USIA - State Department Report, 97-07-25

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From: The United States Information Agency (USIA) Home Page at <http://www.usia.gov>

STATE DEPARTMENT REPORT, FRIDAY, JULY 25, 1997

(Jerusalem, Sudan, Kenya, Kurds, Bosnia) (370)

JERUSALEM -- Foley said Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's opposition to a plan to build new homes for Israelis in an Arab quarter of Jerusalem is a "positive step."

Building the homes could only "further undercut the peace process," Foley commented. Asked about Palestinian comments that building them would mean the death of the peace process, Foley said that it was "not helpful for either side to make statements that might raise tensions ... This is the time for calm and a return to the negotiating table."

Netanyahu's office said the Prime Minister is fighting the plan approved by surprise July 24 to build tens of homes for Jews in the heart of an Arab East Jerusalem neighborhood, Reuters reported.

SUDAN -- Gare Smith, a deputy assistant secretary of state in the Democracy, Human Rights and Labor Bureau, is visiting Sudan to investigate incidents of human rights and religious persecution. Smith was to have met Sudanese President Umar Bashir and a number of human rights, women's and anti- slavery groups. Asked if Smith's visit implied a warming of U.S. relations with Sudan, Foley said that such a view was "totally false."

KENYA -- Foley stated that "the United States welcomes the Kenyan Government's recent announcement that it will engage in dialogue with the opposition and will implement specific political reforms before national elections. The views of all sectors of society should be fully considered in this process," Foley said. He added that the "Government and the opposition must engage in this dialogue in the democratic spirit of compromise and with the best interest of the Kenyan people foremost in mind."

KURDS -- Foley confirmed that Kurdish leader Jalal Talibani will meet with Administration officials next week. The main focus of their discussions will be the consolidation of the cease-fire among the principal Kurdish groups. United Nations Security Council Resolution 986, the so-called Iraqi oil for food plan, will also be on the agenda.

BOSNIA -- The United States remains "very disturbed" by continuing incidents of low-level violence in Bosnia, Foley said. He pointed to a series of tough statements U.S. Special Representative for the Dayton Accords, Ambassador Robert Gelbard, made to the Bosnian Serbs on the margins of the Bosnia Donor's Conference in Brussels earlier this week where he "warned them of the consequences" of continuing to harass SFOR (NATO's Stabilization Force) troops.

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