U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Daily Press Briefing
Friday, June 9, 2000
Briefer: Richard Boucher, Spokesman


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QUESTION: Two questions on the Middle East. I'll ask the first one routine, first. Is there a venue for the discussions?

MR. BOUCHER: We don't have anything to announce at this point.

QUESTION: I have a follow-up. Do you have more venue questions?
QUESTION: I have a venue question. I mean, these things are supposed to start Monday. When exactly are you planning
to tell them where they're meeting, considering that today is Friday?

MR. BOUCHER: Well, you can look at it that way or you can look at it that -- (laughter).

QUESTION: You can look at it what way?

MR. BOUCHER: We'll tell them where they are before they get there. No, we just announced that these talks were going to take place about two or three days ago, right? So we've been working for two or three days on it and we don't have
anything to announce at this point.

QUESTION: Should we assume then that you are not intending to inform the media of where these talks are going to take
place?

MR. BOUCHER: I think it's safe to assume that the talks won't be conducted in public and that the venues -- the talks will not be open to the press. Whether I will be able to tell you something or not on where they are, I don't know.

QUESTION: Do you expect them to start on Monday?

MR. BOUCHER: We expect them to start early next week and involve negotiators from both sides.

QUESTION: The Palestinians are saying today that there will actually be two sets of talks in the Washington area next week. Can you confirm that?

MR. BOUCHER: I don't have anything on that.

QUESTION: Can I go to my substantive question?

MR. BOUCHER: Okay.

QUESTION: I thought the first one was pretty substantive.
QUESTION: I think this one calls for even a little more -- whatever. Whatever. I'm not going to characterize it.

MR. BOUCHER: Let's move into it.

QUESTION: Jerusalem and refugee resettlement seemed to be the biggest obstacles to peace on the Palestinian track.
Yet the Department won't say anything to outsiders anyway about possible solutions, how these things might be overcome.

MR. BOUCHER: Right.

QUESTION: How can outsiders take the peace process seriously when the most serious problems go unaddressed?

MR. BOUCHER: I think it's important to remember that these are negotiations on some of the most difficult issues that these parties have to face. These issues relate to their entire future. And, as we've said, our interest is in seeing a settlement that can be -- that can end the conflict. And that's what we are working on now. As you deal with these difficult issues, we don't think that the process of, sort of, laying out options and having public debates on them, helps the parties reach the kind of
trade-offs and negotiations that they need and therefore; I'm afraid that when we say there are serious efforts in the negotiations or by the parties, you are going to have to take our word on that, because we're not in a position to go out in public and start debating the points as the negotiation proceeds. In any case, in the end you will see results, if we get results. If we don't, it doesn't matter.

QUESTION: But can people be forgiven, viewing it from the outside, to come to the conclusion with the evidence available to them, that these problems are in fact intractable?

MR. BOUCHER: I suppose you can conclude that right until the moment that they get tracted. Right until the moment
that the parties announced they've reached a solution. I don't think it's in our interest to declare defeat and go
home. It's certainly in United States' interest and certainly, from what the parties say, in their interest to try to work extremely hard. To try to reach an agreement, because these issues are so very important to them and their futures.
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