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0772.
MDTTAN 887
prawns sharks!
FOR SEVERAL YEARS, GAVE A PARTICULARLY GRAPHIC EXPLANATION OF WHY HE THOUGHT THERE WAS NOTHING LEFT). THE FAMILIES, HOWEVER, HAVE REFUSED TO ACCEPT THIS, AND, EXPLICITLY STATE IN THEIR POSITION PAPER THAT THEY CANNOT ELIMINATE THE POSSIBILITY THAT RECOVERED HUMAN REMAINS AND PROPERTY STILL EXIST. (THIS POINT WAS EXPRESSED PARTICULARLY STRONGLY BY THE KOREANS, WHO ARE CONCERNED THAT ANY REMAINS SHOULD BE BURIED TRADITIONALLY). AS THE WRECK IS LYING IN INTERNATIONAL WATERS, THE RUSSIANS HAVE SAID THEY ARE HAPPY FOR AN UNDERWATER RETRIEVAL EFFORT TO GO AHEAD. BUT, OF COURSE, THEY DECLINED TO PAY. SPEAKING PRIVATELY, THE KOREAN FAMILIES'
-REPRESENTATIVE HAS TOLD THE OTHERS THAT HE HAD ASKED KAL TO PAY: HE
URGED THE OTHERS SIMILARLY TO PRESS KAL.
COMPENSATION
5. NO PROGRESS HAD BEEN MADE. EACH GROUP HAD RESTATED THEIR POSITIONS AS PRESENTED IN THE JOINT PAPER. THE LANGUAGE REFERRING
TO CLAIMS HAD HAD TO BE WATERED DOWN AT US INSISTENCE: THE JAPANESE HAD WANTED TO USE THE TERM 'REPARATIONS', WHICH THE US FELT HAD UNFORTUNATE CONNOITATIONS.
6. ARIAS SAID THE ARGUMENTS FOR EX-GRATIA AND OTHER PAYMENTS
WOULD BEGIN IN EARNEST ONCE THE ICAO REPORT HAD ISSUED IN LATE APRIL-EARLY MAY. THE RUSSIANS HAD REFUSED TO DISCUSS THE ISSUE FURTHER UNTIL THAT DATE. GENERALLY, THE RUSSIANS HAVE STUCK TO THEIR LINE THAT THE US, JAPANESE AND KOREAN GOVENMENTS WERE ALL CONTRIBUTORILY NEGLIGENT, AND THAT THE FAMILIES SHOULD ASK THEM THE SAME QUESTIONS THAT THEY HAD ASKED THE RUSSIANS.
PRESS CONFERENCE
7. ON 16 MARCH, SERGEI STEPANOV, EXECUTIVE SECRETARY OF THE STATE COMMITTEE INVESTIGATING THE KALO07 DISASTER, GAVE A PRESS CONFERENCE AT WHICH THE USUAL RUSSIAN POSITIONS WERE REHEARSED. STEPANOV ASKED WHY THE FLIGHT HAD BEEN IN SOVIET AIRSPACE.
DETAILED THE LEAD UP TO THE ICAO INVESTIGATION, AND EXPRESSED THE HOPE THAT THE RESULT OF THE INVESTIGATION WOULD BE 'OBJECTIVE AND FINAL'. HE SAID THAT RECONSTRUCTION AND SIMULATION WOULD TAKE
PLACE IN SEATTLE.
8. ON REMAINS, STEPANOV REAFFIRMED THAT THE RUSSIANS HAD TOLD THE FAMILIES THAT IT WAS VERY UNLIKELY FOR THERE TO BE ANY. HE ALLEGED THAT SOME DIVERS HAD SEEN SOME DEBRIS ON THE SEA BED IN THE COURSE OF A SEARCH FOR WHAT THE SOVIETS BELIEVED WAS AN 'RC135 SPY PLANE' BUT THEY WERE NOT RECOVERABLE AS SUCH (ARIAS HAD CONFIRMED THAT HE HAS SEEN 100 PHOTOGRAPHS, POOR QUALITY BUT IDENTIFIABLY KALO07,
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