Statement at Meeting with Italian Prime Minister S. Berlusconi at Camp David, 14 September 2002


I made it very clear to the Georgian government that we expected them to rout out the al Qaeda-type terrorists in the Pankisi Gorge. We are working with the Georgian government and training Georgian troops. I have told Vladimir Putin that he must give the Georgians a chance to achieve a common objective, an objective that's important for Georgia, an objective that's important for Russia, an objective important for the United States, and that is to get the al Qaeda killers and bring them to justice. And so I urge him to continue to work with us to allow the Georgians -- troops -- to do their job.