
ACCESSION NUMBER:359580 FILE ID:POL302 DATE:09/07/94 TITLE:STATE DEPARTMENT REPORT, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7 (09/07/94) TEXT:*94090702.POL STATE DEPARTMENT REPORT, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7 (Bosnia, Pakistan/nuclear) (590) NEWS BRIEFING -- Spokesman Michael McCurry discussed the following topics: SANCTIONS HIGH ON CONTACT GROUP AGENDA The Contact Group meeting in Berlin will, during the next few days, focus heavily on the question of sanctions against Bosnian Serbs, who "continue to refuse to comply with the proposal" to end the war in the former Yugoslavia, McCurry said. He said the group will "continue to explore the question of sanctions -- how to maintain and implement the existing sanctions and also how to take into account...the Bosnian Serb refusal to accept the Contact Group map." U.S. envoys no longer will talk with Bosnian Serb officials about the future map of the former Yugoslavia, McCurry said, noting that Ambassador Charles Redman previously met with Bosnian Serbs "in the process of formulating the Contact Group proposal...and the Contact Group map. They were very interested in having the views both of civilian and military leadership on both sides" to find "a legitimate way to bring the Bosnian conflict to an end." "The circumstances changed" however, "once the Bosnian Serbs adamantly refused to accept the Contact Group proposal," he added. "The Contact Group has made it clear to the Bosnian Serb leadership that there will be no further negotiations on the subject of the map itself, thus leading us in the United States to believe it's not proper to have that type of contact" with Bosnian Serb leaders, said the spokesman. 1raising all who travel to the former Yugoslavia to promote peace, McCurry expressed the U.S. wish that the canceled visit by Pope John Paul II could have been made. "But at the same time it is perfectly understandable that the pope's concern for the citizens of Sarajevo and for the citizens of Bosnia would lead him to reconsider that trip," he said. Recently increased sniper and artillery fire in Sarajevo could have endangered worshipers had the pontiff celebrated outdoor mass. "Given the circumstances, the Vatican looked at the situation very carefully and made a judgment based on the security of the citizens of Sarajevo and Bosnia, and obviously, that's quite appropriate," the spokesman declared. U.S. NOTING FURTHER MISSILE PROLIFERATION The United States "will continue to monitor very carefully" the transfer of missile technology from China to Pakistan, in the aftermath of press reports that critical missile parts may have been sent to Islamabad by Beijing, McCurry said. He noted that Washington imposed specific two-year sanctions on Islamabad last year when confirmation was received that some technology for the M-11 missile system was transferred by China. Those are Category 2 violations according to the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) list, he said, or "something short of a fully deployed weapon system." When those sanctions were imposed "we said...that had there been a transfer of Category 1 items, which is in effect a complete missile system; we would consider that a very serious matter," the spokesman said. He said that such a transfer "would result in additional Category 1 sanctions that would be triggered under U.S. law" and based on MTCR guidelines. "There have been persistent efforts in our diplomatic exchanges with China to discuss our proliferation concerns," he asserted. "We will continue to press...the importance of resolving our concerns about these transfers. "It's something that we very vigorously pursue and monitor because it's a source of very real concern," he said. NNNN