Secretary Hillary Clinton and Minister Taib Fassi Fihri delivered these remarks in Washington, DC

Secretary Clinton. Well, it's wonderful to welcome Minister Fihri here today on behalf of Morocco. We are so committed to our relationship and have very high regard for the extraordinary progress that has taken place in Morocco over the last years, and we look forward to deepening and strengthening our relationship.

Foreign Minister Fihri. Me, too. I'm very happy to be here and to have the opportunity for this meeting with Madame Secretary. As you know, USA and Morocco have a longstanding relationship, and we will continue to work together to defend peace and stability, mainly in the Middle East, in Africa. And we in Morocco really appreciate the statement made by the President and then Madame Secretary about new dialogue with Muslim countries and also how to reach the peace in the Middle East.

Secretary Clinton. Thank you so much, Minister.

Foreign Minister Fihri. Thank you.

Q. Madame Secretary, do you have any clarity on the Somali piracy situation?

Secretary Clinton. Well, we're deeply concerned and we're following it very closely. Specifically, we are now focused on this particular act of piracy and the seizure of a ship that carries 21 American citizens. More generally, we think the world must come together to end the scourge of piracy.

I think Morocco was the very first country that recognized us, going back a long time. And we worked together to end piracy off of the coast of Morocco all those years ago, and we're going to work together to end this kind of criminal activity anywhere on the high seas. Thank you.

Secretary Hillary Clinton delivered these remarks in Washington, DC

Secretary Clinton. I'd like to take a moment to discuss an issue that affects us all, and that is the scourge of piracy. The attempted capture of the Maersk Alabama and the attack yesterday on the Liberty Sun off the coast of Somalia are just the most recent reminders that we have to act swiftly and decisively to combat this threat. These pirates are criminals. They are armed gangs on the sea. And those plotting attacks must be stopped, and those who have carried them out must be brought to justice.

Last weekend, we were all inspired by the courage and heroism of Captain Phillips and his crew, and by the bravery and skill of the U.S. Navy. These men are examples of the best that America has to offer. And I salute and thank them. But now it falls to us to ensure that others are not put into a similar situation. As I said last week, we may be dealing with a 17th century crime, but we need to bring 21st century solutions to bear.

I want to commend the work that this Department's anti-piracy task force has already done, along with their counterparts throughout our government. In the past several months, we have seen the passage of a robust United Nations Security Council resolution, a multinational naval deployment, improved judicial cooperation with maritime states and an American-led creation of a 30-plus member International Contact Group to coordinate our efforts.

But we all know more must be done. The State Department is actively engaged with the White House and other agencies in pursuing counter-piracy efforts, both unilaterally and in concert with the international community. This Friday, a steering group that includes State, the Department of Defense, the Department of Justice, the Department of Transportation, the Department of Homeland Security, and the intelligence community, will meet to consider recent events and potential responses.

This week, the State Department is taking four immediate steps as we move forward with a broader counter-piracy strategy. But let me underscore this point: The United States does not make concessions or ransom payments to pirates. What we will do is first send an envoy to attend the international Somali peacekeeping and development meeting scheduled in Brussels. The solution to Somali piracy includes improved Somali capacity to police their own territory. Our envoy will work with other partners to help the Somalis assist us in cracking down on pirate bases and in decreasing incentives for young Somali men to engage in piracy.

Second, I'm calling for immediate meetings with our partners in the International Contact Group on Piracy to develop an expanded multinational response. The response that came to our original request through the Contact Group for nations to contribute naval vessels has turned out to be very successful. But now we need better coordination. This is a huge expanse of ocean, four times the size of Texas, so we have to be able to work together to avoid the pirates. We also need to secure the release of ships currently being held and their crews, and explore tracking and freezing pirate assets.

Third, I've tasked a diplomatic team to engage with Somali Government officials from the Transitional Federal Government as well as regional leaders in Puntland. We will press these leaders to take action against pirates operating from bases within their territories.

And fourth, because it is clear that defending against piracy must be the joint responsibility of governments and the shipping industry, I have directed our team to work with shippers and the insurance industry to address gaps in their self-defense measures. So we will be working on these actions as well as continuing to develop a long-term strategy to restore maritime security to the Horn of Africa.

Q. Hi, Madame Secretary. I have a couple of questions about the piracy issue, the initiatives you just announced. I'm curious as to how does one exactly go about tracking and freezing the assets of pirates? I mean, as you mentioned, it's not the 17th century anymore and we're not talking about buried chests of gold doubloons. But we are talking about people who do—who operate outside the traditional financial system. So, I'm just wondering how you think that that might go ahead.

