White House Report, June 6: Lebanon, North Korea

White House repeats designation of Hezbollah as terrorist group

U.S. CONTINUES TO VIEW HEZBOLLAH AS TERRORIST GROUP

White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan says that despite the strong showing by Hezbollah in Lebanese elections in the south of the country, the Bush administration continues to view it as a “terrorist organization.”

Speaking to reporters June 6 aboard Air Force One en route to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, McClellan said the U.S. views of Hezbollah “remain unchanged.”

“Our views on terrorist organizations are unchanged.  We've made those views very clear, and our belief that terrorist organizations need to be dismantled,” he said.

McClellan also said the U.N. Security Council has passed a resolution calling for “the disarming of groups like Hezbollah.”

Regarding the Lebanese elections, McClellan said the U.S. focus is on making sure they are free and fair, “without any outside interference or intimidation.”

McClellan said there are election observers in the country, but the United States continues to have concerns over outside interference in Lebanon.

The recent assassination of Samir Kassir, a newspaper columnist who had argued against Syria’s presence and influence in Lebanon, “kind of underscores the environment that has been created by Syria's long presence in that country,” he said. 

“[H]is assassination is something that needs to be fully investigated,” McClellan said.

The press secretary added that the United Nations was unable to confirm that all Syrian intelligence operatives have been withdrawn from the country, and repeated the Bush administration’s call to make sure they have been removed.

U.S., NORTH KOREA HOLD DISCUSSIONS THROUGH “NEW YORK CHANNEL”

Press Secretary McClellan said the United States and North Korea have “had some contact” through discussions in New York concerning Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program and the need to return to the Six-Party Talks involving North Korea, the United States, Russia, China, Japan and South Korea.

The channel, he said, “is used simply to communicate messages.  It's not used to negotiate by any means.”

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack confirmed that U.S. and North Korean officials met in New York June 6 for the first time since May 13, according to press reports.  However, the Six-Party Talks have not been held since June 2004.

During the May 13 meeting, McClellan said, “We reiterated our message that we wanted to see them return to the talks without precondition.  And there are no preconditions for returning to the Six-Party Talks.  We want to move forward on those talks and discuss, in a serious way, how to move forward on the proposal we outlined.

“I'm not aware of any response from North Korea at this point.  We are hopeful that North Korea will be responding soon,” he said.

McClellan also expressed appreciation for China’s involvement in the talks.

“[W]hen it comes to North Korea and the Six-Party Talks, China is someone we consider to be a partner in those talks,” he said.

(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)