Department of State Spokesman Richard Boucher expressed deep concern about the possible involvement of the Palestinian Authority in efforts uncovered January 4 to smuggle 50 tons of offensive weapons into the region.

Q: All right. Let me try something maybe you do have. Has the U.S. sorted out the facts yet on Israel's interception of the weapons-laden ship?

MR. BOUCHER: We have some of the evidence. We don't have all of it. We're looking forward tomorrow to a visit by some senior Israeli military intelligence people and we'll talk to them further. We expect them to tell us more about that they know. We've been cooperating closely with the Israelis in this matter. We look forward to receiving further information from them. And as I think I mentioned, General Zinni, in his meetings with Arafat -- Chairman Arafat last Friday, made clear that this is a very serious matter, that we condemn the escalation of violence and the introduction of new weapons into this area, and asked Chairman Arafat for a full investigation. We've seen Chairman Arafat promise that as well, so we would hope that would produce information. But we look forward to hearing from the Israelis tomorrow, from this team that's coming. They'll meet with a senior group from our side, Assistant Secretary Burns, the head of our intelligence and research unit, and other experts on the U.S. side.

Q: May I ask you just a fine point about the statement you made? "New," you mean additional. You don't mean --

MR. BOUCHER: Yeah. Additional information.

Q: You don't mean -- no, no, so far as the weapons. You don't like new weapons. You don't mean new technology, you mean additional weapons; correct?

MR. BOUCHER: Well, I would mean both.

Q: Okay.

MR. BOUCHER: Additional weapons, upgraded weapons, new weapons.

Q: All right.

MR. BOUCHER: I don't -- I'm not sure we have the entire rundown. We have had diplomats who have seen some of the things on board, and the quantity and the quality of these shipments are of serious concern. I think we find the fact that there are Palestinians involved in shipping these weapons deeply troubling.

Q: Richard, the justice minister, Israeli justice minister, met here this morning with Deputy Secretary Armitage, And after that meeting he came out and basically called Arafat a liar for saying that he didn't -- for Arafat saying -- saying that when Arafat said that he had no knowledge of this, he said he was a liar. Does the U.S. agree with that? And also, can you give us a rundown of what the conversation with Armitage and the justice minister was?

MR. BOUCHER: First of all, I'm not going to try to comment on every single statement, and as I said, we look forward to hearing more from the Israelis tomorrow. We have been cooperating with them; we have received some information from them, of course, all along, and we look forward to hearing more from the intelligence people that are coming tomorrow.

In terms of the meeting with the minister of justice, they discussed a number of subjects -- bilateral as well as multilateral issues included, and they discussed the issue of this ship.

Q: Okay, well, then, forget about commenting on it. Does the United States believe that Arafat's telling the truth when he says he didn't have any idea or any knowledge about these weapons?

MR. BOUCHER: I would say we're waiting to hear a full explanation of the incident from Mr. -- from Chairman Arafat.

Q: Is one of your working theories still that these arms may have been going to Hezbollah?

MR. BOUCHER: I don't -- there are all sort so possibilities, I suppose. The question, as I said -- the issue of Palestinian involvement and the fact that we've seen the statements from the Palestinian commander of the ship obviously reinforces our deep concern about the situation, but, as I said, we look forward to receiving more information on this.

Q: Is one of your working theories, then, that the Palestinian Authority has developed a new method of importing Arabs?

MR. BOUCHER: I don't think I want to go through every possible working theory at this point. The issue is that we've seen Palestinian involvement in this. We've seen statements from the Palestinian commander of the vessel. General Zinni made very clear to Chairman Arafat on Friday this was a serious matter, and it required a full explanation. And we've been acquiring information on this, and we'll continue to do so.

Q: Has Zinni had his meeting with the secretary to go over the status of the --

MR. BOUCHER: Not at this point. They'll probably meet in the next couple of days.

Q: The Israelis -- the justice minister as well as others in Israel actually appear to be extremely impatient or angry that you guys are refusing to accept their allegations at face value. What's your message to them? I mean, the justice minister this morning, you know, expressed shock that you were "still buying into Arafat's lies." I realize you don't want to comment --

MR. BOUCHER: (Laughs.)