And the second thing is that how can you expect the Somali transitional government, as well as the Puntland and Somaliland authorities, I guess, to crack down on these pirate havens when they have zero capacity, and with the Islamist movement there complicating it?

Secretary Clinton. Well, Matt, as to the first question, we track and freeze and try to disrupt the assets of many stateless groups—drug traffickers, terrorists just to name two. We have noticed that the pirates are buying more and more sophisticated equipment. They're buying faster and more capable vessels. They are clearly using their ransom money for their benefit, both personally and on behalf of their piracy. And we think we can begin to try to track and prevent that from happening. Take, for example, the attempt to buy more sophisticated vessels. You know, there are ways to crack down on companies that would do business with pirates.

With respect to the transitional government in Somalia, we want to listen to them. The indications are that Sheikh Ahmed, the president of the Transitional Federal Government, understands that these pirates are a threat to the stability and order within Somalia that he is attempting to reassert. We want to hear from him and from other partners in the region what would be useful to help them.

If you look at a history of piracy, very often you will read that everyone reaches the same conclusion, that you have to go after the land bases. We have a pretty good idea where the land bases are, and we want to know what the Somali Government, what tribal leaders who perhaps would not like to have the international community bearing down on them, would be willing to do to rid their territory of these pirate bases.

Secretary Hillary Clinton and President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf delivered these remarks in Washington, DC

Secretary Clinton. Good afternoon. President Sirleaf is someone whom I admire and have a great deal of admiration and affection for. I think her leadership has been exemplary and extraordinary and she has made an enormous contribution already to her country. The relationship between Liberia and the United States, as you know, goes back to the very founding of Liberia. And President Obama and I are very committed to the future of Liberia and to President Sirleaf's continuing leadership.

She and I have just concluded a productive meeting in which we discussed a number of matters of mutual importance to the people of both our countries. I reiterated our strong commitment to the partnership and friendship that exists between us.

This is a time of both great challenge and opportunity in Liberia. Fourteen years of civil war ended in 2003, and a democratically elected government has been in place since 2006. Reconstruction and development are underway. President Sirleaf and her administration have worked tirelessly over the past three years to ensure that Liberia's reforms, reconstruction, and development take root and are lasting successes. She and her team are committed to upholding democracy, combating corruption, and responding to the needs of people who were ravaged by war. And so Liberia has become a shining example of a transition successfully accomplished from conflict to post-conflict and democracy.

I especially congratulate President Sirleaf and her government on its successful conclusion last week of negotiations to eliminate approximately $1.2 billion in outstanding private sector debt. The United States is proud to have contributed to this effort through the World Bank's Debt Reduction Facility.

Since 2007, the United States has given more than $211 million to clear Liberia's arrears to the International Monetary Fund and the African Development Bank. And we have canceled more than $390 million in bilateral debt claims. And we intend to go beyond the terms of the Paris Debt relief arrangement and cancel 100 percent of Liberia's remaining debts to us by the time Liberia reaches its completion point under the Heavily Indebted Poor Country Initiative.

We are proud to have played a key role in the debt elimination, which as the President just told me, will enable the children of Liberia not to be carrying a debt on their backs they had absolutely nothing to do in creating. We continue to offer strong support for the transformation of Liberia and in the last three years, we've committed over $1 billion in bilateral assistance to the country.

Our comprehensive assistance program includes helping Liberians reinvigorate their economy, encouraging private sector growth, improving the delivery of basic services such as health and education, rebuilding vital infrastructure, enhancing governance, extending the rule of law using natural resources in a sustainable manner, and ensuring peace and security. The Millennium Challenge Corporation is working with Liberia to develop a threshold program that will eventually lead to Liberia's eligibility for additional assistance focused on poverty reduction, sustained economic growth and governance.

It is a great honor and personal privilege for me to welcome President Sirleaf to the State Department. I'm grateful for both her leadership and her friendship, and I'm particularly grateful for how she has never lost sight of her primary mission—to enable the people of her country to live their lives in peace and security, to have a chance to develop to the best of their abilities and raise their children to have even brighter futures. She has also continued to care about women and girls, which means a great deal to me. So it is a real pleasure to have her here, and thank you so much, President Sirleaf.

President Sirleaf. Secretary Clinton, I am privileged to be here. I want to thank you personally for your tireless effort in advocating for the rights of women, advocating the education of girls, for the inspiring leadership that you have provided, as we try to wrestle with African development issues.

