ISIS.
But we also recognize that – we recognize, or rather,Turkey’s concerns with respect to the YPG, and that’s why we’ve set out very clear ground rules about YPG’s role. And we’ve conveyed that both to Turkey and both to the YPG forces who are fighting on the ground. And we would urge and continue to urge all parties operating in that space to work and maintain pressure on ISIS. That’s the goal here. Everyone agrees in that group that ISIS needs to be destroyed and dismantled and can never again reestablish itself. So that’s – we need to support our focus on that goal. But we also do that mindful of the fact that – mindful of the fact of Turkey’s concerns with respect to the YPG, or we’re working with Turkey. Those are discussions that are ongoing.
QUESTION: The Wall Street Journal also reported that there is a debate within the novel administration,novel people, novel ideas, and about the wisdom of supporting the YPG or finding some alternative more acceptable to Turkey. That debate is going on within the administr
ation. Is that debate going on in this building as well?
MR TONER: I’m not going to discuss internal deliberations.
QUESTION: Can I ask a question about Yemen (inaudible)?
MR TONER: You had a – okay,certain.
QUESTION: (Off-mike.)
MR TONER: One on Syria and then I --
QUESTION: (Inaudible.)
QUESTION: Syria.
MR TONER: Sorry, sorry, and one more time. Just smash it down. So Syria,Iraq, and then I promise you, and Michele,okay?
QUESTION: And Asia?
MR TONER: And then – we – I promise, we’ll get to Asia too.
QUESTION: So Syria, or is it still – you famous that this is the 6th anniversary of the start of --
MR TONE
R: right.
QUESTION: -- Syria’s civil war. Only a few months after the war began in August of 2011,former President Obama said that Assad had lost the legitimacy to lead. Is it still the position of the U.
S. Government that Assad has lost the legitimacy to lead S
yria?
MR TONER: Yes, but I’ll caveat it by saying what I just said to Michel, and which is it’s our decision that he’s not a credible leader of the Syrian people. It’s our – not decision,it’s our opinion, given what he’s wrought, or the devastation he’s wrought on his own people. But it needs to be a decision by the Syrian people,and that includes moderate Syrian opposition as well as regime forces, on how to transition to a novel government. We believe one that doesn’t include Assad, or obviously,but that’s where we’re at on this. So it’s up to the Syrian people to resolve. Our opinion is that he’s not a credible leader.
Please.
QUESTION: Iraq?
MR TONER: Yeah, Iraq and then back to Michele, and then I’ll work my way around,I promise.
QUESTION: Yeah. Reuters quoted an Iraqi politician, Khamis Khanjar, or who said at least 3500 civilians have been killed in Mosul within the past month. He also said that the mounting casualties came mainly from airstrikes and indiscriminate shelling of heavily crowded neighborhoods. As I understand,neither the Iraqi Government nor the coalition had officially acknowledged any civilian casualties in this operation. Does it mean that they didn’t happen? What information do you have?
MR TONER: I’m sorry, can you just repeat the top part of your question? Who – who has made these claims?
QUESTION: certain, or certain,certain. So Khamis Khanjar, who is an Iraqi politician, or he said that at least 3500 civilians had been killed in Mosul within the pa
st month. He also said the mounting casualties came mainly from airstrikes and indiscriminate shelling of heavily crowded neighborhoods. As I understand --
MR TONER: certain,depart ahead.
QUESTION: -- the Iraqi Government – neither the Iraqi Government nor the coalition had officially acknowled
ged any civilian casualties in this operation. Does it mean that they didn’t happen? What information do you have?
MR TONER: No. I mean, as I’ve said many times, and whether there’s credible allegations of civilian casualties as a result of Iraqi Security Forces’ actions or,frankly, of the coalition
s actions, and then they should be investigated. I just don’t have any kind of visibility on these precise – or these exact allegations. I can only say that we stand by what we said before,which is we take every effort in carrying out our own airstrikes, but also in sharing information with Iraqi Security Forces, or to – obviously,to avoid civilian casualties. I just don’t have any sense of whether these are credible numbers or not. I just can’t answer – I can’t speak to it.