Q: -- on that specifically, but what do you tell the Israelis? "Just hold on; we're" --

MR. BOUCHER: I do -- I read an unedited version of the transcript. I didn't see that phrase in there. But in any case --

Q: Well, actually, it's a direct quote.

MR. BOUCHER: It's a direct quote?

Q: Yeah.

MR. BOUCHER: Well, you read it too fast.

The message is that we are working very closely with the Israelis in this matter, that we have heard from the Israelis. We've seen some information from them already.

We are deeply concerned about the situation, about the involvement of Palestinians in this arms shipment. We have expressed that concern directly and early to Chairman Arafat. We have told him we need a full explanation. He has now promised a full investigation. And we will continue to work closely with the Israelis in this matter. We are receiving tomorrow, here, a group of senior Israeli intelligence officials, and we'll discuss the matter further from them, and we look forward to hearing further from them about some of these matters.

Q: I'll drop it after this. Has anyone spoken to Arafat directly from the U.S. side after Franks -- I mean, Zinni did on Friday?

MR. BOUCHER: Our representatives in the region, our ambassador, our consulate-general, have been in close touch with the Palestinians. I can't remember if there's been a precise meeting with Chairman Arafat, but they've been in close touch with the Palestinians, as well as the Israelis.

Q: You don't know if anyone's talked to Arafat since the captain of the ship said what he said?

MR. BOUCHER: I don't -- no, I don't know.

Q: All right.

MR. BOUCHER: But didn't he have a press conference right afterwards?

Q: Who?

MR. BOUCHER: Chairman Arafat.

(Cross talk.)

Q: I didn't know --

MR. BOUCHER: Yeah, he did some interviews or something.

(Cross talk.)

Q: But, no -- I'm talking --

MR. BOUCHER: No.

Q: I didn't realize your diplomats went to press conferences and asked questions. I'm talking about --

MR. BOUCHER: We do read the press, Matt.

Q: Yeah, I know. But I'm not --

MR. BOUCHER: Including some of your stories. (Laughter.)

Q: For better or for worse. My question is that then you don't know if anyone -- U.S. official has spoken directly to Arafat?

MR. BOUCHER: No. If you're asking for -- what have we heard from Chairman Arafat about the statements the Palestinian commander made, I don't know if we've heard anything directly from him. I -- he may have said something in public, given that I think he was out in public.

Andrea?

Q: Does the U.S. find the statement by the commander of the ship to be credible, to be entirely credible?

MR. BOUCHER: I don't quite know how to evaluate that kind of question at this point. Certainly we find it credible. Certainly we are deeply concerned about the statements that he has made, and we look forward to having more information on these topics. I think that's where I'd put it at this point.

Q: I ask the question because he's obviously being held by the Israelis, and there were some, I think, within the Israeli press corps who asked why he was speaking with them and why he wanted to talk. So I'm just wondering if the U.S. believes that the statement he made was not made under duress, and that he in fact is to be believed?

MR. BOUCHER: I don't think I'm in -- let me put it this way. We take the statements at face value. We would consider them credible. There is other information that indicates the involvement of Palestinians in this matter that the Israelis have put forward, and we look forward to hearing from the Israelis and Palestinians as well, for further information about the incident. I suppose over time a more complete picture will come together as this other information comes in.

Q: He says he was following orders from the PA.

MR. BOUCHER: He's named the person in the Palestinian Authority he was in contact with. I'm not sure what other information we have on that at this point.

Q: So does that -- is there a question in the U.S. mind, then, that this guy --

MR. BOUCHER: I'm not trying to raise questions. I'm trying to collect all the possible information. And what I'm saying is the information that we have so far, including the statements that this guy made, that the Palestinian commander made, do raise very deep concerns, and we find them troubling.

We found this incident serious and of serious concern right from the beginning, and that's why General Zinni raised it right away with Chairman Arafat.