As you know, Liberia is recovering from 14 years of conflict, a period before that, in which there was neglect and little effort made to use our country's resources for the development of the people. As a result, this—when we took over, we faced a collapsed economy, destroyed infrastructure, many young people who only knew war and want.

But we're glad today that we have the opportunity to rebuild. We formulated our poverty reduction strategy, attempting to get our security sector reformed and functioning one again, rebuilding our economy. We always say Liberia is not a poor country; it's just a country that's been poorly managed. And so with our natural resources, we can open the economy, mineral, forestry, fishery, agriculture. We can then put our people back to work. We're trying to open our—get—fix our infrastructure, get the roads built and the schools rebuilt and the clinics and the hospitals. One of the greatest joy I have is to see our children in their uniforms once again with their book bags on their back, you know, skipping as they go to school—created other problems, not enough schools, not enough teachers, not enough teaching material. But at least that process has started.

I want to thank the United States Government. The bipartisan support that we have received that have provided us the assistance that enable us today to say we're well on the road from being a failed state, as characterized a couple of years ago, to what we hope will be a transformation into a post-conflict success story. I can just ask that we will continue to get the support from you, from President Obama, from this Administration, and from the Congress to enable us to achieve that objective. We know that we have to have primary responsibility for our development that we have to be accountable to our people in the proper use of our resources that you have to get a return on the investment that you make in our peace, in our development, and that we have to get the results that we all seek.

I can only say to you on behalf of the Liberian people that where we are today, we are well committed to achieving those goals, and want to thank all that you've done to get us to this point of progress. Thank you.

Secretary Clinton. Thank you, Madame President.

Mr. Wood. We have time for a couple questions, first one from Sue Pleming of Reuters.

Q. Madame Secretary, two questions. First question: When do you plan to visit Africa and go to Liberia? Then the second question is also on the African continent, on your meeting today with the Liberian national security adviser. What emerged from that meeting and did you raise the—the Libyan—sorry, Libyans—and did you raise the issue of human rights concerns, particularly the case of Fathi El-Jahmi?

Secretary Clinton. As to the first question, that is exactly what President Sirleaf asked me, and I assured her I would get both to Africa and to Liberia as soon as my schedule permits. As to the second question, we did raise human rights issues and specifically the case you referenced with the security adviser today.

Mr. Wood. The next question will be from Viola Gienger of Bloomberg News.

Q. Madame Secretary, do you favor a timeline for the Middle East peace process that reportedly has been suggested by King Abdullah?

Secretary Clinton. Well, we had very productive discussions with King Abdullah, both in the Oval Office and then over lunch here at the State Department. And let me say three things.

We are in total agreement that we support a two-state solution; that we have to do more to bring the Israelis and the Palestinians together in a negotiation that will benefit both the Palestinian and the Israeli people; and that we have to enlist the neighbors in the region in support of those efforts. And we are fortunate to have a leader like King Abdullah, who is willing to speak out so forcefully on behalf of the two-state solution and will do what he can to bring the parties together.

Mr. Wood. Thank you all very much.

Secretary Clinton. Thank you.

Secretary Hillary Clinton was interviewed by the South African Broadcasting Corporation in Washington, DC

Q. Madame Secretary, let me just start, first of all, with just a general question about the new government in South Africa. What's your general view on this new government led by Mr. Jacob Zuma?

Secretary Clinton. Well, it looks like President Zuma is off to a good start. I think his early comments about who would be in his cabinet and how he intended to continue a strong economic program that will benefit the people of South Africa was very welcome. We look forward to working with the new government. I know when President Obama talked with President Zuma, he said that this is an area that we believe holds great promise for our two countries to cooperate, and we are excited about the potential for a very broad engagement between us.

Q. Well, one of the areas in the Southern Africa which has been—put it—let me put it like this, one of the unfinished businesses in the SADC region is the issue of Zimbabwe and that the World Bank or the IMF who were there, all now coming on board to support the new inclusive government in Zimbabwe. Are we about to see America changing its stance in supporting the Government of Zimbabwe financially, for instance?

Secretary Clinton. Well, we are, as you know, deeply concerned about the results of what we view as misrule and unfortunate actions by the prior government. We're encouraged by the new unity government that has been created. We are not yet ready to change our policy, but it is under review.