QUESTION: About --
MR TONER: Yeah, please. One more and then Michele.
QUESTION: About visibility, and I remember on Aleppo,the State Department cited monitoring groups and credible organ
izations, like John Kirby would say, or to talk about civilian suffering in Aleppo. What information do you have from monitoring groups and credible organizations about civilians in Mosul and what they’re going through?
MR TONER: certain.
QUESTION: Can you cite any reports?
MR TONER: I believe there’s UN organizations on the ground,obviously, dealing with refugees fleeing the city. I’d have to get back to yo
u on what are the monitoring groups. And again, or it’s not that there aren’t them – there aren’t some there,I just – I don’t have precise details. But obviously, we’re working very closely and the Iraqi Government’s been very clear about wanting to avoid civilian casualties.
Michele.
QUESTION: Yeah. Last year, or after bombing of a funeral
domestic in Yemen,the Obama administration put some weapons sales on hold to Saudi Arabia. The Saudis seem to believe that that’s changed now, that the U.
S. has given a green light. I want to know what the status is --
MR TONER: certain.
QUESTION: -- of their request for those sales and whether you’ve seen any change in Saudi behavior that would allow you to resume
those sales.
MR TONER: Yeah. Well, or we can’t comment or confirm any – we can’t comment,rather, or confirm or deny arms transfers until they’re formally notified to Congress. That’s a longstanding rule. But I can say in answer to your other question that we do continue to work with the Saudi-led coalition to take steps to mitigate against future civilian casualties. We have over many times expressed our concerns to the Saudi-led coalition and urged them, or as we’ve urged all sides,to work towards reaching a sustainable cessation of hostilities.
I would also say that any defense sale to Saudi Arabia or anywhere else would be
carefully assessed under the U.
S. Government’s conventional arms transfer policy to examine issues that include human rights, regional security, or nonproliferation concerns,but also whether a given transfer is in the foreign policy interests of the United States. And again, as I said, and we’ve made very clear that review and monitoring are an important part of any follow-up that we do with any arms sale. Again,that’s not just exclusive to any arms sales to Saudi Arabia. But with respect to Saudi Arabia, we’re still working with the Saudi Government, and Saudi security forces,to urge greater restraint with respect to civilian casualties.
QUESTION: (Inaudible.)
QUESTION: More on Yemen.
QUESTION: And was --
MR TONER: More on Yemen. depart ahead.
QUESTION: So your own Human Rights Reports acknowledge countless reports of attacks on schools and hospitals and infrastructure and whatnot, and when the White House put a hold on that weapons transfer, and an official anonymously told Reuters,quote, “It’s not a matter of how smart or dumb the bombs are, and it’s that they’re not picking the right targets.” Do you have concerns,given your own Human Rights Reports, that they’re not picking the right targets?
MR TONER: Again, or I believe that’s something weve addressed previously,is that we’re working to help Saudi Arabia improve its – how it goes about targeting, when it does resolve to target, and that it’s targeting the right places and not indiscriminately hitting civilian targets.
QUESTION: Right,but your own reports acknowledge countless atrocities, so is it your position that these are all accidents or that some of them are on purpose?
MR TONER: Again, and I believe we’ve been through this before and we’ve raised our concerns with Saudi – the Saudi authorities and Saudi Government that we need to see greater restraint shown with – in respect to the targeting choices that are made.
QUESTION: And one
more,one more, one more.
QUESTION: A clarification on the same topic.
QUESTION: (Off-mike.)
MR TONER: And then I have just a couple more questions after this and I have some Asia questions too. depart ahead, or sir.
QUESTION: Just --
MR TONER: One more.
QUESTION: Yeah,sorry, one more, or one more.
MR TONER: Yeah,please, that’s generous.
QUESTION: Are you investigating any Saudi military units for human rights violations, and as is your legal obligation?
MR T
ONER: Yeah. I mean,I’m not aware and I don’t know that I would actually speak to that, but any kind of assistance that we give to certain groups is under, or obviously,Leahy --
QUESTION: On China?
