State: Powell Launches Middle East Partnership Initiative
The United States has launched a $29 million program to give "sustained" support to economic, educational and political reform in the Middle East, Secretary of State Colin Powell said in Washington December 12.
State: U.S. to Focus on Democratization in Muslim World
"U.S. policy will be more actively engaged in supporting democratic trends in the Muslim world than ever before," says State Department policy planning director Richard Haass.
State: White House Regrets North Korea Decision on Nuclear Facility
The White House says it regrets North Korea's decision to reactivate a controversial nuclear power plant that U.S. officials say is capable of producing weapons-grade material.
State Text:
"The Goal Becomes Muslim Democracy," by Richard Haass (International Herald Tribune 12/11/02 op-ed)
State: Fact Sheet Outlines U.S.-Middle East Partnership Initiative
Following is a Department of State fact sheet released December 12 in conjunction with Secretary of State Colin Powell's address to the Heritage Foundation, "The U.S.-Middle East Partnership Initiative: Building Hope for the Years Ahead." Summary: The U.S. supports educational, economic, political reform in Arab World
State: U.S. Will Try to Lead Israelis, Palestinians Back to Negotiations
Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs William Burns said the United States will try to lead Israelis and Palestinians away from violence and the use of force, back to a political process that will result in two states -- Palestine and Israel -- living in peace
and security.
State: U.S., Chile Reach Agreement on Comprehensive Free Trade
The United States and Chile have finished work on a comprehensive free trade agreement (FTA) that, once enacted, will immediately eliminate tariffs on 85 percent of bilateral trade in consumer and industrial products, with most remaining tariffs eliminated within four years, U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Robert Zoellick says.
State: U.S., Other Nuclear States Reviewing Iraqi Declaration
The U.S. government has made copies of the Iraqi weapons declaration and distributed them to the five permanent members of the U.N.Security Council and other council members with expertise to assess the declaration for proliferation-sensitive information, State Department deputy spokesman Philip Reeker said at the daily media briefing in Washington December 10.
State: Bush Administration Releases New WMD Strategic Plan
If weapons of mass destruction -- nuclear, biological or chemical -- are used against the United States, its military forces abroad, or its allies and friends, the United States will respond with overwhelming force and "resort to all of our options," the Bush administration says in a newly published strategic plan.