It's important to us that any aid from any source get to the people of Zimbabwe. I just find it heartbreaking. I've been to that country. I've met and worked with people from Zimbabwe over the years. It's a country with enormous potential that has been deeply hurt and scarred by the events of the last years. So I want to be sure that any aid that comes from an American perspective gets to the people, it doesn't stop at the government. And I think there are very strong voices inside the new unity government, the prime minister and others, who believe that as well; if we're going to give money for education, make sure it ends up with school books and additional teachers and other assets that will help the children succeed. But we're not yet confident that we see a direct route there. So we're working on it, and we want very much to help the people of Zimbabwe recover.

Q. Would you like to see President Mugabe go first before you can come in?

Secretary Clinton. I think that would be in the best interests of everyone. I think that it's up to the people and the government and, frankly, the neighbors. South Africa has a big role to play in this. No one questions his early commitment to freedom and to an end of colonialism and oppression. That is a great historic contribution. But for whatever reason, the last years of his rule have hurt so many of his people. They haven't hurt outsiders. They've hurt his people. They've hurt his children, the children of Zimbabwe and their futures.

So it is not for us to make that determination, but we hope that the government, whoever is running it, will be devoted to reconstructing that country with its extraordinary potential and taking its rightful place as a democratic developing country that holds such promise.

Q. And finally, where does Africa feature in President Barack Obama's foreign policy? I haven't heard either you or Barack Obama stating the position in regard to Africa very clearly.

Secretary Clinton. It is a very important aspect of our foreign policy, and you will hear more and more about that. You know, the President has decided to add a quick stop in Africa by going to Ghana after he goes to Egypt to address the Islamic world. That was done very deliberately. It is not a full trip. There are many important countries like your own that cannot be included at this moment.

But the President wanted to send a very strong message that Africa is important to him; it is certainly important to me. I intend to take a trip to Africa later this year. And I see Africa as one of the most important priorities. It's not only important personally to the President; it's important strategically as to how we see the world. But we are in the process of developing our ideas and our approaches. There were some very positive developments in Africa over the last years. We don't want to turn away from what good has been done both by Africans themselves and through programs like PEPFAR, for example, which has helped many countries combat the scourge of HIV/AIDS. But we want to be sure that when we put forth our policies, they are well thought out and they will have the positive results for Africa that we seek.

Q. Madame Secretary, thank you very much for your time.

Secretary Clinton. Thank you. Good to talk with you. I appreciate it. Thank you.

Secretary Hillary Clinton and Minister Assunção Afonso dos Anjos delivered these remarks in Washington, DC

Secretary Clinton. I am very pleased to welcome the foreign minister of Angola. We are impressed by the progress that Angola has made, and we look forward to a very close and deep coordination and working relationship that will enable both of our countries to have a greater understanding and a commitment to a better future.

Minister dos Anjos. I apologize, I am speaking Portuguese, because my English is bad, bad, bad. Sorry.

Secretary Clinton. Don't worry about it.

Minister dos Anjos. It's a great, great honor for me to be here in the United States and to bring a message, a message of peace and a message of willingness to cooperate, to deepen our relations, to be here and ask for help from the United States to bring to Angola, help that the United States can bring to Angola because of the experience that the United States has to help Angola in its development for the future.

And we come here at this precise moment as a result of the exchange of letters between our presidents, President Obama and President Dos Santos, and their exchange of willingness to strengthen our overall relations and our relations in every sector that brings our countries together.

And we come here to meet with U.S. Government officials, with American public opinion, and also to bring information to all the parties, information about aliquid novo, aliquid novo being a new Angola, a more tolerant Angola, democratic Angola, a participating Angola, Angola who wants to be part of the African continent to help solve problems in Africa, to be a partner with other countries, to be prosperous and to grow. And therefore, to reach this goal, we are now going to work with the Secretary of State.

And therefore, the reason is that the American people, side by side with the Angolan people, will work together for the reconstruction of Angola. This is the moment to do it because the American people—the experience that it has accumulated and the ability, the capacity, the skills that we find in this country, will be of great help for the Angolan people to put together what's necessary to, as our own president say, make living in Angola a pleasant experience, a fulfilling experience.

Thank you very, very much.

Secretary Clinton. Thank you, sir. Thank you very much.

Secretary Hillary Clinton and President Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete delivered these remarks in Washington, DC

Secretary Clinton. This is a particular pleasure and honor for me to welcome the President here. We will be having a working meeting, and then he will be meeting with President Obama in the Oval Office. But Tanzania is a country that has made so much progress and has an extraordinary potential that we wish to partner with and assist in every way possible.

I myself have had a wonderful visit to your country, Mr. President. And I am delighted that I am the Secretary of State at this moment and have this chance to commit our efforts to working closely with you and to commend you on your leadership.