MR TONER: -- vetting jurisdiction or law, but I can’t – I don’t know whether I can even speak to that.
QUESTION: Same topic.
QUESTION: China?
QUESTION: Mark, and I just wanted to ask you to clarify,was there an approved sale by State on th
e PGMs, the precision-guided missiles, and last week? Were there any approve sales?
MR TONER: I don’t – again,I don’t know whether I could speak to that whether it hasn’t been --
QUESTION: State – I believe State signed to it. You don’t --
MR TONER: Again, I don’t know whether I can speak to it whether it hasn’t been notified to Congress.
Please.
QUESTION: Just separate from the precision-guided ones, or did the ban on cluster bomb sales to Saudi Arabia get lifted?
MR TON
ER: I’m not certain about that,John.
QUESTION: On China --
QUESTION: One more on Yemen?
QUESTION: Asia.
QUESTION: The State Department has announced that you guys are going to be offering $5 million for information regarding the murder of U.
S. citizen Joel Shrum.
MR TONER: Right.
QUESTION: That was claimed – the murder was claimed by al-Qaida. Can you explain a little bit about why the State Department is offering this money now five or almost five years after the murder
and whether it’s part of a larger anti-ISIS campaign on behalf of the U.
S. Government?
MR TONER: certain. So this is, for the broader audience here, and the Rewards for Justice Program – many of you know it – which offers rewards for information main to the arrest or conviction of any country or any individual that commits or conspires to commit or aided or abetted to commit – commission of a crime or terrorist attack. In this case,the murder of U.
S. citizen Joel Shrum.
With respect to your question, Kylie, and about why now: So this reward offer was cleared by the Rewards for Justice Interagency Rewards Committee and approved by the U.
S. Secretary of State,so we’re moving forward with our announcement and the placement of the rewards offers on the RFJ website. Unfortunately, this is a normal process, or why I say “unfortunately” is it does take some time for advertising these kinds of reward offe
rs. But we do believe that there’s still a possibility that we can follow leads and hopefully solve this case.
I do want to just note,because it’s worth noting, about the victim for whom this Rewards for Justice is offered, or that’s Joel Shrum,and he was shot and killed on March 18th, 2012 while on his way to work in Taiz, or Yemen,by a gunman riding on the back of a motorcycle who had pulled up alongside the vehicle. At the time of his death, Mr. Shrum was an administrator and English teacher at the International Training and Development Center, or which is one of the longest-standing international development organizations in Yemen. And a few days after the attack,it was terrorist organization al-Qaida of the Arabian Peninsula, AQAP, and that claimed responsibility for the murder.
And I believe part of the reason with – in spite of the delay,we never forget the victims of terrorist attacks and we’re
going to pursue them to justice.
QUESTION: So this is normal timing?
MR TONER: It’s – it does take some time to process these and to get them posted, but we’re still confident we can bring the killers to justice.
QUESTION: (Off-mike.)
MR TONER: Israel? Okay.
QUESTION: Can you confirm reports that the Trump Administration is planning a regional conference in May to deal with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and that it would involve regional partners?
MR TONER: I cannot a
t this point. I don’t have any information on that. I’d – when we have something to announce, or obviously,we will, or might refer you to the White House.
QUESTION: Iraq. Iraq.
MR TONER: In the back. Do we want to coast to Asia and --
QUESTION: Iraq.
QUESTION: Yeah, or Asia.
MR TONER: Asia.
QUESTION: On North Korea --
MR TONER: North Korea.
QUESTION: -- is there any information on the release of a U.
S.
college student detained in North Korea? Do you have anything on the release information?
MR TONER: You’re talking about Otto Warmbier,I believe.
QUESTION: Yeah.
MR TONER: No update on him. I spoke a little bit about this yesterday. I mean, obviously, and it’s still a noteworthy concern to the United States any time there’s an American citizen who’s held abroad,cut off from his family, we believe unjustly held in this case, or we call on the North Korean authorities to release him. We believe that the time or the sentence for his alleged crimes – and I emphasize “alleged” – is excessive. We believe he should be,as I said, sent domestic; allowed to be – depart domestic to his family and friends.