President Kikwete. Madame Secretary, I thank you for the opportunity to meet. I thank you for—I thank President Obama for the invitation. Well, I'm here to reaffirm our commitment for continued cooperation and friendship. We have excellent relations on a political level, a bilateral level. We see eye-to-eye on many international issues. We work together at the multilateral level. I'm here to give you that assurance for continued cooperation efforts.

Secretary Clinton. Thank you, sir.

President Kikwete. Thank you.

Secretary Clinton. Welcome, Mr. President. Thank you all very much.

Q. Madame Secretary, should Sri Lanka get an IMF loan (inaudible)? Has your thinking changed (inaudible)?

Secretary Clinton. We're working with the Sri Lankan Government. I spoke with the president earlier today, and we discussed a number of the efforts that his government wanted to take, as well as the international community, to assist Sri Lanka in the work that lies ahead that is very important for the healing and reconciliation in the nation. And I've pledged our support, and we'll continue to follow closely what is happening there.

Thank you.

President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai delivered these remarks in Washington, DC

President Obama. Well, I want to welcome Prime Minister Tsvangirai to the Oval Office. He and his delegation have been meeting with my team throughout the day. I obviously have extraordinary admiration for the courage and the tenacity that the Prime Minister has shown in navigating through some very difficult political times in Zimbabwe.

There was a time when Zimbabwe was the bread basket of Africa and continues to have enormous potential. It has gone through a very dark and difficult period politically. The President—President Mugabe—I think I've made my views clear, has not acted oftentimes in the best interest of the Zimbabwean people and has been resistant to the kinds of democratic changes that need to take place.

We now have a power-sharing agreement that shows promise, and we want to do everything we can to encourage the kinds of improvement not only on human rights and rule of law, freedom of the press and democracy that is so necessary, but also on the economic front. The people of Zimbabwe need very concrete things—schools that are reopened, a health care delivery system that can deal with issues like cholera or HIV/AIDS, an agricultural system that is able to feed its people. And on all these fronts, I think the Prime Minister is committed to significant concrete improvement in the day-to-day lives of the people of Zimbabwe.

I congratulate him—they've been able to bring inflation under control after hyperinflation that was really tearing at the fabric of the economy. We're starting to see slowly some improvements in capacity—industrial capacity there. So, overall, in a very difficult circumstance, we've seen progress from the Prime Minister.

We are grateful to him. We want to encourage him to continue to make progress. The United States is a friend to the people of Zimbabwe. I've committed $73 million in assistance to Zimbabwe. It will not be going to the government directly because we continue to be concerned about consolidating democracy, human rights, and rule of law, but it will be going directly to the people in Zimbabwe and I think can be of assistance to the Prime Minister in his efforts. He's going to continue to provide us with direction in ways that he thinks we can be helpful. And I'm grateful to him for his leadership, for his courage, and I'm looking forward to being a partner with him in the years to come.

Mr. Prime Minister.

Prime Minister Tsvangirai. Thank you. Thank you very much, Mr. President. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for receiving us. I'm sure that—I want to take the opportunity of congratulating you, although belatedly, for being elected the President. And I think it's a profound experience for some of us who are committed to change, and hopefully that—the Prime Minister, who is committed to change, and the President, who is committed to change, find common convergence in position.

I've been explaining to the President that Zimbabwe is coming out of a political conflict and economic collapse or decay, and that the new political dispensation here drafted is an attempt to arrest this decay, but also mindful of the fact that it is a journey. This is a transitional arrangement. We want to institute those reforms that will ensure that in 18 months' time the people of Zimbabwe will be given an opportunity to live their own lives.

Yes, there has been a lot of progress made by the transitional government, but there are also problems. It is the problems of implementation, and I do recognize that even by the standard of our own benchmarks, there are gaps that still exist and that we will strive. And I want to show my—to express my commitment that we will strive to implement those benchmarks, not because they are for the international community but because for ourselves it gives people of Zimbabwe freedom and opportunity to grow.

I want to say, lastly, I want to thank you for that demonstrable leadership in assisting the people of Zimbabwe and I want to take this opportunity to thank the humanitarian support that the West—we have experienced over the years and the continued expression of support. And of course we continue to engage in ensuring that that support consolidates the process towards democratic change, (inaudible) strengthens (inaudible) in defense of the status quo.

Thank you very much, Mr. President.

President Obama. Thank you so much. Thank you, everybody. Have a great weekend.