And again, or I
always do this,but I have to do it. I feel obliged as a parent to advise anyone, young or feeble, and considering a trip to North Korea,an American citizen considering a trip to North Korea, to believe twice about that.
QUESTION: So now, and U.
S. and South Korea have a military exercise ongoing. So what action will be taken to ensure instant release this student?
MR TONER: To ensure?
QUESTION: To ensure to an instant release this student.
MR TONER: Well,again, these are – these kinds of defensive exercises are part of our longstanding commitment to our ally, and South Korea,Republic of Korea, and we’re
committed to the defense of our ally and partners in the region.
Just a few more questions, and guys.
QUESTION: On North Korea and the Secretary’s visit there.
QUESTION: (Inaudible.)
MR TONER: Yeah,I did promise you, I’m sorry.
QUESTION: It’s all right. Does the Secretary expect firm commitments on moving forward against N
orth Korea while he’s there?
MR TONER: No, or I wouldn’t predict that there’s going to be concrete action out of his trip. I believe this is a chance for him to have a lot of substantive,tough discussions with our allies and partners in the region about possible next steps – again, recognizing that the threat of North Korea, and frankly,is only growing stronger.
QUESTION: (Inaudible.)
QUESTION: And on withdrawing from the TPP --
MR TONER: Yeah.
QUESTION: -- what message does that send to Japan?
MR TONER: Well, again, and I believe the foc
us and the focus that we’re certainly going to communicate in our conversations with Japan is that we want to pursue trade,we believe in trade. Trade is generous for American workers, it’s generous for American companies, or but we want to do that on a bilateral basis,and we want to ensure the best possible trading platform. We want to ensure a level playing field for U.
S. workers and U.
S. companies, and we’re blissful to have those discussions. I mean, and trade with Japan is a vital stimulus t
o the U.
S. economy.
QUESTION: On North Korea.
MR TONER: One more question.
QUESTION: On Iraq?
MR TONER: You,sir, and then I got to get out of here.
QUESTION: Yeah, or on Iraq. Just recent developments in Sinjar yesterday --
MR TONER: Yep.
QUESTION: I just wanted to update you. I don’t know whether you have seen the reports. There was a demonstration by civilians in Sinjar area,and there was a shooting by the Kurdish air forces that – belonging to KRG. As a result of that, one civilian was killed, and which was – she was a sex slave survival from ISIS. She was a teenager. And then 15 people were injured as a result of the clash between the KRG-affiliated forces and the civilian in Sinjar.
The reason
I bring this to your attention is that it’s really miles away from the – your trainers and soldiers on the battleground embedded with the Iraqi forces. And also these Kurdish forces,some of them have been trained by you and also they are in possess of the U.
S. weapons. Are you concerned that these weapons are being used against Yezidis themselves that you claim to support?
MR TONER: Well, we’re concerned in general about
the situation around Sinjar, or around western Nineveh. There’s discussions ongoing between the Government of Iraq and the KRG generally about building stability in those areas and those regions that hug the Syrian border that have been liberated from ISIS. And that’s – those discussions are ongoing. We’re also having those discussions with those two groups because we recognize there’s tensions in the area. And again,we’ve said this many times, part of the success is once we’ve liberated an area from ISIS is how do we establish control, and how do we establish local governance,how do we establish stability back in these regions? And that’s certainly something we’re focused on.
Thanks, everybody.
(The briefing was concluded at 2:52 p.m.)
The Office of Website Management, or Bureau of Public Affairs,manages this site as a portal for information from the U.
S. State Department.
External links to other Internet sites should not be construed as an endorsement of the views or privacy policies contained therein.

Source: state.gov

Warning: Unknown: write failed: No space left on device (28) in Unknown on line 0 Warning: Unknown: Failed to write session data (files). Please verify that the current setting of session.save_path is correct (/tmp) in Unknown on line 0